Social Worker Allegedly Accepted $10000 in Food Stamps as Bribe

Last month, a tip from Larissa Rodriguez' boyfriend's brother led to the discovery of her 5-year-old son, Jordan, in her backyard.

Cleveland.com reports Caraballo was assigned to visit the Rodriguez home once a month since at least 2014.

More >> Social Worker Allegedly Accepted $10000 in Food Stamps as Bribe

Ex-foster child of convicted Sierra Vista pedophile files $15M claim against DCS

A former foster child who spent 12 years in the home of a man convicted of child sex crimes has filed a $15 million claim against two state agencies, saying they failed to protect him from years of physical and sexual abuse.

The claim, filed Wednesday by Tucson attorney Lynne Cadigan on behalf of “John Doe,” names as defendants the Arizona Departments of Child Safety and Economic Security, the directors of both agencies and several employees. DCS, when it was known as Child Protective Services, was once an agency under DES control.

More >> Ex-foster child of convicted Sierra Vista pedophile files $15M claim against DCS

Police locate 3 missing Kentucky foster children

The Warren County Sheriff's Office has found three missing foster children.

On Friday, 17-year-old Amber Smith, 15-year-old Jasmine Davis, and Jasmine's one-year-old child Mya Davis, ran away from their Bowling Green home on Countrywood Place.

More >> Police locate 3 missing Kentucky foster children

Police search for 3 missing foster children

The Warren County Sheriff's Office is searching for three missing foster children. Through investigations, police determined that Amber Smith, 17, Jasmine Davis, 15, and Jasmine's baby Mya Davis, 1, ran away from their home at 212 Countrywood Place on foot.

More >> Police search for 3 missing foster children

DHS settles for more than $425,000 in murder of Serenity Deal

A murdered girl’s grandparents have settled their wrongful-death lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for $475,000.

The brutal 2011 death of Serenity Deal sparked widespread public outrage toward DHS. Her maternal grandparents sued in 2013 on behalf of her estate.

More >> DHS settles for more than $425,000 in murder of Serenity Deal

US senators seek to close Haiti orphanage amid abuse claims

MIAMI (AP) — Ten members of the U.S. Senate have asked the State Department to pressure the Haitian government into closing an orphanage where several children being adopted by American families have been victims of alleged sexual abuse.

The letter said “multiple” children at the Foyer Notre Dame de la Nativite orphanage on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince tested positive for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia and reported that they had been victims of abuse.

More >> US senators seek to close Haiti orphanage amid abuse claims

• Haitian orphanage should be shuttered after sex abuse allegations, US senators say

510 Arrested in California Human Trafficking Sting

Of the 56 victims rescued, 11 were juveniles, and all were female. Officials said the average age of a juvenile human trafficking victim in California is between 12 and 14 years old, and 70 percent of victims come from the foster care system, but did not provide details on the specific victims rescued this week.

More >> 510 Arrested in California Human Trafficking Sting

Foster child sexually assaulted by guardian, police say

Charges have been brought against a former foster parent who allegedly sexually assaulted a child in their care.

The charges were filed more than two years after an alleged incident in the man’s home.

More >> Foster child sexually assaulted by guardian, police say

Centerville adoption agency loses license after being put on notice for potentially fraudulent billing and record keeping practices

An embattled Centerville adoption agency will lose its license after a Department of Human Services investigation found the agency took on a new client and altered files in the days after the agency put them on notice for alleged violations of their billing and record keeping practices.

More >> Centerville adoption agency loses license after being put on notice for potentially fraudulent billing and record keeping practices

Las Vegas man pleads guilty to abuse of adopted girls

A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse with substantial bodily harm Wednesday, while his wife, the author of a book critical of Child Protective Services, faces trial for alleged torture of the couple’s three adopted daughters.


More >> Las Vegas man pleads guilty to abuse of adopted girls

Hoonah man’s sentence for sexually abusing foster child goes back to trial judge

After eight years winding its way through the court system, the case of a Hoonah man convicted of sexually abusing his pre-teen foster daughter returns to the original trial judge for possible sentencing.

More >> Hoonah man’s sentence for sexually abusing foster child goes back to trial judge

NY triplets sue Jewish group for their separation at birth

Two siblings from triplets who were separated at birth and given up for adoption as part of an experiment are demanding compensation from the Jewish organization they say is responsible for it.

In 1961, Bobby Shafran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman were separated at birth in New York and adopted by three different families with varying financial means for a controversial experiment that sought to determine to what degree personalities are shaped by external circumstances.

More >> NY triplets sue Jewish group for their separation at birth

Government announces inquiry into historical state care abuse

A Royal Commission into historical state care abuse has been launched, but any hopes of negotiating redress or compensation for victims through the inquiry have been firmly left off the table.

Instead, more general recommendations around the Government settlement process might be made, which could change payouts for victims yet to settle with the state.

More >> Government announces inquiry into historical state care abuse

• State abuse survivor's story sparks emotional response from The AM Show host

WFISD principal charged with failure to report

A Wichita Falls ISD principal was arrested Wednesday for allegedly not reporting a sexual assault of a first grader at her school to law enforcement.

Kory Fancher Dorman, 45, is charged with failure to report – a Class A Misdemeanor. She was out of the Wichita County Jail Friday morning on $1,000 bail.

More >> WFISD principal charged with failure to report

Child welfare facing serious issues

While we all know, or believe we know, that working as a counselor or foster parent for the Department of Human Services is a stressful job, it was still an eye-opener at a recent forum held at the DHS offices in downtown Klamath Falls last week.

Case workers, foster parents, public and private citizens lent their comments to state DHS officials who are on a fact-finding mission in light of a recently released audit of the department’s operations. As Regional Director Jeremy Player told the crowd, the upcoming audit was not going to be pretty. And it isn’t.

More >> Child welfare facing serious issues

Settlement with parents of child who died in foster care revealed

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County officials settled a federal lawsuit with the parents of a child who died after being placed in foster care for more than a half-million dollars, according to a stipulation released Thursday.

Luzerne County Children and Youth Services and parents Nichole Puscavage and Anthony Cook settled the lawsuit for $550,000, of which the child services insurance carrier paid $450,000 and the insurance carrier for Luzerne County paid $100,000, according to the filing.

More >> Settlement with parents of child who died in foster care revealed

ROSEBURG TEEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO MURDERING FOSTER FAMILY

ROSEBURG, Ore. – The teenager accused of murdering his foster family in the Roseburg area has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of aggravated murder.

Kevin Adams, 16, was arraigned on additional charges from a grand jury on Thursday. A trial has been scheduled for Feb. 5, 2019.

At the arraignment the judge also cleared up what was previously set to be the maximum penalty, the death sentence. She said that was unconstitutional for someone his age, and that the maximum penalty would actually be a true life sentence without the chance of parole.

More >> ROSEBURG TEEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO MURDERING FOSTER FAMILY

The lessons of mass incarceration for child welfare

The platinum anniversary of the most important shift in American child welfare policy in a generation just passed without notice or public discussion. But almost 20 years to the day after President Clinton signed the Adoption and Safe Families Act into law, those in the waiting area of the Bronx Family courthouse heard a 12-year-old sobbing inconsolably outside the courtroom, where he had just told the judge he did not want to be adopted. The judge had gone ahead anyway to terminate his mother’s parental rights—as judges around the country do tens of thousands of times a year to comply with ASFA.


More >> The lessons of mass incarceration for child welfare

Fixing a Foster Care System That Would Ban Mother Teresa

In one of the most moving parts of the president’s State of the Union address, President Donald Trump honored Ryan Holet—a police officer who decided to adopt the baby of a heroin addict.

Holet encountered the baby’s parents while on duty and asked the mother, “Why do you have to be shooting that? You’re going to ruin your baby. You’re going to kill your baby.”

More >> Fixing a Foster Care System That Would Ban Mother Teresa

Report: Indiana putting children in foster care at twice national rate

Indiana removes children from their homes and places them in state care at more than twice the national average rate, a consultant reviewing the state's embattled child welfare agency said Thursday.

That's one of two primary findings by the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group, which was hired by Gov. Eric Holcomb to conduct a review of the Indiana Department of Childen's Services. The other "challenge" outlined in a preliminary report is that the state uses an inadequate computer system to track child welfare cases.

More >> Report: Indiana putting children in foster care at twice national rate

Prosecutor: Social worker accepted bribe to 'look the other way' before boy's death

A social worker is facing charges related to the death of a boy found buried in the backyard of an Ohio home.

More >> Prosecutor: Social worker accepted bribe to 'look the other way' before boy's death

Hoonah man’s sentence for sexually abusing foster child goes back to trial judge

After eight years winding its way through the court system, the case of a Hoonah man convicted of sexually abusing his pre-teen foster daughter returns to the original trial judge for possible sentencing.

More >> Hoonah man’s sentence for sexually abusing foster child goes back to trial judge

New Zealand announces major inquiry into child abuse in state care

New Zealanders who were abused in state care have been granted a royal commission of inquiry, following the lead of similar inquiries in Australia and the UK, and the recommendation of the United Nations.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the inquiry would last for at least her entire term in office, and was tasked with investigating historic abuse of children and adults by state-run institutions between 1950 and 1999.

More >> New Zealand announces major inquiry into child abuse in state care

California overreacts and presumes every homeschooling parent is a child abuser

California is seeking to treat homeschool families as presumptive child abusers. Lawmakers in that state have indicated plans to categorically require homeschool parents to prove — through home visits, interviews, and other government oversight — that indeed the parent is not abusive if they choose to exercise a legally protected and valid option for school choice. This measure would shift the burden to the parent to prove to the government’s satisfaction his or her parental fitness.

More >> California overreacts and presumes every homeschooling parent is a child abuser

Oregon DHS child welfare audit says staff endured 'bullying, intimidation' by agency leaders

Leaders of Oregon's child welfare system have continually failed to fix systemic problems after paying $39 million in legal settlements, according to a new audit by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office.

More >> Oregon DHS child welfare audit says staff endured 'bullying, intimidation' by agency leaders

• Audit Critical Of Oregon Foster Care