Up to 30 foster children a day living in motels due to lack of carers

Between 20-30 children in state care are living in motels every day, due to a lack of foster caregivers, according to Oranga Tamariki.

More >> Up to 30 foster children a day living in motels due to lack of carers

Scotland’s child abuse inquiry to investigate ‘additional institutions’

The judge leading Scotland’s child abuse inquiry has said a “significant number” of additional institutions are to be investigated by her team.

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Evidence of illegal birth registrations exists in multiple adoption agencies - Dept

Evidence of illegal birth registrations exists in the records of multiple adoption agencies but a full inquiry into the scale of illegal adoptions would be “onerous” and require “massive resources”.

More >> Evidence of illegal birth registrations exists in multiple adoption agencies - Dept

New Arizona Law Could Reduce DCS Child Removals

In the fall of 2015, the number of Arizona children being removed from their homes by child-welfare workers to protect against abuse or neglect hit a high point. More than 6,800 of them were removed, and the number of children in the system neared 19,000.

More >> New Arizona Law Could Reduce DCS Child Removals

Baby Was Sold at Indian Shelter Tied to Mother Teresa, Police Say

A nun and a charity worker were accused this week of selling a baby at a shelter for unmarried mothers in eastern India run by an organization founded by Mother Teresa.

The police said Thursday that they had arrested the two women, who worked at the Missionaries of Charity-run shelter in Ranchi, the capital of the eastern state of Jharkhand.

More >> Baby Was Sold at Indian Shelter Tied to Mother Teresa, Police Say

The silent scandal: Children behind closed doors

The plight of children whose parents entered the country illegally has been broadcast daily, and continually, through new stories, blogs and tweets. Pictures of those crying children have seared into our hearts and generated a response from thousands of Americans. One online funding campaign, launched by a couple in Silicon Valley to provide $1,500 to unite one immigrant mother and daughter, garnered more $20 million from 300,000 donors within just several days. 

Yet, far from the media spotlight and headlines, for decades, hundreds of thousands of American children have been suffering without anyone’s notice behind closed doors. Within the massive bureaucracy of the nation’s foster care system, many youths spend their entire childhood without experiencing the stability and security of a “forever family.” On any given day, more than 400,000 children and youths are in the system.

More >> The silent scandal: Children behind closed doors

FOSTER KIDS REUNITE WITH SIBLINGS AT CAMP TO BELONG

Last week, children and teens who live apart from their brothers and sisters were reunited with their siblings at Camp to Belong. Now in its 10th year in Washington state, the camp took place June 25-30 at Miracle Ranch in Port Orchard and is hosted by the Department of Social and Health Services’ (DSHS) Children’s Administration in partnership with Foster Family Connections and Camp to Belong WA.

Most of the roughly 100 campers, who travel to Kitsap County for a weeklong opportunity to make lifelong memories, are currently or have been in foster care. They live in Washington, with a few traveling in from out of state, and they all live apart from their siblings. About half the campers have previously attended Camp to Belong WA and will serve as mentors to those kids who are first-time attendees.

More >> FOSTER KIDS REUNITE WITH SIBLINGS AT CAMP TO BELONG

SURROGACY FEE FEAR Up to £60k is being paid by some desperate Brit couples who choose to have a baby by surrogacy

DESPERATE couples are spending up to £60,000 to have a baby using British surrogate mums, a conference has heard.

The huge sum is more than double the average UK salary of £25,000 and five to ten times what experts say it should cost.

More >> SURROGACY FEE FEAR Up to £60k is being paid by some desperate Brit couples who choose to have a baby by surrogacy

'Twisted' paedophile former social worker could die behind bars after horrific abuse of young boy

A paedophile former social worker faces dying behind bars after being jailed for 17 years.

James Peter Gavin, aged 82, described as a “twisted and manipulative predator” committed the offences while the victim, a young boy, stayed at foster homes and the former Foxholes Children’s Home in Rochdale.

More >> 'Twisted' paedophile former social worker could die behind bars after horrific abuse of young boy

New rules for DCF investigators face criticism

Kansas’ Department for Children and Families is facing criticism from some in the child welfare community over its decision to loosen requirements for some staff positions.

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Speaker ‘disturbed’ DCS failed to act on past reports

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said Monday that he was “disturbed” after finding out that the state’s child welfare agency failed to take action after five different reviews conducted in recent years found problems at the agency.

The revelation was included in a sixth report on the Department of Child Services, which was released in June by a consultant hired by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.

More >> Speaker ‘disturbed’ DCS failed to act on past reports

Negligence charges for former child welfare official after kids abused in foster care

Ontario Provincial Police have taken the unusual step of charging the head of a Children's Aid Society for overseeing an agency that placed 10 children with foster parents who ended up being convicted of sexual abuse.

Bill Sweet, 67, former executive director of the Prince Edward County CAS, was charged in May with 10 counts of negligence causing bodily harm and 10 counts of failing to provide the necessities of life — a charge usually reserved for guardians who neglect children.

More >> Negligence charges for former child welfare official after kids abused in foster care

Court hears adoption agency had no record of child's birth

A woman who claims her son was illegally adopted and that she was prevented from finding him, has said the adoption agency through which he was adopted, told her ten years later, they had no record of his birth.

Tressa Reeves gave birth to her son on 13 March, 1961. She did not see him again until January 2013. The court has heard he was given to a family in Carlow without an adoption order and that a new birth certificate was issued for him in a different name and with a different date of birth.

More >> Court hears adoption agency had no record of child's birth

• Mother and son separated for 51 years take Irish adoption agency to court

Maine’s failed to keep at-risk youth safe. No wonder Long Creek is overwhelmed.

The last time Maine’s system for providing children with mental health services got a comprehensive look was in 1997.

That’s when state officials — at the Legislature’s direction, and with the help of service providers, parents and others — assembled a strategic plan for building up the range of services for children with mental health challenges that they could access without having to check into a hospital or be committed to an institution.

More >> Maine’s failed to keep at-risk youth safe. No wonder Long Creek is overwhelmed.

Nearly all children whose mothers are sent to prison are uprooted from their homes, finds report

The government has been accused of being “blind to the needs” of children whose mothers go to jail as new research shows 95 per cent of them are forced to leave their homes.

A report by the Prison Reform Trust reveals more than 16,000 youngsters were uprooted from their family homes last year because their mothers were sentenced to prison, usually for non-violent crimes.

More >> Nearly all children whose mothers are sent to prison are uprooted from their homes, finds report

American Families Face Increasing Odds Against International Adoption

After 11 months of paperwork and preparation, Natalie Young was ready to jumpstart her potential son’s adoption from Guatemala. All she needed was approval from his birth country.

One day shy of getting the green light to move forward, Young and her family were blindsided.

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100-year-old mother meets daughter taken away for adoption

It was a reunion that many may have thought would never happen. A 79-year-old woman finally met her mother more than half a century after she found out she was adopted.

Joanne Loewenstern, 79, was only 16 when she found out she was adopted. She was told that her birth mother had died after she was born in a Bronx hospital, The Washington Post reported.

More >> 100-year-old mother meets daughter taken away for adoption

Q&A: Comedian Corey White reveals horrific details of sexual assault in foster care

"I was in and out of foster care until the age of 10. I experienced rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, starvation. My mother died of a heroin overdose when I was 10 and I was in one particular foster home that was absolutely horrific," White explained.

More >> Q&A: Comedian Corey White reveals horrific details of sexual assault in foster care

Secret Corruption In The British Foster Care System

Investigative Journalist of the International Criminal Court against Child Kidnapping

This week, the world gushed over the new baby boy born to Prince William. The future King and his wife, Kathryn, brimmed with pride and love mere hours after the birth, posing for the watchful eyes of the glaring media. Their small family, predestined to prosper as a secure unit with little threat of disruption, shall rest peacefully this night. And as London streets are overrun with delight and cheer, what about those other children–the ones whose ears shall not ring of the same joy? What of those innocent, young lives trapped in a British foster care system, denied of the same affection and adoration–or even family?

More >> Secret Corruption In The British Foster Care System

Note: FYI, I disagree.  Corruption in the British Foster Care System is no secret.

Ex-FDLE child sex investigator found guilty of child sex crimes

This story has been updated to correct a mistake that appeared in the original story. The story incorrectly stated the circumstance surrounding some of the children's abuse. McMullen conceded that the foster children were in his bedroom for what they called massages - the children would walk on his back and give him 'karate chops' according to McMullen's attorney, Jim Jenkins.

More >> Ex-FDLE child sex investigator found guilty of child sex crimes

'My son was illegally adopted'

When Tressa Reeves got pregnant at the age of 20 in 1960, her parents sent her from her Farnborough home in Hampshire to Dublin to give birth in a home run by Catholic nuns.

She thought she was giving her baby up for adoption but she later found out that he was simply given away. She had no legal documents to prove that she was his mother.

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Controversial judge transferred from Family Court after numerous parents claim due-process violations

In November 2015, Lyris F. Younge was elected to serve as a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge. Two weeks ago – just two years and seven months later – the president judge of that court petitioned for Younge to be permanently reassigned from the Family Court bench on which she’d served.

More >> Controversial judge transferred from Family Court after numerous parents claim due-process violations

County aims to keep families together as parents recover

The Tioga County Department of Human Services is trying to keep families together while at the same time battling the opioid crisis.

"Our goal is to keep the kids in the home," said Nancy Clemens, the department's administrator.

More >> County aims to keep families together as parents recover

Family of Infant Who Died in Foster Care Files Claim Against County

A local family filed a claim against the County of San Diego after their infant died while in foster care.

Zane Thomas was prematurely born in June, 2016. According to court documents, during the pregnancy his mother took drugs.

More >> Family of Infant Who Died in Foster Care Files Claim Against County

Traffickers on the loose: How children are sold to highest bidder in name of adoption

For years there has been hue and cry over children being stolen or going missing from hospitals, homes, schools, among other places and later being sold.

Some of these children have remained untraced to date while others are believed to have been abandoned and placed for adoption as their families could not be found. Accusing fingers pointed to the manner adoption of children has been carried out in the country for years.

More >> Traffickers on the loose: How children are sold to highest bidder in name of adoption