The Trump administration on Wednesday moved to end all educational, recreational and legal services offered to migrant children in U.S. custody, warning the public and Congress that it is running out funds to take care of unaccompanied minors detained near the southern border.
Citing a "tremendous strain" on the agency fueled by the unprecedented flow of migrants from Central America heading towards the U.S.-Mexico border, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) charged with taking care of migrant minors, said it was winding down programs "not directly necessary for the protection of life and safety" of unaccompanied children in its custody.
More >> Trump administration nixes educational, recreational activities for migrant children in U.S. custody
Thursday, June 06, 2019
Supreme Court Rules Against Goldwater Institute In Native American Child Welfare Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has rebuffed a bid to void a federal law that challengers claim is racist because it places the desires and rights of Native American tribes over the constitutionally protected best interests of children.
That, however, does not mean the justices believe the Indian Child Welfare Act is legal. Instead, they refused to disturb a lower court ruling which said that this particular case was moot because the Arizona adoptions at issue had gone through.
More >> Supreme Court Rules Against Goldwater Institute In Native American Child Welfare Case
That, however, does not mean the justices believe the Indian Child Welfare Act is legal. Instead, they refused to disturb a lower court ruling which said that this particular case was moot because the Arizona adoptions at issue had gone through.
More >> Supreme Court Rules Against Goldwater Institute In Native American Child Welfare Case
What’s next for children diverted away from foster care and placed with relatives?
Last in a two-part look at kinship care from the Virginia Mercury.
There is an inherent conundrum built into child welfare. Social workers are trying to protect kids, but separating them from their parents is traumatizing, even if it’s for their own safety.
And reams of research shows that, if they have to be removed from their homes, children do best when they’re placed with family members.
More >> What’s next for children diverted away from foster care and placed with relatives?
There is an inherent conundrum built into child welfare. Social workers are trying to protect kids, but separating them from their parents is traumatizing, even if it’s for their own safety.
And reams of research shows that, if they have to be removed from their homes, children do best when they’re placed with family members.
More >> What’s next for children diverted away from foster care and placed with relatives?
Parents’ Nightmare: Social Worker’s ‘Feelings’ Contribute to Child Abuse Allegations
It’s one of the last things a parent wants to encounter—a social worker at the door with allegations of child abuse. What may come as a surprise to many is that such allegations can be based on little more than a “gut feeling.”
Those mandated to report potential child abuse are apparently encouraged to base their suspicions on signs that appear to have only a vague connection to child abuse and even may be based on the accuser’s feelings.
More >> Parents’ Nightmare: Social Worker’s ‘Feelings’ Contribute to Child Abuse Allegations
Those mandated to report potential child abuse are apparently encouraged to base their suspicions on signs that appear to have only a vague connection to child abuse and even may be based on the accuser’s feelings.
More >> Parents’ Nightmare: Social Worker’s ‘Feelings’ Contribute to Child Abuse Allegations
New York Child Welfare Advocates Want Parents to Have Representation When Their Children Removed
Angeline Montauban had no idea what was going on the day in 2013 that workers from the city Administration for Children’s Services knocked on her door to inquire about the well-being of her 3-year-old son.
She had recently called a domestic violence hotline; ACS was checking that the environment was fit for a child. She eventually filed for an order of protection against her husband, but ACS petitioned for a removal of her son on the basis that Montauban refused to file an order of protection on behalf of her child as well.
More >> New York Child Welfare Advocates Want Parents to Have Representation When Their Children Removed
She had recently called a domestic violence hotline; ACS was checking that the environment was fit for a child. She eventually filed for an order of protection against her husband, but ACS petitioned for a removal of her son on the basis that Montauban refused to file an order of protection on behalf of her child as well.
More >> New York Child Welfare Advocates Want Parents to Have Representation When Their Children Removed
Tuesday, June 04, 2019
Botched family reunifications left migrant children waiting in vans overnight
Migrant children who were torn from their parents by Trump administration policies faced one more horrific experience before being reunited with their families last summer, according to a NBC News report. On a boiling Texas day last July, 37 kids boarded vans for what they were told would be a 30-minute ride—but one was stuck on board for 39 hours. Most of the children, who were all between 5 and 12 years old at the time, spent at least 23 hours in the vehicles. “The children were initially taken into the facility, but were then returned to the van as the facility was still working on paperwork,” explained Andrew Carter, a regional director for BCFS Heath and Human Services, a government contractor and nonprofit responsible for the children. “The children were brought back in later in the evening, but returned to the vans because it was too cold in the facility and they were still not ready to be processed in.” An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the incident was “unusual,” adding: “These children have all been reunited with their parents and since then, no child has spent more than a few hours waiting to be reunited with their parents.”
More >> Botched family reunifications left migrant children waiting in vans overnight
More >> Botched family reunifications left migrant children waiting in vans overnight
- Migrant children forced to wait in vans overnight to be reunited with families: Report
- Officials say ICE completely bungled migrant family reunifications last summer
- Over 200 allegations of abuse of migrant children; only 1 federal employee disciplined
‘It Feels Like We Are Prisoners’: Migrant Children Describe Trauma At Florida Detention Center
Immigrant children described being put in isolation for eight days, deprived of physical touch and constantly sobbing at a temporary detention center in Homestead, Florida, according to a motion filed by immigration lawyers on Friday.
The lawyers claim the facility violates child welfare standards, and want a court order stating the government cannot hold children at Homestead for more than 20 days.
More >> ‘It Feels Like We Are Prisoners’: Migrant Children Describe Trauma At Florida Detention Center
The lawyers claim the facility violates child welfare standards, and want a court order stating the government cannot hold children at Homestead for more than 20 days.
More >> ‘It Feels Like We Are Prisoners’: Migrant Children Describe Trauma At Florida Detention Center
- Feds can't agree why 2K kids are waiting to get picked up from border stations
- "I have spent a lot of time crying": Migrant children describe life at Homestead shelter
- Lawyers Allege Illegally Long Stays and Widespread Mistreatment at Homestead Shelter
- Kevin McAleenan: 'Average hours in custody is increasing' for migrant children
Man pleads guilty to causing death of 10-month-old foster child
A young man admitted in court Monday that he caused the death of a 10-month-old foster child in his care in 2017, after breaking the baby's arm, hitting him, dropping him and causing a head injury.
Waylen Wood, 24, pleaded guilty in the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Monday to criminal negligence causing death.
More >> Man pleads guilty to causing death of 10-month-old foster child
Waylen Wood, 24, pleaded guilty in the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Monday to criminal negligence causing death.
More >> Man pleads guilty to causing death of 10-month-old foster child
Private companies paid millions to manage DCFS cases
Small private companies are paid millions of dollars to manage cases under the Department of Children and Family Services.
Though the department formed in 1964, it would be 20 years later that state officials began relying on private agencies to ease the workload.
Foster parent sentenced to 24 months in prison for sexual abuse of child in his care
Family members and friends left the courtroom in tears Wednesday afternoon after a man was sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a teenage foster child.
Over the course of 16 months, a 64 year-old man was found guilty of charges stemming from the sexual abuse of a girl 50 years younger than him that was living in his home.
More >> Foster parent sentenced to 24 months in prison for sexual abuse of child in his care
3 arrested after foster child beaten for not finishing homework, police say
Three people were arrested Friday after beating a foster child with a jump rope, belt, clothes hanger and charging cord for not finishing his or her homework, police said.
Turella Forman, her son, Rashad Forman, and his father, Duane Fletcher, are facing aggravated child abuse charges after the child was found, according to Fort Lauderdale police affidavits, with "an uncountable number of whip and lash marks throughout (the child's) entire body."
More >> 3 arrested after foster child beaten for not finishing homework, police say
Turella Forman, her son, Rashad Forman, and his father, Duane Fletcher, are facing aggravated child abuse charges after the child was found, according to Fort Lauderdale police affidavits, with "an uncountable number of whip and lash marks throughout (the child's) entire body."
More >> 3 arrested after foster child beaten for not finishing homework, police say
Adopted at birth, brothers find 16 siblings with DNA test
Born to the same mother and adopted at birth by the same family, David and Bobby DeLosa always wondered whether they had any other biological siblings. They heard rumblings of maybe having a brother, but for decades they couldn't say for sure.
That is until this past February, when a DNA test and some Facebook investigating led David DeLosa to discover that he and Bobby did in fact have a brother - nine of them, actually, plus a sister, three half-brothers and three half-sisters adding up to a whopping total of 16 siblings.
More >> Adopted at birth, brothers find 16 siblings with DNA test
That is until this past February, when a DNA test and some Facebook investigating led David DeLosa to discover that he and Bobby did in fact have a brother - nine of them, actually, plus a sister, three half-brothers and three half-sisters adding up to a whopping total of 16 siblings.
More >> Adopted at birth, brothers find 16 siblings with DNA test
Kentucky Schools Ask Feds To Pay For Treating Youth With Medicaid
Kentucky schools could soon get assistance from the federal government to help pay for school counselors and other health providers.
Cabinet for Health and Family Services Deputy Secretary Kristi Putnam told legislators Monday that the state is asking the federal government for permission to allow Kentucky schools to bill Medicaid when a school counselor or other health provider treats a Medicaid-enrolled student.
More >> Kentucky Schools Ask Feds To Pay For Treating Youth With Medicaid
Cabinet for Health and Family Services Deputy Secretary Kristi Putnam told legislators Monday that the state is asking the federal government for permission to allow Kentucky schools to bill Medicaid when a school counselor or other health provider treats a Medicaid-enrolled student.
More >> Kentucky Schools Ask Feds To Pay For Treating Youth With Medicaid
Hillsborough County to launch $3 million program to address foster system woes
Roughly 1,435 Hillsborough County children were removed from their parents in 2018, the third straight year the county has led the state in taking abused and neglected children into foster care.
And the county's foster care system has struggled to cope with the constant influx of traumatized kids. Children ended up sleeping on air mattresses in offices and waiting around in gas stations because of a shortage of foster beds. Eckerd Connects, the agency that runs foster care in Hillsborough, was warned by the state last year that it must fix the system or risk losing its $77 million annual contract.
More >> Hillsborough County to launch $3 million program to address foster system woes
And the county's foster care system has struggled to cope with the constant influx of traumatized kids. Children ended up sleeping on air mattresses in offices and waiting around in gas stations because of a shortage of foster beds. Eckerd Connects, the agency that runs foster care in Hillsborough, was warned by the state last year that it must fix the system or risk losing its $77 million annual contract.
More >> Hillsborough County to launch $3 million program to address foster system woes
Sunday, June 02, 2019
Shadow removals: How safety plans allow CPS to avoid judicial oversight
An investigative report by WDRB in Louisville, Kentucky recently exposed a particularly innovative — although likely illegal — method that the state’s child protective services caseworkers came up with to remove children from their families without court approval.
According to the report, Cabinet for Health and Family Services workers kept stacks of blank emergency removal orders that were pre-signed by local district court judges. This allowed caseworkers to take custody of children without having a judge properly review the allegations or evidence beforehand. Attorneys and judges interviewed for the report compared the practice to a police officer creating their own search warrant without a judge’s approval.
More >> Shadow removals: How safety plans allow CPS to avoid judicial oversight
According to the report, Cabinet for Health and Family Services workers kept stacks of blank emergency removal orders that were pre-signed by local district court judges. This allowed caseworkers to take custody of children without having a judge properly review the allegations or evidence beforehand. Attorneys and judges interviewed for the report compared the practice to a police officer creating their own search warrant without a judge’s approval.
More >> Shadow removals: How safety plans allow CPS to avoid judicial oversight
Putting families first in our foster care system
Although our congressional districts are only 90 miles apart, people might assume that a Democrat from Chicago’s West Side and a Republican from South Bend, Ind., would be worlds apart. But when it comes to our most vulnerable children, we have discovered that different paths have led us to the same conclusion.
Children do best when they can stay safely in their own families. When parents can’t provide a loving home, grandparents and other family members are the next best thing. And those family members — especially grandparents who are opting into a second shift of child rearing — are heroes and heroines who deserve our respect and support.
More >> Putting families first in our foster care system
Children do best when they can stay safely in their own families. When parents can’t provide a loving home, grandparents and other family members are the next best thing. And those family members — especially grandparents who are opting into a second shift of child rearing — are heroes and heroines who deserve our respect and support.
More >> Putting families first in our foster care system
FF12: DCF child welfare investigators face high caseloads
The names resonate in communities in Kansas. Zaiden Javonovich, Evan Brewer, Tony Bunn, Lucas Hernandez and Caleb Blansett are just a few of the children who died under the care of their parents or guardians.
In light of those and many other cases, people in the community have been questioning the Kansas Department for Children and Families wondering how caseworkers handle these cases and if they're overworked. FactFinder 12 has heard from many complaining of high caseloads and burnout within DCF.
More >> FF12: DCF child welfare investigators face high caseloads
In light of those and many other cases, people in the community have been questioning the Kansas Department for Children and Families wondering how caseworkers handle these cases and if they're overworked. FactFinder 12 has heard from many complaining of high caseloads and burnout within DCF.
More >> FF12: DCF child welfare investigators face high caseloads
Parents honored for reunification with kids who were in foster care
Being in the foster care system can be hard on kids, and it’s often heartbreaking for their parents who made some mistakes and ended up losing custody.
Saturday, Maricopa County honored parents who worked hard to fix their mistakes so they could be with their kids.
More >> Parents honored for reunification with kids who were in foster care
Saturday, Maricopa County honored parents who worked hard to fix their mistakes so they could be with their kids.
More >> Parents honored for reunification with kids who were in foster care
Cop, CPS Strip-Search Six Kids, 4-Year-Old after Mom's 10-Minute Muffin Errand
A Kentucky mother's nightmare began after she left her six children — ages 5, 4, 2 (twins) and 10 months (also twins) — inside of her 10-seater van to get them a quick snack.
Holly Curry parked in front of the Cobbler's Cafe, a place police officers frequent because it's close to the courts, and dashed inside to grab some muffins thinking it would be the last place a kidnapper would nab a child.
More >> Cop, CPS Strip-Search Six Kids, 4-Year-Old after Mom's 10-Minute Muffin Errand
Holly Curry parked in front of the Cobbler's Cafe, a place police officers frequent because it's close to the courts, and dashed inside to grab some muffins thinking it would be the last place a kidnapper would nab a child.
More >> Cop, CPS Strip-Search Six Kids, 4-Year-Old after Mom's 10-Minute Muffin Errand
Saturday, June 01, 2019
Greenville couple sues Trump administration and SC governor over foster-care practice
President Donald Trump’s administration, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and the state Department of Social Services face a federal lawsuit filed by a married lesbian couple over the religious exemption granted to Miracle Hill Ministries that allows the organization to exclude prospective foster parents who aren’t evangelical Protestant Christians or don’t meet the organization’s religious policies, including same-sex couples.
Eden Rogers, 33, and Brandy Welch, 40, a Greenville couple who have been married for three years and have two daughters, ages 7 and 10, said their application to foster through Miracle Hill in Greenville was rejected based on their religion and their sexual orientation. They are members of Greenville Unitarian Universalist Church.
More >> Greenville couple sues Trump administration and SC governor over foster-care practice
Eden Rogers, 33, and Brandy Welch, 40, a Greenville couple who have been married for three years and have two daughters, ages 7 and 10, said their application to foster through Miracle Hill in Greenville was rejected based on their religion and their sexual orientation. They are members of Greenville Unitarian Universalist Church.
More >> Greenville couple sues Trump administration and SC governor over foster-care practice
Waukesha County juvenile social worker arrested for possession of child pornography
A Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services employee was arrested Thursday, May 30 for possession of child pornography.
An undercover FBI agent in Utah, led local authorities to 53-year-old Bernard Trokan of Merton -- who serves as a juvenile social worker with DHHS.
More >> Waukesha County juvenile social worker arrested for possession of child pornography
An undercover FBI agent in Utah, led local authorities to 53-year-old Bernard Trokan of Merton -- who serves as a juvenile social worker with DHHS.
More >> Waukesha County juvenile social worker arrested for possession of child pornography
Northeast Ohio couple shares adoption warning after losing out on potential son
She is a cancer survivor who had big dreams of becoming a mom, and decided to adopt when she learned she could not give birth.
But that dream quickly became a nightmare. And now, instead of showing off baby photos, she is sharing a warning.
More >> Northeast Ohio couple shares adoption warning after losing out on potential son
But that dream quickly became a nightmare. And now, instead of showing off baby photos, she is sharing a warning.
More >> Northeast Ohio couple shares adoption warning after losing out on potential son
Trump Administration Separates Some Migrant Mothers From Their Newborns
It has been almost a year since President Donald Trump signed the executive order purporting to end his policy of separating parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, his administration’s broader zero-tolerance policy continues today — and because of it, a particularly heinous form of family separation is playing out in Texas.
As Rewire.News reported in part one of this series, migrants prosecuted under the “zero-tolerance” policy are remanded to U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) custody, and this is when lapses in medical care happen. Advocates told Rewire.News pregnant migrants detained in USMS custody are not receiving adequate services, and they are shackled when accessing prenatal and postpartum care. Some women are even shackled during birth, as Rewire.News reported in part two of this series.
Troubled Child Welfare Agency Needs Change, County Leaders Say
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors called Tuesday for a detailed plan to implement recommendations of a state audit finding that child welfare workers fail to act quickly enough to keep children safe, including a strategy for hiring more senior staffers.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger recommended that DCFS Director Bobby Cagle work with the Office of Child Protection and the county's CEO to analyze the audit recommendations and figure out the cost of implementing them.
More >> Troubled Child Welfare Agency Needs Change, County Leaders Say
Supervisor Kathryn Barger recommended that DCFS Director Bobby Cagle work with the Office of Child Protection and the county's CEO to analyze the audit recommendations and figure out the cost of implementing them.
More >> Troubled Child Welfare Agency Needs Change, County Leaders Say
Putin Signs Law Allowing HIV Patients to Adopt Children in Their Care
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill that allows Russians living with HIV and other diseases to legally adopt children in their care.
The changes were anticipated as part of Russia’s broader state strategy to combat the epidemic that has led to the deaths of 318,000 Russians in three decades. Russia’s 2016 strategy to fight the spread of HIV includes working with at-risk groups, spreading awareness and fighting discrimination.
More >> Putin Signs Law Allowing HIV Patients to Adopt Children in Their Care
The changes were anticipated as part of Russia’s broader state strategy to combat the epidemic that has led to the deaths of 318,000 Russians in three decades. Russia’s 2016 strategy to fight the spread of HIV includes working with at-risk groups, spreading awareness and fighting discrimination.
More >> Putin Signs Law Allowing HIV Patients to Adopt Children in Their Care
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