Children's Services worker who says she is wrecked by baby's death can't get worker's comp

A sharply divided state court panel refused Thursday to grant worker's compensation to a Children & Youth Services worker who claimed she is psychologically disabled by the death of a 2-month-old child.

While horrific, the death of a child doesn't constitute an "abnormal working condition" that would justify awarding such benefits to someone in the children's services field, Judge Patricia H. McCullough found in the Commonwealth Court opinion.


More >> Children's Services worker who says she is wrecked by baby's death can't get worker's comp

Houchin co-authors bill to expand use of 'baby boxes'

INDIANAPOLIS — State senators Erin Houchin, R-Salem, and Travis Holdman, R-Markle, announced the introduction of Senate Bill 123 on Wednesday which would expand the availability of newborn safety incubators, commonly referred to as “baby boxes.”

Keeping with Indiana’s Safe Haven law, Houchin joined Holdman in co-authoring SB 123 to expand the use of baby boxes in Indiana by allowing fire departments staffed on a 24 hour basis to install baby boxes.

More >> Houchin co-authors bill to expand use of 'baby boxes'

Not Guilty, For First Educator To Be Charged With Failure To Report Sexual Abuse

Cranston High School West Psychologist George Blessing was found not guilty Wednesday in a bench trial on the misdemeanor charge of failing to report allegations of “sexual abuse of a child in an educational program” to child welfare authorities. Blessing is the first person to face charges under Rhode Island’s newly amended child abuse reporting law. 

More >> Not Guilty, For First Educator To Be Charged With Failure To Report Sexual Abuse

CYFD investigates tragic death of 11-month-old foster child

BELEN, N.M. — Investigators are trying to figure out how an 11-month-old baby died in a foster home, where she and her two siblings had only been for two days.

More >> CYFD investigates tragic death of 11-month-old foster child

Poverty is no reason to lose custody of kids, says Nova Scotia judge

A Nova Scotia judge has dismissed the province’s request to take a 20-month-old girl into permanent custody, ruling that the child’s safety won’t be jeopardized by staying with her troubled family.

The decision only identifies the toddler as D, her mother as C and her father as S.

“There is a difference between parents who are poor, and poor parents. Ms. C and Mr. S are parents who are poor,” Justice Elizabeth Jollimore said in a written decision released Wednesday.

More >> Poverty is no reason to lose custody of kids, says Nova Scotia judge

• Poverty no reason to take kids: judge

Alberta to hold public sessions to gather information for '60s Scoop apology

EDMONTON — Alberta is crafting a formal apology to Indigenous people for the infamous '60s Scoop.

Children's Services Minister Danielle Larivee says the government will hold six sessions around the province starting later this month to hear from survivors.

Larivee says the information will form the foundation of a formal government apology and guide future actions on reconciliation and healing.

More >> Alberta to hold public sessions to gather information for '60s Scoop apology

Autopsy reveals Sherin died of 'homicidal violence': report

Houston, Jan 3 (PTI) An autopsy has revealed that 3-year- old Indian girl Sherin Mathews died of "homicidal violence," a media report claimed today, quoting multiple sources who have reviewed the much-awaited document on her mysterious death.

Sherin went missing on October 7 and her body was found on October 22 in a culvert in suburban Dallas by a cadaver dog after an intense search. Her body was identified days later.

More >> Autopsy reveals Sherin died of 'homicidal violence': report

• Sherin Mathews autopsy says Richardson girl died of ‘homicidal violence’

Montana’s dubious distinction: Child removal capital of America

Congratulations to the Missoulian and its partners at the University of Montana School of Journalism for out-reporting almost every major news organization in America in the series “Addicted and expecting.”

In one of the stories, Dr. Kenneth Cairns laments the failure of so many of his fellow physicians to provide the right kind of help to mothers suffering from addiction. The doctors can’t get past their own feelings of contempt for the mothers.

They are not alone. Contempt for parents who use drugs, or parents who simply are poor and whose poverty is confused with “neglect,” runs so deep that Montana now has a dubious distinction: It is the child removal capital of America. Montana is tearing apart families more often than any other state — a rate nearly triple the national average.

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DCF Chief Defends Actions Prior to Death of Hartford Teen

HARTFORD — During a recent legislative hearing the Department of Children and Families and other entities defended their actions concerning the starvation death of an autistic, non-verbal Hartford teenager, stating it was up to the legislature to change laws to help prevent future tragedies.

The sometimes tense two-and-a-half hour Committee on Children hearing came following a critical report from the Office of the Child Advocate on the circumstances that led to 17-year-old Matthew Tirado’s death last year.

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Social worker sanctioned for supervision failures despite ‘heavy caseload, poor working conditions’

A social work manager has been sanctioned by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) after his decisions and failure to record and carry out supervision sessions left children at risk.

The manager was made subject to a 12-month conditions of practice order despite the fitness to practice panel saying he worked with “a heavy caseload, poor working conditions, inadequate management support of him in his role as a manager and significant personal health issues”.

More >> Social worker sanctioned for supervision failures despite ‘heavy caseload, poor working conditions’

Victims Sought: Canada Awards $635 Million to Stolen ‘Sixties Scoop’ Native Children

Montreal Sixties Scoop victims from 1951 to 1991 can seek assistance from National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network regarding settlement

More >> Victims Sought: Canada Awards $635 Million to Stolen ‘Sixties Scoop’ Native Children

Foster child found dead in Belen home, woman charged

BELEN, N.M. -- Police in Belen arrested a 55-year-old woman for the death of an 11-month-old foster child, according to a criminal complaint.

Stephanie Crownover of Belen faces three counts of child abuse, including one resulting in death after police received a call on Sunday morning regarding an unresponsive infant child.

More >> Foster child found dead in Belen home, woman charged

• Belen women is arrested after foster child in her care dies

PARENTS WITH DISABILITIES FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE TO KEEP THEIR CHILDREN

Nearly one in 10 children in the United States are at risk of being removed from their home by a child welfare agency simply because their parent has a disability.

In October, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of five parents with disabilities who had their children removed by New York's Administration for Children's Services, alleging widespread discrimination. What happened to these families is not unique or uncommon; rather, their tragic experiences are part of a national phenomenon: Parents with disabilities are disproportionately involved with the child welfare system and once involved are more likely than non-disabled parents to have their parental rights terminated.

More >> PARENTS WITH DISABILITIES FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE TO KEEP THEIR CHILDREN

Jane Philpott doesn't see 'eye to eye' with Manitoba on First Nations child welfare reforms

Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott says she has concerns with Manitoba's plans to reform its First Nations child welfare system.

Specifically, the minister told CBC she believes incentives to encourage non-Indigenous families to adopt First Nations children should be avoided so as not to replicate mistakes of the past.

More >> Jane Philpott doesn't see 'eye to eye' with Manitoba on First Nations child welfare reforms

TEENAGER WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES JAILED NEARLY 4 YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL, TREATMENT

The Mississippi criminal justice system has come under fire after BBC News and ProPublica published an account of a 16-year-old boy with serious mental health issues who was denied a trial, treatment, and health issues while behind bars.

More >> TEENAGER WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES JAILED NEARLY 4 YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL, TREATMENT

Judge slams police and CPS after they admitted not handing over vital CCTV that ended up clearing businessman accused of sexual assault

Valentin Krzyzyk, 27, was acquitted by a jury after the CCTV showed his victim continuing to drink with friends following the alleged assault

More >> Judge slams police and CPS after they admitted not handing over vital CCTV that ended up clearing businessman accused of sexual assault

Mathews' CPS hearing delayed

A Child Protective Services hearing for Wesley and Sini Mathews, the adoptive parents of deceased 3-year-old Sherin Mathews, has been delayed until Jan. 26.

The purpose of the hearing, which was supposed to take place Wednesday, is for custody of their biological 4-year-old daughter. CPS removed her from the Mathews' Richardson home on Oct. 7, the day her sister Sherin allegedly went missing.

More >> Mathews' CPS hearing delayed

Siblings can be separated during adoption

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) Siblings abandoned by their family will be separated from each other at the time of adoption if they are above five years old and agree to it, Union minister Maneka Gandhi said today.

More >> Siblings can be separated during adoption: Maneka Gandhi

Report calls for changes in handling of state ward sex abuse cases

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) -- An extensive report calls for improvements in the investigation and handling of sexual abuse cases involving juveniles in state care.

The Office of Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare released the report Wednesday. It outlines an extensive investigation into whether the Department of Health and Human Services was taking adequate steps to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of youth in state care.

More >> Report calls for changes in handling of state ward sex abuse cases

State ceases admissions to its only locked facility for boys who break the law

The state’s lone prison for young males convicted of offenses not serious enough to land them in an adult prison last week took in what is expected to be its last admission as the state moves forward with plans to shutter the Connecticut Juvenile Training School by July. Over the next several months, the 39 youths incarcerated at the maximum-security facility will be released to their families or sent elsewhere.

More >> State ceases admissions to its only locked facility for boys who break the law

Can an Algorithm Tell When Kids Are in Danger?

The call to Pittsburgh’s hotline for child abuse and neglect came in at 3:50 p.m. on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving 2016. Sitting in one of 12 cubicles, in a former factory now occupied by the Allegheny County Police Department and the back offices of the department of Children, Youth and Families, the call screener, Timothy Byrne, listened as a preschool teacher described what a 3-year-old child had told him. The little girl had said that a man, a friend of her mother’s, had been in her home when he “hurt their head and was bleeding and shaking on the floor and the bathtub.” The teacher said he had seen on the news that the mother’s boyfriend had overdosed and died in the home.

More >> Can an Algorithm Tell When Kids Are in Danger?

‘Sherin‘s foster dad eliminated her physique with trash‘

HOUSTON: Police in has shared new details about the mysterious death of Indian toddler , alleging that her Indian-American foster father bundled her “stiff and cold” body in the back of his car with a bag of trash and hid her corpse in a culvert.

More >> ‘Sherin‘s foster dad eliminated her physique with trash‘

• Sherin‘s dad and mom denied entry to organic daughter

Number of Orphans Drops in Countries Around the World

After the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, aid groups visited the country’s many state-run orphanages. All were shocked by what they found.

Rupert Wolfe Murray is a British reporter. He traveled with aid groups to an orphanage for disabled children. “There was no heating, no windows, no bedding, no running water,” he said. It was overcrowded and under supported.

More >> Number of Orphans Drops in Countries Around the World

Adopted Chinese children search for biological parents in bid to understand past

"I am 200 percent sure that she is my daughter… Now I'm calling all of my relatives," a father from East China's Jiangxi Province wrote on October 19 after spending 24 years searching for his second daughter, who was sent to a foster home and adopted in the US in 1993.

More >> Adopted Chinese children search for biological parents in bid to understand past

Indigenous children’s commissioner rejects out-of-home care hard targets

The outgoing Aboriginal children’s commissioner in Victoria opposes hard limits on the number of Indigenous children being removed from families, saying it could put lives at risk.

Andrew Jackomos, the country’s first Indigenous children’s commissioner, favours measures to reunite families. But he says hard targets to limit removals could have dangerous consequences.

More >> Indigenous children’s commissioner rejects out-of-home care hard targets