Former Kansas DCF official: Agency intentionally underreported child deaths

A former deputy director of the Kansas Department for Children and Families alleges the agency has a record of systematically underreporting child fatalities and of providing inaccurate information to the state’s Child Death Review Board.

The allegations emerged as new DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel and Gov. Jeff Colyer publicly acknowledged mistakes were made in the past and that the administration was taking an aggressive approach to improving operations at DCF. DCF’s top administrator in Wichita was recently fired, and the agency conceded DCF documents were inappropriately altered regarding a 3-year-old Wichita boy found encased in concrete.

More >> Former Kansas DCF official: Agency intentionally underreported child deaths

Motherisk reforms show struggling families don’t need to be split up, they need our help

Among the many dozens of pages of terrible stories and horrifying details contained in the Motherisk Commission report released this week, one case referred to in passing jumped out at me as exemplifying the problem.

“In one case, the society’s materials described a parent as having excellent parenting skills and reported that she consistently attended for access. Notwithstanding this encouraging evidence, when a positive Motherisk test appeared to show low levels of cocaine and marijuana, the court made the child a Crown ward, without access, after a summary judgment hearing.”


More >> Motherisk reforms show struggling families don’t need to be split up, they need our help

Judge orders evidence be excluded from Rosenbaum trial

After several months of argument over the narrowing of certain evidence to be presented during the Rosenbaum trial, it appears now that much of that evidence will be excluded.

Judge Brian Amero ruled this week in favor of a defense motion to exclude evidence extracted from Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum’s cell phones and personal computers after he determined the state held on to those devices too long. The McDonough husband and wife’s devices were seized without a warrant following their 2015 arrests but sat in evidence lockup for more than a year before the state began data extraction.

More >> Judge orders evidence be excluded from Rosenbaum trial

N.H. Office of the Child Advocate investigating DCYF after Derry murder-suicide

State officials said Thursday that 6-year-old Preston Connor Edmunds' life might have been saved if prevention services had been available through the Division of Child, Youth and Family Services.

More >> N.H. Office of the Child Advocate investigating DCYF after Derry murder-suicide

• Office of the Child Advocate takes a hard stand, says state could have done more to protect Derry boy

Couple beat child, kept him in bathroom, deputies say

A Clay County couple is accused of mentally and physically abusing a child under their care last year, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Misti Tomlinson, 27, and Stephen Terry, 32, are each charged with child abuse in arrest warrants from Clay County.

The boy's name and age have been redacted from the arrest report, which says he moved in with Tomlinson and Terry and their six children in January 2017.

More >> Couple beat child, kept him in bathroom, deputies say

Autopsy of boy who died in foster care complete, but questions remain

The parents of Fabian Garett-Garcia have waited seven months for more answers on how their 3-year-old boy died.

But even after the autopsy report was completed, questions remain.
More >> Autopsy of boy who died in foster care complete, but questions remain

'Messed me up:' '60s Scoop survivors meet for Alberta apology consultations

EDMONTON — Beatrix Massee is a Cree woman from Alberta but she speaks with a slight Tennessee twang — a legacy of the foster homes she grew up in after being taken from her mother by government authorities in the '60s Scoop.

More >> 'Messed me up:' '60s Scoop survivors meet for Alberta apology consultations

DSHS pays $3.1 million after placing Vancouver girl with known rapist

The former foster parents of a Vancouver girl who was taken from their care by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services and placed with her biological father — a convicted child rapist who then sexually abused her for years — have settled a lawsuit against the agency for $3.1 million.

Records filed in Clark County Superior Court show that the Vancouver couple and DSHS reached the settlement last month.

More >> DSHS pays $3.1 million after placing Vancouver girl with known rapist

Parents accused of snatching their infant from DCYF care, arrested in Florida

Two parents are facing charges of childsnatching after they were accused of taking their infant daughter from the custody of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families in violation of a Family Court, according to the Rhode Island State Police.

Daniel Campos, 38, and Gabriela Paz, whose last known permanent address was 777 Main St., Hartford, Conn., were arrested in Florida on warrants charging them as being fugitives from justice, the Rhode Island State Police said in press release. They were held for extradition back to Rhode Island, where they will face charges of childsnatching, the state police said.

More >> Parents accused of snatching their infant from DCYF care, arrested in Florida

Grandmother vows to keep fighting for grandchildren pulled out of four homes

SAN ANTONIO — A local grandmother is fighting to keep her young grandchildren safe, and in her care, after years of alleged abuse.


Maria Dominguez says she is willing to do whatever it takes to get her grandchildren back. "This is the hardest thing for me right now. Seeing their pictures," she says as she flips between photos of her two granddaughters.

More >> Grandmother vows to keep fighting for grandchildren pulled out of four homes

Top lawmaker seeks probe of DHHS response to abuse reports before girl’s death

After Bangor school officials say they shared suspicions of abuse with the agency, Maine's Senate president urges Gov. Paul LePage to start an investigation into its handling of the case of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy.

More >> Top lawmaker seeks probe of DHHS response to abuse reports before girl’s death

More concerns raised about Indiana’s child welfare agency

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state consultant says Indiana’s child welfare agency is facing a shortage of mental health and substance abuse treatment services as well as attorneys.

The Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group released Thursday an interim report about the Department of Child Services, which has been under additional scrutiny since its former director resigned in December and accused Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration of spending cuts that “all but ensure children will die.”

More >>More concerns raised about Indiana’s child welfare agency

R.I. lawmaker calls Pawtucket group home ‘criminal enterprise’

‘I almost think these kids would be safer at the Training School,’ said Rep. Patricia A. Serpa, D-West Warwick. At least there at the juvenile detention center, ‘they don’t take kids out for pimping and trafficking.’

More >> R.I. lawmaker calls Pawtucket group home ‘criminal enterprise’

Neighbors Say DHHS, Police Alerted Before Child’s Death

BELFAST, Maine (AP)   Former neighbors of a couple accused of fatally beating a 10-year-old girl said they heard abuse and reported it to police and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Julio and Sharon Carrillo were ordered held Wednesday on $500,000 cash bail during their first court appearance.


More >> Neighbors Say DHHS, Police Alerted Before Child’s Death

Family wants to know why daughter left alone to film her suicide in foster home

A Poplar Hill First Nation family is struggling to find answers as to how their 15-year-old daughter was left alone to film her suicide in a Sioux Lookout foster home.

Kanina Sue Turtle died by suicide Oct. 29, 2016 and recorded it on her iPod. She had tried the day before as well, and had several incidents of self-harm in the weeks prior, according to her parents.

More >> Family wants to know why daughter left alone to film her suicide in foster home

'I haven't seen her in almost six years': Father on pain of losing daughter after Motherisk test

As an independent commission in Ontario released a report Monday slamming Motherisk’s hair analysis program, which led to an untold number of children being taken away from their parents after they failed the now-discredited drug-screening test, one father is speaking up about how the program “destroyed” his family when it stripped them of their little girl.


“I feel I was treated wrongly and unfairly and they accused me of something that I didn’t do,” the man, who cannot be identified because of child privacy laws, told CTV News. “And it’s the little girl who suffers more out of all this than myself and my family.”

More >> 'I haven't seen her in almost six years': Father on pain of losing daughter after Motherisk test

• Motherisk program 'unfair and harmful': reporthttps://www.sachem.ca/news-story/8154956-motherisk-program-unfair-and-harmful-report/

Child protection staff turned a blind eye to Aboriginal men sexually assaulting underage girls because of 'cultural reasons'

Child protection case managers in the Northern Territory underwent mandatory training four years ago after it was revealed a small number of staff members ignored relationships between young girls and much older men because of Aboriginal cultural practices.

More >> Child protection staff turned a blind eye to Aboriginal men sexually assaulting underage girls because of 'cultural reasons'

U.S. government frees LI immigrant teen after 7 months

An immigrant teen from Long Island, who is among the chief plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government and its contracted shelter, was released after more than seven months in custody, said the advocacy organization representing him.

More >> U.S. government frees LI immigrant teen after 7 months

Public blocked from Eckerd Connects board meeting amid Hillsborough foster care crisis

The Eckerd Connects Board of Directors, which is now facing a foster care crisis in Hillsborough County, held a closed meeting Wednesday morning in Clearwater despite calls from the governor, DCF and 8 On Your Side attorneys to open up that discussion to the public.

More >> Public blocked from Eckerd Connects board meeting amid Hillsborough foster care crisis

Controversial Child Protective Services supervisor back on the job

A controversial Child Protective Services supervisor is back on the job this month in one North Carolina county, after years of legal wrangling over her October 2015 termination.

More >> Controversial Child Protective Services supervisor back on the job

International adoptions have dropped 72 percent since 2005 – here’s why

When Ethiopia stopped allowing its children to be adopted by foreign parents in January, it became the latest country to eliminate or sharply curtail the practice. In recent decades South Korea, Romania, Guatemala, China, Kazakhstan and Russia – all former leaders in foreign adoption – have also banned or cut back on international custody transfers.

In 2005, almost 46,000 children were adopted across borders, roughly half of them headed to a new life in the United States. By 2015 international adoptions had dropped 72 percent, to 12,000 in total. Just 5,500 of these children ended up in the U.S., with the remainder landing in Italy and Spain.

More >> International adoptions have dropped 72 percent since 2005 – here’s why

Hillsborough foster agency, cash-strapped and overloaded with kids, looks to state to cover $4.1 million shortfall

TAMPA — With three months still left in its fiscal year, the agency that runs foster care in Hillsborough County says it is facing a $4.1 million shortfall and wants the state to help.

Eckerd Connects announced the deficit at a meeting of its board Tuesday. Officials are blaming a 44 percent rise in the number of children in care over the past three years, which they say is the result of the state’s opioid epidemic and high rates of domestic abuse.

More >> Hillsborough foster agency, cash-strapped and overloaded with kids, looks to state to cover $4.1 million shortfall

Oregon officials agree to reduce the use of hotels as temporary homes for foster children

Oregon officials have agreed to drastically reduce by mid-2020 their use of hotels and other unsuitable settings as short-term homes for foster children.

The state's child welfare program in desperation has increasingly relied upon hotels, state offices and even youth detention centers to shelter children in recent years. The main reason: Child welfare officials didn't come up with enough foster parents willing and trained to care for the many Oregon children removed from their parents.

More >> Oregon officials agree to reduce the use of hotels as temporary homes for foster children

An eHarmony for adopting kids? Florida launches novel computer-matching pilot program

Can the same data-crunching technology that matches potential couples based on personality, values and interests help Florida’s foster children get adopted?

More >> An eHarmony for adopting kids? Florida launches novel computer-matching pilot program

What the Florida shooting might tell us about child welfare

In the two weeks since Nikolas Cruz gunned down 17 people at his former high school, we have heard a lot about the failure of law enforcement and the need for gun control. We have even begun to get a sense of Cruz’s own troubled history — not only that he had been prone to violence for years, but also that he had been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder and attended a school for children with special needs several years ago.

More >> What the Florida shooting might tell us about child welfare