| AR: Arkansas State Foster Care Division Managing Multiple Challenges (Audio) |
| KUAF – December 07, 2022 |
| Fewer infants, children and teens are entering foster care in Arkansas, but fewer are leaving. Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services Director Mischa Martin explains how the agency is working, citing a critical need for more foster and adoptive families. The agency, she says, is also prepared to respond to any consequences of Arkansas’s strict new abortion ban. |
| https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2022-12-07/arkansas-state-foster-care-division-managing-multiple-challenges |
|
| CA: CA Pandemic Protections Held Line on Children’s Health Insurance (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 08, 2022 |
| During 2021, the first year after the pandemic began, California managed to keep more than 96% of children insured, according to a new report from Georgetown University. The authors credit a federal law which gave states extra money so no one would be dropped from Medicaid during COVID. Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said the protections are slated to lapse when the national health emergency ends next spring, and she predicted the national child uninsured rate could double. |
| Also: Number of Uninsured Children Stabilized and Improved Slightly During the Pandemic: https://bit.ly/3PcgCTB |
| https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-12-08/childrens/ca-pandemic-protections-held-line-on-childrens-health-insurance/a81861-1 |
|
| CO: Effort to reform Colorado’s mandated reporting laws begins in wake of 7-year-old Olivia Gant’s death (May require subscription) |
| Denver Post – December 07, 2022 |
| A statewide task force created to reform Colorado’s mandatory reporting laws in the wake of a 7-year-old girl’s death met for the first time Wednesday, beginning a two-year process to reconsider the longstanding law that requires some professionals to report suspected child abuse to state authorities. The task force was created by state lawmakers earlier this year following a Denver Post investigation into the death of 7-year-old Olivia Gant in 2017. The task force is one of the first in the country to evaluate existing mandatory reporting laws in this way, said Stephanie Villafuerte, the state’s child protection ombudsman. |
| https://www.denverpost.com/2022/12/07/colorado-mandated-reporting-task-force-olivia-gant/ |
|
| GA: Georgia foster care programs facing shortage in parents willing to help (Includes video) |
| WANF – December 08, 2022 |
| New data shows more than 10,000 children are in Georgia’s foster care system this holiday and right now statewide there is a massive shortage in families willing to welcome children into their homes, according to the Georgia Department of Human Services. Experts from Wellroot Family Services told Atlanta News First there are a few misconceptions about fostering a child over the holidays. Experts say many people believe it is going to be far too costly, too challenging for a single parent or they believe their home might not be big enough, but foster care parents told Atlanta News First it’s just about how big your heart is. |
| https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2022/12/08/georgia-foster-care-programs-facing-shortage-parents-willing-help/ |
|
| IN: Indiana sues TikTok, claiming it exposes children to harmful content (Includes audio) (May require subscription) |
| Washington Post – December 07, 2022 |
| Indiana’s attorney general sued TikTok on Wednesday, claiming the Chinese-owned company exposes minors to inappropriate content and makes user data accessible to China, in one of the strongest moves against the social media giant taken by a state. Indiana’s lawsuit is the latest move to put TikTok and its parent company under scrutiny. As U.S. officials have sought to regulate TikTok, the platform in recent years has come under sharp questioning in Washington and been under investigation by a bipartisan group of attorneys general for its potential effects on youth mental health, its data security and its ties to China. |
| https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/07/tiktok-lawsuit-indiana-china/ |
|
| KY: Report: KY Foster Kids Increasingly Placed in Institutions Instead of Homes (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 08, 2022 |
| According to a new report, a significant number of the state’s youths are institutionalized, not because of a need for intensive supervision but because kinship or foster families are not available. The pandemic pushed Kentucky’s child welfare agencies and workforce to its limits, and after the recent deaths of children in the state’s residential facilities, advocates are calling for reforms. In 2020, more than 8,000 children in the Commonwealth were placed in foster care. |
| Also: Residential Foster Care Analysis Report: Featuring Interviews of Youth with Lived Experience and Recommendations: https://bit.ly/3UIr2eL |
| https://bit.ly/3uBiFH2 |
|
| MI: Michigan receives grant to expand Baby Court programs |
| WNEM – December 07, 2022 |
| The State of Michigan has received a grant that will enable the expansion of local programs that aim to keep families and young children together. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) received a five-year grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to provide funding to support Infant-Toddler Court Programs (Baby Court) in Wayne county and two other counties yet to be determined. The grant will also support the sustainability of Baby Court in more counties beyond the funding period, the state said. |
| https://www.wnem.com/2022/12/07/michigan-receives-grant-expand-baby-court-programs/ |
|
| MO: How can Missouri help children in foster care better? These states have the answer (Commentary) (Includes audio) (Includes video) (May require subscription) |
| Kansas City Star – December 07, 2022 |
| For 75 years, America’s foster care model has struggled to do its job. Decade after decade, class action lawsuits and front-page tragedies have given rise to frustration and calls for sweeping change. Again and again, child welfare leaders and advocates have resolved to fix the system. So why isn’t it “fixed” yet – and why is real, lasting improvement so hard to achieve? At its heart, the problem isn’t the people; it’s the “machinery.” Foster care’s flaws are baked into its infrastructure, and that infrastructure is long overdue for a change. |
| https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article269635046.html |
|
| NC: New lawsuit accuses DHHS of ‘warehousing’ NC children with disabilities in foster care |
| North Carolina Health News – December 08, 2022 |
| Disability Rights North Carolina and the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP have joined forces to help children of color with disabilities in the state’s foster care program get more community- and home-based treatment instead of being “warehoused” in locked psychiatric facilities that can be dangerous. The civil rights advocates filed a joint lawsuit on Tuesday in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina against Kody Kinsley, in his role as secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, on behalf of at least four children, the court-appointed guardians tapped to represent their interests and others similarly situated. |
| Also: Timothy B. v. Kody Kinsley: Civil Case No. 1:22-cv-1046: https://bit.ly/3has3OU |
| https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/12/08/warehousing-foster-children/ |
|
| NH: Weaver confirmed as acting N.H. health commissioner, DHHS faces staff shortages |
| New Hampshire Public Radio – December 07, 2022 |
| Lori Weaver, the deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, will lead the department in an acting capacity after Commissioner Lori Shibinette steps down later this month. The state’s Executive Council unanimously confirmed Weaver’s nomination as acting commissioner Wednesday. The state’s largest agency, DHHS has more than 3,200 positions and accounts for close to half of the state budget. Its responsibilities include mental health, child welfare, infectious-disease control, the state’s Medicaid program and other forms of public assistance. |
| https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2022-12-07/weaver-confirmed-as-acting-nh-health-commissioner-dhhs-faces-staff-shortages |
|
| NM: NM, Mexico sign pact on care for Mexican children |
| Albuquerque Journal – December 07, 2022 |
| How minor children of Mexican nationals who become involved with the state Children, Youth and Families Department are treated has been clarified under an updated memorandum of understanding signed by the Consulate of Mexico and the CYFD in a ceremony Tuesday morning. The MOU – a written agreement between New Mexico, and the Consulates of Mexico in Albuquerque and El Paso ensuring collaboration when handling Mexican youth in the country – was initially created and signed into effect in 2009. The document had not been updated since then. |
| https://www.abqjournal.com/2556009/nm-mexico-sign-pact-on-care-for-mexican-children-ex-updated-mou-si.html |
|
| OK: ‘This was our dream’: Ryan’s House Child Advocacy Center dedicated in McAlester (May require subscription) |
| McAlester News-Capital – December 07, 2022 |
| The Pittsburg County Abuse Response Abuse Effort welcomed advocates, government officials and more to a dedication ceremony of Ryan’s House – a new facility for child welfare professionals to provide services to abuse victims while making children feel safer. “To see where we’re at now from where we were is tremendous,” said PC-CARE Board President Donna Engleman. “This was our dream. That dream is coming to fruition after the organization received a $200,000 donation from the McGowan Family Foundation, led by Nancy and Mike McGowan, to purchase the former Vera McCoy House on Short Stonewall Avenue, near the Pittsburg County Justice Center. The McGowans made the donation so the Child Advocacy Center could move into its own building instead of renting smaller spaces in town. |
| https://www.mcalesternews.com/news/local_news/this-was-our-dream-ryan-s-house-child-advocacy-center-dedicated-in-mcalester/article_2fc01fc1-44b3-52a8-8f0f-58d9a49d1faf.html |
|
| WA: Foster parent told CPS she was moving across the state before alleged kidnapping (Includes video) |
| KING – December 01, 2022 |
| A foster parent who is accused of kidnapping a Mount Vernon 5-year-old told Child Protective Services (CPS) a week before the boy went missing that she was moving across the state. The Mount Vernon Police Department began searching for the boy, who is only identified as “ND” in probable cause documents, on Nov. 28. Foster parent Amanda M. Dinges, 35, met with the boy’s biological mother and CPS workers Nov. 15, according to probable cause documents. CPS recommended the boy’s biological mother have overnight visits for a few weeks starting on Nov. 25. The group planned a meeting in December to discuss expanding the visits. Brittany Tri, the biological mother’s lawyer, said she raised concerns about this foster placement in July, because “the foster family made some comments insinuating that the child was already a member of their family and that seeing his mother was too inconvenient and a nuisance to them.” |
| Also: “Child welfare” in Washington State: No AMBER Alert, no release of alleged kidnapper’s photo for days after a foster mother allegedly kidnaps a child in her care. And almost no media coverage, either (Opinion): https://www.nccprblog.org/2022/12/child-welfare-in-washington-state-no.html |
| https://bit.ly/3iNogYn |
|
| US: Better Care Solutions for Foster Youth with Mental Illnesses (Commentary) |
| Imprint – December 07, 2022 |
| When foster youth grow up and become adults, many of them can grow up with mental illnesses or disabilities. The foster care system needs to be reformed! Most foster youth don’t have a stable home or a loving family who care about them. I am proposing a mobile application for foster youth to use that will have resource families (foster parents) who have been screened and have passed the background check required by California. |
| https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/better-care-solutions-for-foster-youth-with-mental-illnesses/236545 |
|
| Canada: AFN chiefs adopt unified front, demand Ottawa pay ‘minimum’ of $20B to child welfare survivors |
| CBC News – December 07, 2022 |
| Assembly of First Nations chiefs agreed to set their differences aside and demand Canada immediately compensate people harmed by the underfunded on-reserve child-welfare system, in an 11th hour show of unity on Wednesday night in Ottawa. Delegates gathered for the AFN’s annual winter assembly heard impassioned pleas as they mulled whether to back a $20-billion class-action settlement agreement or the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which refused to approve the deal. But following an intervention from retired senator and former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Murray Sinclair, the chiefs agreed to combine competing resolutions and present the Canadian government with a unified front. |
| https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/afn-assembly-child-welfare-resolution-1.6678108 |
|
| We are always eager to get your feedback or to know how you are using Child Welfare in the News. To comment on this service, contact cwn@childwelfare.gov. |
|
| IN: Hunger rises following expiration of Child Tax Credit |
| Indiana Capital Chronicle – December 06, 2022 |
| The number of Hoosier children experiencing food insecurity increased following the expiration of the advanced Child Tax Credit and other pandemic relief measures earlier this year, according to those serving the state’s hungry. “As those supplemental resources came in, those were very vital to families and individuals… and so that did sustain many of them,” said Marcie Luhigo, the executive director of the Indiana division of the Midwest Food Bank. “But we did see an increased need… as those extra resources went away.” In the United States, which has a higher child poverty rate than many advanced countries, an estimated 35 million families could expect $250 per month for children under 18, or $300 monthly for children under 6 years of age. But those advanced credits weren’t renewed in December 2021, meaning that month’s payment were the last for families. |
| https://bit.ly/3VSHREw |
|
| NH: N.H. Department of Education looks to expand school choice eligibility next year |
| New Hampshire Public Radio – December 06, 2022 |
| The New Hampshire Department of Education is asking lawmakers to more than double the funding for the state’s Education Freedom Accounts in the next state budget, anticipating further growth of the program. The program offers state financial aid to families to pay for non-public school options. It’s currently open to families who make 300% or less of the federal poverty level, or $79,500 for a family of four. In a budget proposal to Gov. Chris Sununu, the department asked for roughly $29.9 million for the program next year as it seeks to broaden the eligibility requirements to include 10 more categories of students, including those who are in foster care or homeless, English language learners, students with disabilities and students attending the lowest-performing schools in the state. |
| https://www.nhpr.org/education/2022-12-06/nh-department-of-education-looks-to-expand-education-freedom-accounts-next-year |
|
| NY: New York City Expands Domestic Violence Intervention Program |
| Next City & Imprint – December 06, 2022 |
| Each week in neighborhoods across New York City, adults gather in groups to reflect on the role they’ve played in domestic violence – gatherings that are held across the country as a court-ordered intervention in child welfare cases. The perpetrators, who are overwhelmingly men, have a chance at reunifying with their families, and regaining custody lost after violent incidents. But first they have to show they’ve reflected on the past, and found a new way to parent. In early October, New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services expanded its local program, A Safe Way Forward, serving survivors of domestic violence, their children, and those who cause harm. The program has been offered since 2019 in the Bronx and on Staten Island and has since been expanded to serve 65 families in Brooklyn. |
| https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/new-york-city-expands-domestic-violence-intervention-program |
|
| OH: Community Support Critical for Keeping Kids Out of Foster Care (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 07, 2022 |
| Experts believe improving Ohio’s overwhelmed foster-care system requires implementing solutions to set families up for success long before a crisis occurs. Dr. Joe Luria, physician and vice president of mental health operations for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, said families who are either frustrated with the health care system or can no longer manage their child’s behaviors end up in the emergency room as a last resort. He wants to improve community education on mental health so caregivers can spot early warning signs of distress. |
| https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-12-07/childrens/community-support-critical-for-keeping-kids-out-of-foster-care/a81643-1 |
|
| US: Congress must advance critical home visiting policies that support children, families (Opinion) |
| Hill – December 06, 2022 |
| As we all know, it takes a village. But not all parents are surrounded by this support. Some parents may have even experienced trauma in their own childhood and want to do all they can to ensure a different upbringing for their children. That’s why the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program is so essential, and why pediatricians thank the U.S. House of Representatives for recently passing the bipartisan Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act of 2022 (H.R. 8876). With only a few weeks left this congressional session and the program set to expire on Dec. 16, it is critical that lawmakers do not miss this opportunity to ensure the policies in this legislation become law. |
| Also: H.R.8876: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8876 |
| https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3764067-congress-must-advance-critical-home-visiting-policies-that-support-children-families/ |
|
| US: Connect Our Kids Launches Healing Video Series for Youth in Foster Care (Press release) |
| Connect Our Kids – December 06, 2022 |
| Connect Our Kids, a non-profit organization pioneering technology to find families and create community for America’s most vulnerable children and young adults, launches the Connections Matter Academy, a trauma-informed video series designed for youth who are or have been in foster care. The video series was developed by four trauma therapists and 30 child welfare professionals with lived experience, in conjunction with Octopie, a cutting-edge animation studio. Each video focuses on different aspects of recovery from childhood trauma while teaching the skills needed to build a healthy, supportive network when moving into adulthood. As America’s only family search and engagement platform, Connect Our Kids provides free resources and tools for social workers, child advocates, and CASA volunteers to help children in foster care. |
| https://www.wicz.com/story/47875340/connect-our-kids-launches-healing-video-series-for-youth-in-foster-care |
|
| US: Drug overdose deaths during pregnancy and postpartum rose sharply in recent years, study shows |
| CNN – December 06, 2022 |
| More than 1,200 pregnant and postpartum women died of a drug overdose in the US in 2020, with overdoses involved in more than 1 in 6 pregnancy-associated deaths that year, according to a new study. Drug overdose deaths reached record levels nationwide during the Covid-19 pandemic, and research published Tuesday suggests an outsized effect on pregnant and recently pregnant people. |
| Also: US Trends in Drug Overdose Mortality Among Pregnant and Postpartum Persons, 2017-2020: https://bit.ly/3UylV0F |
| https://us.cnn.com/2022/12/06/health/pregnancy-drug-overdose-deaths-study |
|
| Canada: Improving access to justice for Canadians through judicial training on intimate partner and family violence in the family justice system (Press release) |
| Department of Justice Canada – December 06, 2022 |
| Family violence and intimate partner violence (IPV) are serious public health issues and can have immediate and long-term consequences for victims and their families, including physical, mental, cognitive and financial harms. In addition, seeking justice can be difficult and re-traumatizing for those affected by IPV and family violence. Improving the accessibility and equitability of our legal system is critical in supporting victims and their families. Today, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced that the Government of Canada is providing funding to the National Judicial Institute for judicial training on IPV and family violence in the family justice system. The National Judicial Institute is an independent, non-profit, judge-led organization that provides continuing education for federally, provincially and territorially appointed judges throughout Canada. |
| https://bit.ly/3VWjmqi |
|
| International: Box Announces $150,000 Box Impact Fund Grant Recipients (Press release) |
| Box, Inc. – December 06, 2022 |
| Box, Inc. (NYSE: BOX), the leading Content Cloud, today announced the grantees of the Box Impact Fund, which provides grants for digital transformation to nonprofit organizations doing critical work in the areas of child welfare, crisis response and the environment. The six grantees, including ChildFund Mexico, HERA Digital Health, IT WILL BE, Mobile Pathways, Replate, and Wastezon, each will receive grants for $25,000 – totaling $150,000. “At Box, we power how the world works together, and leading positive change has always been paramount to that mission,” said Corrie Conrad, Executive Director of Box.org and VP, Communities and Impact at Box. “This is why today we are thrilled to support six incredible organizations with digital transformation grants from the Box Impact Fund. We are proud to be enabling these organizations that are doing critical work in our Box.org focus areas of child welfare, crisis response and the environment to achieve their incredibly important missions.” |
| https://www.gurufocus.com/news/1905328/box-announces-150000-box-impact-fund-grant-recipients |
|
| International: Home Alone: When Is It OK To Leave Your Kids On Their Own? (Commentary) |
| Grazia – December 06, 2022 |
| The thought of leaving my eight-year-old alone in the house fills me with dread: she can hardly make her own breakfast without an intervention. My eldest, however, who will be 14 in February, keeps telling me he would be happy to be home alone and seems keen to have that independence and responsibility. Which is probably just as well as 14 seems to be the age where parents begin to feel they can give children a little more leeway too. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) advises, however, that children under 12 are not mature enough to be left alone for a long period of time and that children under 16 should not be left alone overnight. |
| https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/parenting/home-alone-when-is-it-ok/ |
|
| International: Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health Awarded $27.8 Million Through LEGO Foundation Build a World of Play Challenge (Press release) |
| Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health – December 06, 2022 |
| The Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health has been awarded $27.8 million by the LEGO Foundation through its Build a World of Play Challenge for the Center’s Family Spirit home-visiting program. The Center is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Center will use award to expand Family Spirit home-visiting program with 20 new sites and to develop Indigenous-designed outdoor playspaces with Indigenous partners in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. |
| https://www.newswise.com/articles/johns-hopkins-center-for-indigenous-health-awarded-27-8-million-through-lego-foundation-build-a-world-of-play-challenge?sc=rsla |
|
| International: USAID Announces Safe from the Start ReVisioned Initiative to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies (Press release) |
| USAID – December 06, 2022 |
| Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the U.S. Department of State launched Safe from the Start ReVisioned, an initiative that focuses on improving and expanding protection services for women and girls from the start of every conflict or disaster. Because crises like natural disasters or conflicts exacerbate conditions of inequality, they disproportionately impact women and girls. Support systems that are supposed to keep them safe – like families, communities, and governments – can fall apart in an emergency, drastically increasing the risks of gender-based violence (GBV) and making it hard to find desperately needed medical care or the services of social workers and counselors. Safe from the Start ReVisioned demonstrates the United States’ commitment to advance a gender-transformative approach in humanitarian response that promotes women’s leadership, prioritizes support and advocacy for GBV prevention and survivor-centered response programming, and shifts funding, influence, and decision-making power to women and girls within humanitarian response systems. |
| https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/dec-06-2022-usaid-announces-safe-from-the-start-revisioned-initiative |
|
| We are always eager to get your feedback or to know how you are using Child Welfare in the News. To comment on this service, contact cwn@childwelfare.gov. |
|
| FL: Grant to Legal Aid Service of Collier County Supports Project Assisting Over 400 At-Risk Children (Press release) |
| Legal Aid Service of Collier County – December 05, 2022 |
| Legal Aid Service of Collier County recently received a $10,000 grant from the Collier Community Foundation’s Disaster Assistance Fund to support its Legal Aid for Collier Kids Project, which is primarily funded annually by grants from the Naples Children & Education Foundation, founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival. The grant funds were applied toward the costs of sustaining the project operated by four attorneys and four paralegals and is dedicated to meeting the legal needs of at-risk children. |
| https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/grant-to-legal-aid-service-of-collier-county-supports-project-assisting-over-400-at-risk-children/ |
|
| LA: Louisiana child welfare employees say they’re overworked and underpaid, survey finds |
| NOLA.com – December 05, 2022 |
| Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services employees are overworked, underpaid, and must deal with insensitive and unqualified supervisors, they said in a comprehensive survey out Monday. The survey on employee perspectives, conducted by the state legislative auditor at lawmakers’ request after three children died on DCFS’ watch, suggests the agency has saddled workers with excessive caseloads, making it impossible for them to adequately monitor every child they encounter. The findings do jibe with testimonies from current and former DCFS staffers, who have long complained about agency workloads and morale. |
| Also: Child Welfare Job Satisfaction Survey: Department of Children and Family Services, Performance Audit Services Informational Report: https://bit.ly/3P8Okcn |
| https://bit.ly/3urCdO3 |
|
| ME: Court denies lawmakers’ request for Maine DHHS child death records (Includes video) |
| Bangor Daily News and Maine Public – December 05, 2022 |
| A Superior Court justice has denied a request by the Maine Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee to obtain confidential child welfare records. The committee sued to gain access to the records of four children who died in 2021 as it investigated the state’s child protective services. Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services had refused to provide the records to the committee due to state and federal confidentiality laws. |
| https://www.bangordailynews.com/2022/12/05/politics/court-denies-request-maine-dhhs-child-death-records/ |
|
| MI: Proposal would permanently increase child tax credit: How much families would get (Includes video) (May require subscription) |
| Detroit Free Press – December 05, 2022 |
| Child poverty was driven to an unprecedented low last year, thanks in part to a bigger-than-ever child tax credit. As U.S. lawmakers enter their lame-duck session, they’ll have to decide whether to permanently expand the credits, which dropped back to pre-pandemic levels this year. Advocates for children say doing so could keep more than half a million Michigan kids out of poverty. Pandemic-era changes to the child tax credit were part of the reason child poverty dropped by half in 2021, to a historic low of around 5%. But the Michigan League for Public Policy points out what it calls a flaw in the credit’s design: It was never available to families with the lowest incomes. |
| https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/05/child-tax-credit-proposal-poverty-michigan/69692953007/ |
|
| MN: In Minnesota, ‘Lifebooks’ Create Personal Archives for Young People in Out-of-Home Care |
| Imprint – December 05, 2022 |
| The records Arnisia Coleman has of her childhood are mostly court documents. Judges’ orders on foster care placements dating back to when she was 3. Social worker reports. Minutes and motions from court hearings. All too often, if foster youth like Coleman have records at all, they detail allegations of parental abuse and neglect, traumatic encounters with child protective services and the court hearings that dictated their lives. There are typically few mementos of those who loved them and the places they visited as children, just for fun. Those overlooked but vital details of life are the focus of Power of Story, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit working to preserve the personal histories of young people who have experienced out-of-home care. |
| https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/lifebooks-create-personal-archives-for-young-people-in-out-of-home-care/236439 |
|
| OH: The Ohio Children Services Transformation Plan came to fruition in 2019 – here’s what has happened so far (Includes video) |
| Spectrum News 1 – December 05, 2022 |
| In 2019, Gov. Mike DeWine established the Children Services Transformation Advisory Council. The council initially made 37 recommendations, which 16 of them have been fully implemented and 13 are partially implemented. Several of those recommendations addressed foster care and adoption. In a status update, provided in late November (2022), the Advisory Council made six recommendations addressing adoption. DeWine said that he will also allocate funds in the 2023 budget to ensure every county has at least one designated employee to focus on adoption. |
| Also: Children Services Transformation Progress Updates: https://bit.ly/3VTpzTD |
| https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/dayton/news/2022/12/05/ohio-children-services-gets-upgrades- |
|
| TN: Tennessee DCS foster applications taking over a year to review (Includes video) |
| WKRN – December 05, 2022 |
| It’s no secret the Tennessee Dept. of Children’s Services is struggling. “There’s just not enough people, the process isn’t efficient,” future foster parent Carson Yates said. “People are getting stuck.” “I don’t want to put this on the DCS workers because the people we’ve interacted with, they’ve really been amazing and really heroes for working in such a difficult system for very little reward,” Yates said. With that being said, it’s very clear there is a need for more DCS funding – something Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tennessee) acknowledged himself. |
| https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/tennessee-dcs-foster-applications-taking-over-a-year-to-review/ |
|
| UT: Utah lieutenant governor joins other state leaders in support of Indian Child Welfare Act |
| KSL – December 05, 2022 |
| Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has joined a number of Utah leaders voicing support for the Indian Child Welfare Act and enacting legal protections for Native American adoptions at the state level. The law, often referred to as ICWA, was passed in 1978 to safeguard against extensive forced separation of Native children from their families and communities. “A tribe is a political and governmental classification, not a racial one,” Henderson tweeted. “Utah supports the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and will seek to codify it to protect the eight federally recognized Native American tribes in our state.” Codifying ICWA in Utah law has widespread support, including from Utah’s eight federally recognized tribes, the Indian Law Section of the Utah State Bar and the Utah Native American Legislative Liaison Committee, which voted unanimously in November to introduce an ICWA bill in the 2023 legislative session. |
| Also: Native American Legislative Liaison Committee 2022: https://le.utah.gov/committee/committee.jsp?year=2022&com=SPENAL |
| https://www.ksl.com/article/50532514/utah-lieutenant-governor-joins-other-state-leaders-in-support-of-indian-child-welfare-act |
|
| VA: Report blasts Virginia schools’ handling of sex assaults |
| Associated Press – December 05, 2022 |
| A special grand jury convened at the request of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has issued a scathing report against a northern Virginia school system accusing it of mishandling a student who sexually assaulted classmates at two different high schools last year. The grand jury report accuses the Loudoun County Public Schools superintendent of lying to the public to cover up what occurred, and authorities of ignoring multiple warning signs that could have prevented an assault. |
| Also: Report of the Special Grand Jury on the Investigation of Loudoun County Public Schools: CL-22-3129: https://www.loudoun.gov/SpecialGrandJury |
| https://apnews.com/article/virginia-sexual-assault-c0e5184629edc0573c62a0c695aec2c6 |
|
| US: Best Interests Standard is a Judicial False Idol (Opinion) |
| Imprint – December 06, 2022 |
| Last month, at the oral argument in Brackeen v. Haaland, Chief Justice John Roberts repeatedly expressed concerns that the Indian Child Welfare Act was displacing the traditional “best interest of the child” standard used to make decisions for children in foster care. In fact, throughout the argument, Roberts and several of his colleagues suggested that the entire foundation of the child protection system would be undermined if judges were not permitted to apply the best interests standard in child welfare proceedings. We should use the precariousness of ICWA as our invitation to rewrite child protection statutes and reject the falsity that the best interests of the child is an actual legal standard. |
| Also: Haaland v. Brackeen: On Writs of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: Brief of the American Civil Liberties Union and Fourteen Affiliates as Amici Curiae in Support of Federal and Tribal Defendants: https://bit.ly/3KieSWk |
| https://imprintnews.org/opinion/best-interests-standard-judicial-false-idol/236509 |
|
| US: Queen Sugar Tackles The Child Welfare System in its Final Season (Commentary) |
| Imprint – December 05, 2022 |
| After living in the Los Angeles County foster care system for over 16 years in various foster homes, group homes, and shelters, I am no stranger to Queen Sugar’s child welfare storyline. Even though Queen Sugar shows one way the child welfare system can be portrayed and does an accurate job, it is important to note there are over 400,000 kids in foster care, and over 400,000 different ways that the child welfare storyline in Queen Sugar could have aired. Because each youth has a different experience, there is always a good, bad, and ugly story. |
| https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/queen-sugar-tackles-the-child-welfare-system-in-its-final-season/236472 |
|
| US: Some state welfare policies linked to more foster care |
| Ohio State News – December 05, 2022 |
| States that restricted access to federal welfare benefits had higher numbers of child neglect victims and more children who were placed in foster care, a new national study found. About 29,000 fewer children may have entered foster care during the 12 years of the study if states had made it easier for low-income families to receive cash assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the findings suggest. Michelle Johnson-Motoyama, co-author of the study and professor of social work at The Ohio State University conducted the study with Donna Ginther of the University of Kansas. Their results were published today (Dec. 5, 2022) in the journal Health Affairs. |
| Also: Associations Between State TANF Policies, Child Protective Services Involvement, And Foster Care Placement: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00743 |
| https://news.osu.edu/some-state-welfare-policies-linked-to-more-foster-care/ |
|
| Australia: Child protection workers racist towards Indigenous families, commission hears (May require free registration) |
| Age – December 06, 2022 |
| Child protection workers within the former Department of Health and Human Services were racist and disparaging towards the Aboriginal families and community-controlled organisation they were supposed to be working with to keep children safe, the Yoorrook Justice Commission has heard. The historic truth-telling inquiry was also told yesterday that Aboriginal children in Victoria living under permanent placement orders with non-Indigenous foster parents and caregivers were at risk of becoming disconnected from their Indigenous culture. “Every problem we have today in Victoria’s child protection and criminal justice systems is a direct result of centuries of racist policies, legislation and reinforced discriminatory practice. So many inquiries where successive governments listen but take no action,” Muriel Bamblett, chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) said. |
| https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/child-protection-workers-racist-towards-indigenous-families-commission-hears-20221206-p5c409.html |
|
| We are always eager to get your feedback or to know how you are using Child Welfare in the News. To comment on this service, contact cwn@childwelfare.gov. |
|
| AL: 2 Alabama church daycare workers convicted of hitting, shoving kids |
| AL.com – December 02, 2022 |
| Two former workers at a prominent Alabama church daycare have been convicted of multiple counts of child abuse. A jury on Friday found Leah Livingston, 58, and Alice Sorrells, 62, guilty after almost five hours of deliberations, said 19th Judicial Circuit District Attorney C.J. Robinson. The trial began on Monday. A third worker, Susan Baker, is also under indictment. Her case is set to go to trial on Feb. 3. The abuse involved up to 11 children under the age of 2 at Journey Church of the River Region in Prattville. |
| https://www.al.com/news/2022/12/2-alabama-church-daycare-workers-convicted-of-hitting-shoving-kids.html |
|
| AZ: & UT: Officials took girls from a historically polygamous community on the Utah-Arizona border. Then the girls went missing. |
| Salt Lake Tribune – December 02, 2022 |
| After federal agents descended on Colorado City in September and searched the homes of Samuel Bateman, the leader of a small new offshoot of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Arizona child welfare officials removed a group of young girls from among his followers. The nine girls, ranging in age from 11 to 16, had been in Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) custody since then, and had been staying in group homes in the suburbs of Phoenix. Last Sunday, eight of them went missing. |
| Also: What happened to Bateman’s underage wives since he was arrested: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/12/04/what-happened-batemans-underage/ |
| https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/12/02/officials-took-girls/ |
|
| FL: Florida defied public records law on child’s death. Taxpayers’ tab: $376,000 (Opinion) (Includes audio) (Includes video) (May require subscription) |
| Miami Herald – December 02, 2022 |
| Child welfare authorities’ refusal, for well over a year, to hand over documents detailing the state’s failed efforts to protect a Miami toddler will cost Florida taxpayers $376,665 – money that otherwise could have been spent on services for at-risk children. It is one of several public records battles that have played out during the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Barbara Areces, who earlier this year censured the Department of Children & Families for defying the state’s open government laws, awarded attorneys for the Miami Herald and other news organizations the money in an order that closes out a nearly two-year litigation. |
| https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article269499212.html |
|
| MA: The Argument: Should Massachusetts raise the maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 20? (Requires subscription) (Opinion) |
| Boston Globe – December 02, 2022 |
| Who belongs in front of a juvenile court judge? Having presided in juvenile sessions for many years, I have a pretty good idea: Those whose youth gives them great potential for change; those who will be helped by the education, counseling, positive youth development philosophy, and other rehabilitative practices of the state Department of Youth Services; and those who – given the right opportunities – will cease to break the law as they mature. |
| https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/02/metro/argument-should-massachusetts-raise-maximum-age-juvenile-court-jurisdiction-20/ |
|
| MI: ICWA, treaty rights among tribal summit issues |
| Traverse City Record Eagle – December 02, 2022 |
| Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the Indian Child Welfare Act, a 1978 U.S. federal law currently that governs jurisdiction on the removal of Native American children from their families in adoption and foster care cases, that is currently under Supreme Court review. The act was crafted to address systemic injustice, Harris said. “For centuries, Native children were torn away from their families and their communities. These acts were not only violations of basic human rights for those children and their families but also an attack on the very existence of tribal nations.” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said her agency and the federal government were committed to addressing intergenerational trauma in Indian Country. |
| https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/icwa-treaty-rights-among-tribal-summit-issues/article_6b80f4f8-71bb-11ed-a04c-e7ae8a6332b5.html |
|
| NE: Black, Native children over-represented in Nebraska child welfare system (Commentary) (Includes audio) (Includes video) (May require subscription) |
| Omaha World-Herald – December 04, 2022 |
| Growing up, Terrell McKinney didn’t cross paths with the child welfare system directly. But the North Omaha native knew plenty of other children who had gone through an abuse or neglect investigation or been removed from their homes and placed in foster care. That’s hardly a surprise, given that more than half of Black children in the United States experience a child welfare investigation before they reach adulthood, a higher rate than for any other racial or ethnic group, according to a 2017 national study. In addition, more than 1 in 10 Black children wind up in foster care before age 18, as do 1 in 6 Native American children – two and three times the rate for children overall, another national study found. |
Also: Nebraska child welfare system taking alternative approach with more troubled families (Includes audio): https://bit.ly/3XR6LXb
Also: LB1000 – Change provisions relating to child abuse and neglect under the Child Protection and Family Safety Act and the Nebraska Juvenile Code: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=46901 |
| https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/black-native-children-over-represented-in-nebraska-child-welfare-system/article_25a7643e-7004-11ed-90c1-97b197f0ec42.html |
|
| NM: Money changes everything. Except child outcomes in New Mexico. (Opinion) |
| Grant County Beat – December 02, 2022 |
| Since 2020, New Mexico has had a permanent fund for early childhood education and care. It is called the Early Childhood Education and Care Fund. Started with $300 million, it has already reached $2 billion in two years. But that was not enough for early childhood “advocates.” No. In what will only be the tip of the iceberg for raiding our state’s primary permanent fund, Constitutional Amendment 1 passed overwhelmingly to allow the Legislature to raid the state permanent fund for early childhood (voters, what were you thinking?!). This is in addition to record regular distributions from the permanent fund, and a 450% increase in early childhood spending over the last decade. Yet, no matter what list you look at, our state comes in last for child welfare. We have been throwing money – over half a billion last year – at early childhood, and our outcomes remain dismal. And until our children succeed, our state will not. |
| https://www.grantcountybeat.com/columns/opinion/one-woman-s-viewpoint/75494-money-changes-everything-except-child-outcomes-in-new-mexico |
|
| NY: NYC children’s agency buries report that details racial bias in its ranks |
| Gothamist – December 02, 2022 |
| In 2020, the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) commissioned an internal audit, which involved interviews with dozens of agency employees. The interviews revealed that workers themselves feel the agency’s mandate to ensure the welfare of the city’s children is severely undermined by systemic racial bias, resulting in the targeting of poor Black and brown families and the constant threat that their children will be taken from them. A draft of the report was buried, however, until the legal advocacy group Bronx Defenders submitted a freedom of information request to obtain it and then shared it with the New York Times, which first published the findings this week. |
Also: Draft: New York City Administration for Children’s Services Racial Equity Participatory Action Research & System Audit: Findings and Opportunities (May require subscription): https://www.bronxdefenders.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DRAFT_NIS_ACS_Final_Report_12.28.20.pdf
Also: Is N.Y.’s Child Welfare System Racist? Some of Its Own Workers Say Yes. (Commentary) (May require subscription): https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/nyregion/nyc-acs-racism-abuse-neglect.html |
| https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-childrens-agency-buries-report-that-details-racial-bias-in-its-ranks |
|
| OK: Paycom donates $125,000 to support foster families and homeless youth (Includes video) |
| KFOR – December 02, 2022 |
| Paycom Software, Inc. recently donated $125,000 to provide support for foster families and homeless youth here in Oklahoma and across the country. Paycom presented a $75,000 check to The Anna’s House Foundation, a local nonprofit with a mission of providing immediate, stable and loving homes for Oklahoma children in state custody. |
| https://kfor.com/news/local/paycom-donates-125000-to-support-foster-families-and-homeless-youth/ |
|
| PA: Hina Naveed: The child welfare system targets targets the poor (Opinion) (May require subscription) |
| Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – December 05, 2022 |
| When I graduated from nursing school five years ago, I worked for an agency in New York City’s foster care system. I believed I was helping families. But what I saw there was not a system working for children’s best interests, but one that was quick to separate children from their parents because they were living in poverty. I’ve since gone to law school and now work as a human rights advocate. For the past year, as a fellow with Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, I have been investigating the system I once worked for – not just in New York, but across the country. |
| https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2022/12/05/cps-child-protective-services-welfare-poverty/stories/202212050007 |
|
| WA: Guaranteed basic income boosted by Washington DSHS |
| Center Square – December 02, 2022 |
| Dr. Lori Pfingst, senior director of poverty reduction for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, touted the feasibility and benefits of implementing guaranteed basic income in Washington state during a Friday hearing of the House Housing, Human Services & Veterans Committee. Guaranteed basic income is a cash payment distributed to a targeted group of individuals or households that is recurring, unconditional, and unrestricted. It is meant to fill in cracks in existing public assistance programs. |
| https://bit.ly/3Ha2cRG |
|
| US: Study examines ties between state TANF policies, Child Protective Services and foster care (Press release) |
| University of Kansas – December 05, 2022 |
| The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which was established in 1996 and renewed in 2005, constituted a major reform of the U.S. welfare system. But since its renewal, few studies have examined its effects on children. “The social safety net matters,” says Donna Ginther, the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas. “And having access to the social safety net has an effect on child abuse.” |
| Also: How Do State Policies Affect Access to TANF Benefits?: https://ipsr.ku.edu/research/projects.php?arch=1 |
| https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-12-state-tanf-policies-child-foster.html |
|
| US: Fixing foster care wouldn’t actually be that hard – or that expensive (Opinion) (Includes video) |
| Salon – December 04, 2022 |
| Ambroz, a child welfare advocate, spent years of his youth homeless and in foster care. He describes walking unseen among New York City tourists “still warm from wherever they got their last hot chocolates,” hunkering down with his mother and siblings “in the colorless crevices of the city (as) gray people fading to nothing.” Ambroz retells small kindnesses during those years – moments that communicated, “You matter. We care.” But they were too small, too few, and too far between.Ambroz’s tale is, sadly, not unusual. At any moment, over 400,000 kids are in foster care, a number which is both under- and over-inclusive. Some children suffer ongoing abuse without being identified by the system. |
| https://www.salon.com/2022/12/04/fixing-foster-care-wouldnt-actually-be-that-hard-or-that-expensive/ |
|
| US: Fostering tragedy: Experts say system designed to protect children can break up families (Opinion) (Includes video) |
| CBS News – December 04, 2022 |
| Unless the treatment of a child makes headlines (for example, when a child dies), Americans rarely think about the agencies charged with child protection. So, the system that handles more than 3.5 million cases a year gets little public scrutiny, in part because the people most affected are poor. |
| https://www.cbsnews.com/news/experts-say-a-system-designed-to-protect-children-is-breaking-up-families/ |
|
| US: Congress must strengthen the legal rights of foster children (Opinion) |
| Hill – December 02, 2022 |
| Congress must reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) before the end of this session, with long-awaited language to acknowledge and protect children’s legal rights. I was only 18 months old when I was removed from my parents and placed in foster care. Like many of the roughly 250,000 children in America who enter foster care each year, my home was plagued with substance abuse and domestic violence that threatened my safety and well-being. My mother, who was only 22, struggled to care for my two older brothers and me, and had another baby on the way. In an attempt to protect her life, she dropped us off at a babysitter’s house and never came back. She thought it would be best to separate from us while my father was served a restraining order in case violence ensued. After several days, the babysitter became worried and made a fateful call to Child Protective Services. |
| https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3757069-congress-must-strengthen-the-legal-rights-of-foster-children/ |
|
| US: Responding to Human Trafficking among Children and Youth in Foster Care and Missing from Foster Care (Press release) (Includes audio) |
| U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families – December 01, 2022 |
| The purpose of this joint Information Memorandum (IM) from the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF); Children’s Bureau (CB); Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB); and the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to elevate resources available to assist states in meeting legal requirements intended to protect children and youth in the child welfare system, from negative outcomes associated with human trafficking. The IM provides an overview of federal statutes related to human trafficking among children and youth in the child welfare system and highlights resources to meet those requirements. Resources include guidance, best practices, recommendations, training, and technical assistance. |
| https://www.acf.hhs.gov/policy-guidance/responding-human-trafficking-among-children-and-youth-foster-care-and-missing |
|
| Ethiopia: Humanitarian situation in Ethiopia remains dire: UN agency (Includes video) |
| I3 Investor – December 02, 2022 |
| The humanitarian situation in Ethiopia remains dire due to the failure of the main production season that severely deteriorates household food security, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned. According to UNICEF, an active cholera outbreak is also ongoing in some areas in the Oromia and Somali regions, with 379 cholera cases and 17 deaths reported as of November 8. The use of unsafe water from contaminated water points, limited access to water and sanitation services, poor hygiene practices, including open defecation and lack of water treatment options have contributed to the rapid spread of the outbreak, it said. UNICEF said in addition to the cholera outbreak, the drought situation is creating pressing child protection needs and concerns such as separation of children from families, psychosocial distress as well as various forms of violence including gender-based violence and harmful practices, such as child marriage. |
| https://klse.i3investor.com/web/blog/detail/kianweiaritcles/2022-12-03-story-h-304634768-Humanitarian_situation_in_Ethiopia_remains_dire_UN_agency |
|
| International: Child Marriage Links to Climate Change (Commentary) |
| Psychology Today – December 02, 2022 |
| Global warming and climate change are happening at an unprecedented rate. Women and girls are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which can include poverty, displacement, and lack of education. These all relate to, and can exacerbate, gender inequality. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, some of the countries most affected by climate change are Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi; all of which have astounding rates of child marriage. In these countries, 53 percent, 34 percent, and 42 percent (respectively) of girls are married before they turn age 18, often bearing children in their early teens. |
| https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-day-slavery/202212/child-marriage-links-climate-change |
|
| We are always eager to get your feedback or to know how you are using Child Welfare in the News. To comment on this service, contact cwn@childwelfare.gov. |
|
| CA: The MolinaCares Accord Donates $50,000 to SHIELDS For Families in Support of Innovative Programs to Combat Perinatal Depression (Press release) |
| MolinaCares Accord – December 01, 2022 |
| The MolinaCares Accord (“MolinaCares”), in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of California (“Molina”), has granted $50,000 to SHIELDS for Families (“SHIELDS”), a community-based non-profit serving south Los Angeles, in support of programs to combat perinatal depression among mothers of color. Part of the MolinaCares California Equity and Accessibility Initiative launched in 2021 to advance health equity across the state of California, the grant supports an ongoing partnership with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and their Health Equity Challenge (HEC). Through the HEC, Alma Lopez, a UCLA graduate student, submitted a proposal that SHIELDS will help implement. |
| https://bit.ly/3B2wuSs |
|
| CO: You don’t need a task force to tell you why institutionalized children run (Opinion) |
| Youth Today – December 02, 2022 |
| Residential treatment has always failed, as one scandal after another, after another after another and a pile of rigorous research makes clear. The residential treatment model is based on the idea that if you put young people who supposedly have the worst behavior problems all in one place right at the age when they are most vulnerable to peer pressure, they will get better. Colorado loves this approach. Colorado institutionalizes children at a rate 60% above the national average. |
| https://youthtoday.org/2022/12/you-dont-need-a-task-force-to-tell-you-why-institutionalized-children-run/ |
|
| GA: Child’s death, other breakdowns raise questions for DFCS |
| Atlanta Journal-Constitution – December 01, 2022 |
| Jayceion’s death is a consequence of systemic failures that are plaguing the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), according to a memo sent in July by the state’s child welfare ombudsman and recently obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The memo written by the Office of the Child Advocate, or OCA, identifies 15 systemic breakdowns within DFCS and alleges its workers are no longer adequately responding to child abuse cases. DFCS, an agency under the Department of Human Services, is responsible for investigating child abuse, and finding homes for neglected children. “The lack of appropriate response and absence of documentation in these very serious cases is alarming,” wrote Jenifer L. Carreras, deputy director of the OCA. DHS vehemently disagrees, saying that OCA failed to provide any evidence backing up its claim of widespread, systemic failures within DFCS that leave children in danger. According to an internal review conducted by DHS, there was “disturbing” mismanagement in Jayceion’s case and his death was an isolated tragedy. |
| https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/childs-death-other-breakdowns-raise-questions-for-dfcs/C5UUBQXX4ND6TGIQTMARJLFYSE/ |
|
| MI: Emergency shelter for young girls opens in Saginaw (Includes video) |
| WNEM – December 01, 2022 |
| A new emergency shelter in Saginaw is opening up its doors to serve young girls. TV5 spoke with organizers of the House of Love and they said they’re eager to provide support to young girls who need it. Gaskew-Collins is the Child Welfare Director for the House of Love emergency shelter in Saginaw. The shelter aims to provide quality, 24-hour short-term residential care for girls between the ages of six and 17 that have been removed from their homes. |
| https://www.wnem.com/2022/12/01/emergency-shelter-young-girls-opens-saginaw/ |
|
| MO: Boarding school leader gets temporary order to keep name off Missouri abuse registry (Includes audio) (Includes video) (May require subscription) |
| Kansas City Star – December 01, 2022 |
| Agape Boarding School’s longtime leader recently filed for a temporary restraining order against the state to keep his name off Missouri’s Central Registry for child abuse and neglect. Bryan Clemensen filed a motion for the restraining order on Nov. 22 in Cole County Circuit Court. The next day, Judge Brian Stumpe granted the order and the Missouri Department of Social Services, which maintains the registry, received a summons. It is not clear, however, whether Clemensen’s name was ever placed on the registry or if his request for the temporary restraining order was to keep it from going on. Stumpe’s ruling said the order would expire in 15 days if not further extended by the court. |
| https://bit.ly/3umI1Zo |
|
| NM: New Mexico’s child abuse and neglect problem by the numbers (Includes video) |
| KRQE – December 01, 2022 |
| KRQE News 13’s latest investigative report highlights a tragic example of what some children in New Mexico’s foster care system face. New Mexico has seen several high-profile stories of child abuse in the last decade, but just how frequent are cases of child abuse and neglect inside the state? A federally sponsored nationwide study revealed that around 600,000 children are victimized in the U.S. each year. In New Mexico alone there were 7,050 children who were abused or neglected in 2020, according to the research compiled from child protective service reports. |
| Also: State Fact Sheet: New Mexico: https://caseyfamilypro.wpenginepowered.com/media/new-mexico-fact-sheet-2021.pdf |
| https://www.krqe.com/plus/data-reporting/how-often-does-child-abuse-neglect-occur-in-new-mexico/ |
|
| NY: Severely Mentally Ill Teens Sent to NY Foster Home Unable to Treat Them, Leading to Scares (Includes video) |
| WNBC – December 01, 2022 |
| There is a dire shortage of psychiatric care for adolescents that has led to conflict and crime in a Westchester County town. And while residents demand a solution, the teens meanwhile are being denied the help they so desperately need, putting them at risk of hurting themselves – or others. Dozens of teens, including the one seen in the Facebook video, with serious mental health issues are increasingly being sent to live at the Pleasantville Cottage School, which is run by the nonprofit JCCA, formerly known as the Jewish Child Care Association. The adolescents are schizophrenic, suicidal, possibly even homicidal, according to program CEO Ron Richter – which they are not equipped to adequately provide care for. “They’re very sick kids,” Richter said. “We’re not licensed or funded to provide the level of care to children who are psychiatrically sick the way we have them now.” |
| https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/severely-mentally-ill-teens-sent-to-ny-foster-home-unable-to-treat-them-leading-to-scares/3980862/ |
|
| OH: Child victims of crime, abuse to get help at new center backed by county, others (Includes video) |
| Dayton Daily News – December 02, 2022 |
| The finishing touches are being placed on a Miami County Child Advocacy Center where professional services will be available for children who are victims of crime and/or abuse, and their families. The center is located at Isaiah’s Place, a foster care agency in Troy, whose board agreed to provide the office space from which staff including Jennifer Knisley, who conducts child interviews, can work. Child interviews and other related services the center will provide previously were obtained at an out-of-county agency that no longer is available for local agencies’ use, she said. Among those services were medical and mental health supports. |
| https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/child-victims-of-crime-abuse-to-get-help-at-new-center-backed-by-county-others/XOSCVXHSDJG7LBLJIPDKEPVWGE/ |
|
| TN: Hospitals becoming a ‘dumping ground’ for kids in DCS custody (Includes video) |
| WTVF – December 01, 2022 |
| Children in state custody are spending months in Tennessee hospitals because the Department of Children’s Services has no place else to put them. The children have been medically cleared but tie up hospital beds that could be used by others, especially during times of heightened demand. Some hospital officials tell NewsChannel 5 Investigates they are becoming a dumping ground for kids DCS cannot place. |
| https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/hospitals-becoming-a-dumping-ground-for-kids-in-dcs-custody |
|
| TX: Foster Care Failed to Protect Two Texas Teens from Sexual Assault (Includes video) |
| Imprint – December 01, 2022 |
| The two young teenagers who authorities say were sexually assaulted in Marble Falls, Texas in October were under the care and custody of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services, The Imprint has learned. The foster youth are among the hundreds who have been supervised in makeshift settings in hotels, offices and temporary shelters. |
| https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-care-failed-to-protect-two-texas-teens-from-sexual-assault/236451 |
|
| WA: Crosswalk moves into a neighborhood |
| Fig Tree – December 01, 2022 |
| Beth McRae, who began volunteering with the Volunteers of America (VOA) of the Inland Northwest Crosswalk Youth Shelter five years ago to provide meals for homeless youth downtown, now raises funds for its programs as director of development since 2020. Another focus of fundraising is what she called Crosswalk 2.0, a new building planned at 3002 E. Mission near Spokane Community College. By the summer of 2023, VOA will break ground on that building which will offer space to provide resources to help young people accomplish their goals and because of safety concerns downtown. In the new location, Crosswalk will continue the original emergency, night-by-night shelter and wrap-around services on the first floor and offer longer-stay shelter rooms for youth ages 16 to 20 who are engaged in educational programs at high schools, community colleges or four-year universities. |
| https://www.thefigtree.org/dec22/120122crosswalknewbldg.html |
|
| US: The Child Welfare System Needs an Overhaul (Opinion) |
| Progressive Magazine – December 01, 2022 |
| I’ve since gone to law school and now work as a human rights advocate. For the past year, as a fellow with Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, I have been investigating the system I once worked for-not just in New York, but across the country. We found that child welfare systems punish families experiencing poverty by removing children and charging parents with “neglect.” Our analysis of nationwide child welfare data showed alarming racial and ethnic disparities. Black and Indigenous families are more likely to be investigated than white families. Single mothers of color are most frequently held responsible for neglect. Parents are often not told their rights or connected with an attorney early enough in the process. Most referrals to the system do not involve abuse. The overwhelming majority of cases, nearly 75 percent in 2019, include allegations of state-defined neglect, which is inextricably linked to poverty. Parents struggling with limited resources, unable to pay rent or secure stable housing, or working long hours to make ends meet, are judged unfit and neglectful. |
| Also: “If I Wasn’t Poor, I Wouldn’t Be Unfit”: The Family Separation Crisis in the US Child Welfare System: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2022/11/us_crd1122web_3.pdf |
| https://progressive.org/op-eds/the-child-welfare-system-needs-an-overhaul/ |
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| We are always eager to get your feedback or to know how you are using Child Welfare in the News. To comment on this service, contact cwn@childwelfare.gov. |
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| CO: Foundation Launches Initiative to ‘Disrupt’ Child Welfare (Requires subscription) (Includes video) |
| Imprint – November 30, 2022 |
| The Colorado-based Morgridge Family Foundation launched a $1.4 million project on Monday to expand child welfare research and professional training across the country, according to a press release. With the goal of keeping families together, the initiative seeks to find solutions to pressing issues in the child welfare system by partnering with child welfare organizations, leaders, policy experts and those impacted by the system. |
| https://imprintnews.org/subscriber-content/foundation-launches-initiative-to-disrupt-child-welfare/236390 |
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| FL: Youngsters transitioning out of foster care find home at Saints House (Includes video) |
| WFOR – November 30, 2022 |
| Saints House opens its doors Thursday, and the founder, a former foster child herself, says not everyone has the right resources as they transition out of foster care. And this home will help. A teary eye start at Wednesday’s ribbon cutting ended with cheers. Shavon Saint Preux had a vision to help other foster children like herself and that’s where Saints House came to fruition. “Once you age out of foster care the odds are scarce, as many become homeless, pregnant, in jail. By God’s grace, I was able to make it on the other side. So, I’m just here to get back to the youth who are the shoes that I was once in.” |
| https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/fresh-start-for-youngsters-at-saints-house/ |
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| IL: A crisis of care |
| Illinois Times – December 01, 2022 |
| The number of foster children in Sangamon County is near an all-time high and there are not enough homes for them to live in, the executive director of The James Project shared with Illinois Times recently. The shortage has become so acute that children are bunking on cots in Department of Children and Family Services offices and emotionally well children are being housed in a Springfield mental health facility, Olivia Hayse, executive director of the James Project, said. |
| https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/a-crisis-of-care/Content?oid=16109433 |
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| IL: DCFS reports progress after hundreds of kids hospitalized longer than necessary (Includes video) |
| WGN – November 30, 2022 |
| Hundreds of kids spent days, weeks and months locked in mental health hospitals longer that was medically necessary in recent years because Illinois’ child welfare agency had nowhere to put them. After WGN Investigates first reported on the problem in 2021, lawmakers cried foul, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services vowed to speed up the process of finding appropriate placements for kids in its care. The agency now reports the number of youths who are hospitalized “beyond medical necessity” is down by more than 80%. |
| https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/dcfs-reports-progress-after-hundreds-of-kids-hospitalized-longer-than-necessary/ |
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| IN: Clarksville welcomes new family support resource (Includes video) |
| News and Tribune – November 30, 2022 |
| Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth of Indiana (SAFY) opened a location in Clarksville on Tuesday. SAFY is a human resources agency that provides foster care, adoption, mental health services and family-preservation services. They have locations all around the nation with this location being the latest in Indiana. The new location, 1400 Main St. Clarksville, is focusing on foster care and family preservation programs as it gets settled in to the new location. |
| https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/clarksville-welcomes-new-family-support-resource/article_595c58a2-70e5-11ed-b1ee-b32251144457.html |
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| NY: New York City Expands Domestic Violence Intervention Program (Includes video) |
| Imprint – November 30, 2022 |
| In early October, New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services expanded its local program, A Safe Way Forward, serving survivors of domestic violence, their children, and those who cause harm. The program has been offered since 2019 in the Bronx and on Staten Island and has since been expanded to serve 65 families in Brooklyn. Parents are mandated to attend the sessions when court orders find the primary risk to a child’s safety is domestic violence. But Kelly Coyne, deputy chief program officer at the nonprofit Safe Horizon, which runs the service, said all family members benefit – and the effects can be generational. |
| https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/new-york-city-expands-domestic-violence-intervention-program/236330 |
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| NY: The New York Times rediscovers wrongful removal, class bias and racial bias in child welfare – and gets a lot right. But the story is marred by some glaring errors. (Opinion) |
| NCCPR Child Welfare Blog – November 30, 2022 |
| In the late 1990s and the first years of the new millennium, the Times Metro desk produced outstanding journalism about family policing. But for most of the past two decades, with one exception, the Times has ignored wrongful removal and, sometimes, scapegoated family preservation in ways that were worse than stories in the city’s tabloids. But perhaps things are changing. The first thing to note about how The New York Times handled the scathing report, in which some of ACS’ own employees exposed widespread racial and class bias in the agency, is that the Times did, in fact, cover it. And the coverage was prominent: on the home page online and the front page of the print edition. The second thing to note is that the story got a lot of things right. This is the third of a three part series. |
Also: New child welfare data from NYC confirm: The “unintended abolition” worked! (Opinion) (Part 1 of 3): https://www.nccprblog.org/2022/11/new-child-welfare-data-from-nyc-confirm.html
Also: “Like being stopped and frisked for 60 days”: NYC family policing traumatizes kids, confuses poverty with neglect and is racially biased. Who says so? Some of their own caseworkers. (Opinion) (Part 2 of 3): https://www.nccprblog.org/2022/11/like-being-stopped-and-frisked-for-60.html |
| https://www.nccprblog.org/search/label/ACSNYT |
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| OH: Lorain: Boys, Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio, Youth Challenge receive $10K grants from Rite Aid program (Includes video) |
| Morning Journal – November 30, 2022 |
| Rite Aid Healthy Futures has awarded more than $4 million in total neighborhood grants to over 400 nonprofits in Rite Aid’s footprint – including two in Northeast Ohio and 26 statewide, according to a news release. Supported nonprofits address critical health needs for children, including education; mental and emotional wellness; crisis prevention and awareness; and disease and disability management, according to the release. |
| https://www.morningjournal.com/2022/11/30/lorain-boys-girls-clubs-of-northeast-ohio-youth-challenge-receive-10k-grants-from-rite-aid-program/ |
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| PA: Philadelphia Starts Ombuds Office for Youth in Residential Facilities (Includes video) |
| Imprint – November 30, 2022 |
| Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order today establishing an office to investigate the safety concerns of young people in the city who are sent to group homes, juvenile detention or other residential institutions. The Office of the Youth Ombudsperson will be housed in the Inspector General’s office, where staff will investigate complaints from young people in such placements who are experiencing abuse or maltreatment. The Youth Ombudsperson position is now posted on the City of Philadelphia’s job board. |
| https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/philadelphia-starts-ombuds-office-for-youth-in-residential-facilities/236419 |
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| WI: Wisconsin’s law on substance use in pregnancy is wrong, leading doctors say |
| Wisconsin Watch – December 01, 2022 |
| Every leading professional medical association that has considered the issue in the United States condemns approaches that punish pregnant people for substance use. In Wisconsin, Act 292 takes the opposite approach: The law can force people into treatment and even incarceration. Meta House, a Milwaukee-based facility that provides care to women with the condition, opposes the law. CEO Valerie Vidal says it reflects a “severe misunderstanding of substance use and mental health.” That’s because substance use disorder is a chronic health condition affecting the brain. Some women told Pew the fear of losing their newborns or other children caused them to hide their pregnancies while seeking treatment, or to avoid treatment altogether. In all, Pew concluded: “This barrier potentially puts pregnant women and their child at greater risk of harm than they would be if this policy did not exist.” |
| https://wisconsinwatch.org/2022/12/wisconsins-law-on-substance-use-in-pregnancy-is-wrong-leading-doctors-say/ |
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| WV: DHHR Secretary Crouch pushes back on reorganization criticisms (May require subscription) |
| Weirton Daily Times – December 01, 2022 |
| Bill Crouch, cabinet secretary for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, defended changes the department announced this week, saying re-organizing DHHR will help the agency. “I think there is going to be criticism regardless of what I do at this point,” Crouch said Wednesday morning during Gov. Jim Justice’s COVID-19 virtual briefing with reporters from the State Capitol Building. “DHHR is under a microscope here. We do a lot of good things every day for a huge number of people in this state.” |
| https://www.weirtondailytimes.com/news/local-news/2022/12/dhhr-secretary-crouch-pushes-back-on-reorganization-criticisms/ |
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| US: Child welfare issues are not the domain of just one political group (Opinion) (May require subscription) |
| Washington Post – November 30, 2022 |
| The Nov. 19 Made by History essay, “Our adoption policies have harmed families and children,” attempted to rewrite history with a heavy-handed ideological bent. Instead of recognizing that the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was a bipartisan response to children spending year after year in foster care, the author placed the blame on ASFA while dismissing the reality of abuse, neglect and child fatalities. Our child welfare system is predicated on the belief that children should have safe families – if a child cannot safely return to his or her birth family, we should not subject that child to an endless stay in foster care. |
| Also: Our adoption policies have harmed families and children (Opinion) (Includes audio) (May require subscription): https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/11/18/adoption-parental-rights/ |
| https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/30/child-welfare-issues-are-not-domain-just-one-political-group/ |
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| US: Child Welfare Kidnapping Children from Black Parents (Commentary) |
| Imprint – November 30, 2022 |
| Kelis Houston, the founder of Village Arms, is doing a wonderful job at amplifying Black and brown families and helping them find their voice. She is trying to get a bill passed called the African American Family Preservation Act to ensure that families are staying together. Studies from Hennepin County have shown that Black children are 5.5 times more likely to be removed from homes than white children are. According to Houston, Black and brown children are also taken due to the stereotypes of Black parents as abusive or doing drugs. |
| https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/child-welfare-kidnapping-children-from-black-parents/236054 |
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| US: No Corporate Tax Cuts without Family Tax Relief, Dems Say (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – November 30, 2022 |
| A group of U.S. House members said Congress should not pass corporate tax breaks unless it also expands tax credits for families. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., penned a letter, signed by 57 other Democratic House members, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, opposing tax cuts for businesses if an expansion of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit isn’t also included. An expanded Child Tax Credit during the pandemic expired last year, after helping pull millions of families out of poverty.April Messenger, director of family engagement and advocacy for the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP, argued Congress should consider the greater good. |
| https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2022-11-30/childrens/no-corporate-tax-cuts-without-family-tax-relief-dems-say/a81722-1 |
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| US: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Surprises Native Nonprofits with $1M in Donations on #GivingTuesday |
| Native News Online – November 30, 2022 |
| In honor of GivingTuesday, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians yesterday surprised 10 Native-led nonprofit organizations with donations of $100,000 each. The Tribe chose nonprofits based on their dedication to fighting injustices plaguing Native nations-such as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis and the support for the Indian Child Welfare Act-and those supporting Native Americans and advocating on important Native American issues. |
| https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/san-manuel-band-of-mission-indians-surprises-native-nonprofits-with-1m-donation-on-givingtuesday |
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| US: The new truth about adoption |
| Deseret News – November 30, 2022 |
| While every adoption is unique, Holly and Brian’s story is pretty typical. A website or brochure can outline the process, the laws, the fees – from start to finish, the average domestic agency adoption costs between $20,000 and $45,000 – but nothing can prepare someone for the anxiety experienced by everyone involved, the merry-go-round of hope and fear, love and dread. The process of adoption is getting more attention these days, as abortion laws around the country are shifting. At least in the national discourse, abortion and adoption are inextricably linked. In the Supreme Court’s historic June 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Justice Samuel Alito directly referred to the availability of adoption as an option for pregnant women. But of course, the reality isn’t so simple. |
| https://www.deseret.com/2022/11/30/23452143/adoption-post-roe-wade-motherhood |
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| Canada: More than 65,000 new child care workers will be needed to meet expected demand for $10-a-day child care in Ontario (Press release) |
| Canadian Union of Public Employees – November 30, 2022 |
| Child care advocates are calling on the Ford government to get serious about a child care workforce strategy and salary scale as new estimates show that tens of thousands of new staff will be needed to meet anticipated demand for $10-a-day child care. A recent Financial Accountability Office (FAO) report estimated that in addition to the 71,000 child care spaces that the Ontario government has committed to creating, Ontario will ultimately need close to 227,146 more spaces to meet the anticipated demand from families for the popular $10-a-day child care program. |
| Also: Ministry of Education: Spending Plan Review: https://bit.ly/3gL7nNp |
| https://cupe.ca/more-65000-new-child-care-workers-will-be-needed-meet-expected-demand-10-day-child-care-ontario |
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| Poland: Amid Scandals and Politics, Poland’s Youths Lose Faith in Catholic Church (May require subscription) |
| New York Times – November 28, 2022 |
| “I had a deep faith and wanted to serve the church,” said Karol, now 26, recalling how he had discussed his hopes of one day becoming a bishop with his spiritual mentor, a priest at the Church of Divine Providence in the city of Bydgoszcz. But that was before the priest raped him. “The whole church has been poisoned,” Karol said in an interview, asking that his full name not be used by The New York Times. His story, one of many that has stirred outrage over the years in the Polish news media, is part of a cascade of sexual abuse scandals that has plunged the Roman Catholic church in Poland into a deep crisis and eroded trust among young people. |
| https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/world/europe/poland-catholic-church-youth.html |
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| We are always eager to get your feedback or to know how you are using Child Welfare in the News. To comment on this service, contact cwn@childwelfare.gov. |
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