| AL: Guntersville daycare closes after investigation of child abuse allegations |
| WAAY – May 07, 2024 |
| We’re learning about allegations against a daycare in Guntersville. Kids Korner Daycare has closed its doors. On Tuesday, the Marshall County District Attorney announced they had conducted an investigation into the daycare after a former employee made them aware of allegations. Kids Korner Daycare is at Guntersville First Methodist Church. Marshall County DA Jennifer Bray says they found evidence in their investigation that two current employees were “violating Alabama law in their interactions with children.” As of Tuesday, a warrant for harassment had been issued for one of those employees. DA Jennifer Bray says “their investigation revealed past violations of Alabama’s mandatory reporter law, but regrettably, the statute of limitations passed on those incidents.” The DA’s office says they also uncovered concerns with teacher-to-child ratios and the suitability of certain staff members. They say if there is any evidence that a child has been mistreated, they have already contacted the parents. |
| https://www.waaytv.com/news/guntersville-daycare-closes-after-investigation-of-child-abuse-allegations/article_cbc0946e-0ce6-11ef-9172-bb44fc8f4363.html |
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| CA: Opinion: This is how we can help foster youth avoid homelessness (Opinion) |
| San Diego Union-Tribune – May 07, 2024 |
| At 21, I had never heard much about foster care. Coming from a loving and nurturing family, I could not imagine a child being abused. As I began my journey in becoming a dedicated and passionate advocate for child welfare, I met incredible children and teens who were thrown into a system after being horrifically abused by their parents. I thought they were now safe and as foster children would be taken care of and flourish. I learned this was not the case. During that time, the system was not a safe place for children. |
| https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/story/2024-05-07/opinion-this-is-how-we-can-help-foster-youth-avoid-homelessness |
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| ID: Idaho governor’s budget chief Alex Adams to direct Department of Health and Welfare |
| Idaho Capital Sun – May 07, 2024 |
| Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday announced that he named his budget chief Alex Adams to direct the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Adams, Little’s budget chief since 2019, has served as interim Idaho Public Charter School Commission director, executive director of the Idaho Board of Pharmacy and formerly worked in the pharmacy industry. Adams replaces interim health department director Dean Cameron, a longtime former Idaho legislator who has directed the Idaho Department of Insurance since 2015. |
| https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/05/07/idaho-governors-budget-chief-alex-adams-to-direct-department-of-health-and-welfare/ |
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| ME: Maine health and human services commissioner is stepping down (Includes audio) (May require subscription) |
| Portland Press Herald – May 07, 2024 |
| Jeanne Lambrew, who led Maine’s Health and Human Services department through the COVID-19 pandemic, is resigning her post to work with a Washington-based health care policy organization and teach at Harvard University. Lambrew, a former high-ranking health official in the Obama and Clinton administrations, will become the director of health care reform for The Century Foundation. She will also be an adjunct professor of health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her last day as Maine’s top health official will be May 31. |
| https://www.pressherald.com/2024/05/07/maines-health-and-human-services-commissioner-is-stepping-down/ |
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| MI: Michigan’s Highest Court Hears Challenge to Terminations of Parental Rights |
| Imprint – May 07, 2024 |
| Thousands of Americans lose parental rights in the civil foster care courts each year due to abuse, neglect or abandonment – an outcome considered to be the family law equivalent of the death penalty. But on Wednesday, a pair of Michigan parents whose kids are safely housed with relatives will appear before the state’s Supreme Court, challenging how termination of parental rights decisions are made. They claim that revoking their rights is too extreme a measure, given that they’ve maintained strong, supportive bonds through supervised visits. Terminating their rights, the parents argue, violates the constitution and does not serve children’s “best interests.” |
| https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/michigan-court-terminations-of-parental-rights/249286 |
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| NV: Clark County allocates funds to help build 1,273 affordable housing units |
| Las Vegas Sun – May 08, 2024 |
| The Clark County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved $66 million in funding to nine organizations to construct and rehabilitate low-income housing across the region. Most of the units would be for extremely low-income to low-income families – those who make only 30% to 60% of the area median income, Stapleton explained. While the majority will cater to those making 60% of the area median income, five of the nine projects have 10% to 20% of their units serving people only making about 30% of the area’s median income. Clark County in recent years has invested just over $200 million in affordable housing developments to build and rehabilitate almost 5,000 units in Southern Nevada, according to county officials. In March, the county provided $30 million to four permanent supportive housing developments with units for extremely low-income residents, such as those coming out of homelessness and youths aging out of foster care. |
| https://lasvegassun.com/news/2024/may/08/clark-county-allocates-funds-to-help-build-1273-af/ |
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| OR: & ID: Custodial interference is commonly unreported crime, DA says after woman’s arrest near Sisters for abducting her 3 kids (Includes video) |
| KTVZ – May 07, 2024 |
| A transient wanted on an Idaho warrant for kidnapping her three young children in Caldwell, Idaho, was found at a camp near Sisters on Sunday morning, and the two girls and a boy, ages 4-7, also were found there unharmed, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said Monday. She was wanted out of Idaho on three counts of first-degree kidnapping and three counts of first-degree custodial interference out of Caldwell, Idaho, Wall said. Oregon’s Department of Human Services – Child Welfare Division responded to the scene and took custody of the children, making arrangements for their transport back to Idaho. According to Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels custodial interference is not a commonly reported crime in Central Oregon. |
| https://ktvz.com/news/crime-courts/2024/05/06/custodial-interference-is-commonly-unreported-crime-da-says-after-womans-arrest-near-sisters-for-abducting-her-3-kids/ |
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| OR: Every Child Central Oregon Announces Partnership With Deschutes Children’s Foundation (Press release) |
| Every Child Central Oregon – May 07, 2024 |
| Every Child Central Oregon (ECCO) is thrilled to announce its partnership with the Deschutes Children’s Foundation (DCF), a renowned community organization dedicated to supporting children and families in Central Oregon. Through this collaboration, ECCO-a 501(c)3 nonprofit that fights relentlessly for the well-being of Central Oregon children and families impacted by foster care-has been welcomed as a partner at the Becky Johnson Community Center in Redmond. This collaboration marks a milestone in both organizations’ commitment to community service and support. |
| https://www.bendsource.com/business/every-child-central-oregon-announces-partnership-with-deschutes-childrens-foundation-21115829 |
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| TN: & US: Allowing teachers to carry guns in school will only put Black children in harm’s way (Opinion) |
| Grio – May 07, 2024 |
| A generation of this nation’s students have grown into adulthood with their school years shaped by active shooter drills and police in schools. Lawmakers just cannot – or will not – take the necessary action to stymie the school shootings that have marred the education landscape for decades. This political impotence has recently been exemplified in Tennessee, where, barely a year after the state’s deadliest shooting at Covenant School in Nashville claimed the lives of three adults and three nine-year-olds, some of the state’s conservative lawmakers passed a bill that will allow teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons. The bill passed with an overwhelming vote and was just signed into law by Governor Bill Lee, despite the pleas of protestors, including a Covenant School mom who delivered a letter with over 5,300 signatures, including from parents and medical professionals urging the measure’s defeat. |
| https://thegrio.com/2024/05/07/allowing-teachers-to-carry-guns-in-school-will-only-put-black-children-in-harms-way/ |
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| TX: Learn about support system for foster teens who age out of the system that keeps them from dangerous situations (Includes video) |
| KSAT – May 07, 2024 |
| “I wanted to do it on my own, but I wasn’t really capable of it. I needed the help,” said 19-year-old Elizabeth, who aged out over a year ago after bouncing around the foster care system starting at age two. As foster kids, in our minds, it’s like, ‘What can get worse from here? We’ve been through the most. We’ve made it through that. So, you know, we got it from here,'” she explained. Elizabeth also knows that perspective can land teens in dangerous situations. “They end up homeless, possibly trafficked and just really struggling on that next phase of their life if they don’t have the supports in place that they need,” said Charrelle Herber, Program Director of Specialty at the foster care organization SJRC Texas and it’s placement wing Belong. Herber’s team starts educating foster kids as young as 14 about their options when they age out, which include a list of programs. |
| https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/05/07/learn-about-support-system-for-foster-teens-who-age-out-of-the-system-that-keeps-them-from-dangerous-situations/ |
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| TX: North Texas Catholic priest arrested for indecency with a child (Includes video) |
| CBS News – May 07, 2024 |
| A Catholic priest is in the Garland Detention Center after police arrested him for two counts of indecency with a child. Garland police said in a news release that they arrested 34-year-old Ricardo Reyes Mata on Monday, after they received reports of “inappropriate contact with two juvenile victims” at a residence in the city. Reyes is a priest with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, according to Garland PD. Reyes is not listed on the diocese website, but a spokesperson for the diocese told CBS News Texas he was working at the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dallas. An archived biography page shows he was ordained in June of 2022, and was assigned to St. Jude Parish in Allen at the time. |
| https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/north-texas-catholic-priest-arrested-for-indecency-with-a-child/ |
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| UT: Gov. Spencer Cox appoints Cas Melanson White to Seventh District Juvenile Court (Press release) |
| Office of Governor of Utah Spencer Cox – May 07, 2024 |
| Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox has appointed Cas Melanson White to Utah’s Seventh District Juvenile Court, filling a vacancy created by Presiding Judge Mary L. Manley’s retirement. Judicial appointments are subject to confirmation by the Utah Senate. “I am thankful Cas Melanson White is willing to serve Utah’s youth and their families in the Seventh District Juvenile Court,” Gov. Cox said. “I know her knowledge and experience in child welfare will benefit these communities well.” Melanson White’s career has spanned over two decades practicing in all aspects of juvenile court. Since 2016, she has been the managing attorney for the Guardian ad Litem’s office in Moab. Previously, she served as an assistant attorney general in the Utah Attorney General’s Office representing the Division of Child and Family Services in Moab. She has also served as an attorney and mediator in private practice at Melanson Law. |
| https://governor.utah.gov/2024/05/07/gov-spencer-cox-appoints-cas-melanson-white-to-seventh-district-juvenile-court/ |
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| VT: Advocates fear public safety bill could send more Vermont children to prison (Includes audio) |
| Vermont Public – May 08, 2024 |
| Child advocates are making an 11th-hour push in Montpelier to revise legislation that would send more young offenders into the criminal justice system for adults. Teenage brains are different than adults’, and that scientific fact has spurred reforms in Montpelier that are designed to keep young offenders from entering the system that Vermont uses for adults. Public safety legislation that’s up for a final vote in the Statehouse this week, however, could result in more kids going to adult prison. |
| https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2024-05-08/advocates-fear-public-safety-bill-could-send-more-vermont-children-to-prison |
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| WV: WV agency won’t release docs showing where money was spent putting foster kids in hotels |
| West Virginia Watch – May 08, 2024 |
| Every month, dozens of West Virginia foster children sleep in hotels and motels – sometimes even offices or cabins. The state doesn’t have enough foster families to take children into their homes. The West Virginia Department of Human Services spends $2.1 million annually on temporary housing for foster children, like hotels, according to a department spokesperson. The price tag includes meals and staff overtime. However, the department has failed over the last five months to produce any financial documents, including receipts and invoices, for West Virginia Watch showing where exactly that money was spent. |
| https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/05/08/wv-agency-wont-release-docs-showing-where-money-was-spent-putting-foster-kids-in-hotels/ |
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| US: More states are allowing child support payments to reach children |
| ProPublica – May 03, 2024 |
| It is one of the enduring myths of the U.S. child support system: that payments made by fathers actually make it to their families. And yet, every year, hundreds of millions of dollars in child support is instead intercepted by federal and state governments – as reimbursement for the mother having received welfare at some point. But that may be changing. Since a 2021 ProPublica investigation found that child support payments totaling $1.7 billion annually were taken from families and redirected into state coffers, at least six states have rewritten their laws and policies to allow the money to flow directly to kids. |
| https://www.propublica.org/article/more-states-allow-child-support-to-reach-children |
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