Below are articles collected recently on child abuse around the nation and internationally. To get a sense of what children in child protection cases live with, read a few pages of the recent investigative report completed by Safe Passage for Children of MN.
WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, your State Representative (find them here) change will come a little bit faster. When enough of us become informed and speak up for abused and neglected children, you will improve their lives and your community!
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Congress passes Paris Hilton-backed bill aimed at protecting institutionalized youth – KCCI
KCCI
Paris Hilton celebrates a major legislative victory with the passing of the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, aimed at protecting …
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| Why do we keep failing abused children like Sara Sharif? | Child protection | The Guardian
The Guardian
Letters: Readers on the death of the 10-year-old girl at the hands of her father and stepmother and the grave weaknesses in the child protection …
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| How technology is essential to protecting children from predators – Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Advanced technology, including AI-driven data analysis tools, should be used to combat child exploitation & support law enforcement agencies.
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| The Taking of Children – Current Affairs
Current Affairs
Sociology and law professor Dorothy Roberts exposes how the child protective system systematically targets poor Black families and argues that …
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| Agenda for action for children on the move | UNICEF
Unicef
UNICEF calls for six actions to protect, include and empower every child fleeing war, violence, poverty, disasters and climate events, …
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Washington lawmakers and Paris Hilton team up to pass legislation to protect children
KHQ
“The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which I am leading in the House, will help reform a system that has failed children and their families for …
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Child protection bill supported by Paris Hilton, Washington lawmakers could pass by year’s end
NBC Right Now
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Washington Lawmakers are teaming up with Paris Hilton to try and pass a child protection bill by the end of the year.
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| Gallego Bill to Protect Native Children Passes Senate; Likely to Become Law
Ruben Gallego
WASHINGTON – Last night, the U.S. Senate passed Rep. Ruben Gallego’s (AZ-03) Native American Child Protection Act (NACPA), bipartisan legislation …
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| Prioritizing the Rights of Children: A Call to Action on International Migrants Day – UNHCR
UNHCR
A Joint Statement by IOM, Save the Children, UNHCR, and UNICEF 18 December is International Migrants Day. To mark this day, we honour the …
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| Senators Ask for GAO Study on Tribal Child Welfare Practices – The Imprint
The Imprint
“To best support Tribal child welfare programs, we need to better understand the common barriers Tribes face in accessing federal and state child …
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| NSPCC – Our child protection specialists are there for… – Facebook
Facebook
Our child protection specialists are there for anyone who’s concerned about a child. If you have any concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing, …
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| CA: California’s employment safety net is still broken. Will anyone fix it? (Opinion) |
| CalMatters – December 04, 2024 |
| Kim Tanner didn’t expect to become a fraud detective when she filed for disability with the California Employment Development Department. But in mid-July, $3,161 vanished from her online account with the state’s new debit card contractor, Money Network, according to Tanner’s complaints to government regulators. Someone had gotten access to her online debit card account, added a new bank account and transferred out her money, all without any notifications, she wrote in the complaints. Tanner said Money Network told her it could take 90 days to investigate, and that she may or may not get a full refund, leaving her short on rent money. She turned to social media and saw similar horror stories on Reddit and Facebook. “My head exploded,” Tanner said. “This was happening to tons of people.” So she started filing complaints. First with Money Network, its parent company Fiserv and the EDD. Then with a state senator and a half-dozen financial regulators. |
| https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/12/californias-employment-safety-net-is-still-broken-will-anyone-fix-it/ |
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| KS: Man pleads guilty in death of homeless child in Topeka |
| KNSS – December 13, 2024 |
| A man who lived in a makeshift camp with a homeless girl and her father pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder and rape in connection with the child’s death. Prosecutors said Mickel Cherry, 26, admitted under questioning to suffocating Zoey Felix, 5, in October 2023 with a pillow in a tent at the camp in Topeka when he was alone with the girl. Doctors who examined her at a hospital saw injuries consistent with a sexual assault, and DNA evidence pointed to Cherry, the prosecutor said. |
| https://www.audacy.com/knss/news/local/man-pleads-guilty-in-death-of-homeless-child-in-topeka |
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| KY: Kentucky sees soaring child dental decay rates (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 16, 2024 |
| Dental decay rates for Kentucky children age 2-5 are far higher than the national average, according to new data from the University of Kentucky’s College of Dentistry. The survey screened more than 6,000 kids across more than 100 counties. Dr. Pam Stein, professor of dental science at the University of Kentucky and the study’s co-author, said the highest levels of tooth decay were found in children attending rural Head Start facilities and among Black children in Jefferson County. “In some regions of Kentucky, the rate of decay was over 50%,” Stein reported. “To have that much decay at that young of an age is really distressing, especially when you think about the long-term impact.” |
| Also: 2023 Kentucky Early Learner’s Oral Health Survey: https://bit.ly/3OZz9Dm |
| https://bit.ly/41xtY4X |
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| KY: 30,000 executive branch state employees set to receive paid leave (Includes video) |
| WLEX – December 13, 2024 |
| About 30,000 Kentucky state employees who work in the executive branch will soon be eligible for paid leave, according to the Governor’s Office. “The Beshear-Coleman administration is preparing to make available six weeks of additional paid leave to eligible Executive Branch state employees who have serious health conditions or are welcoming a new child through birth, adoption or foster care,” the press release said. |
| https://www.lex18.com/news/covering-kentucky/30-000-executive-branch-state-employees-set-to-receive-paid-leave |
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| MD: The crisis of LGBTQ+ homelessness in Baltimore (Commentary) |
| Baltimore Sun – December 13, 2024 |
| Hundreds of youth and young adults in Baltimore face the harsh reality of homelessness, and a significant number of them identify as LGBTQ+. This crisis is not just a housing issue– it’s a matter of equity, safety and human dignity. While recent efforts such as Department of Housing and Urban Development grants supporting transitional housing are steps in the right direction, much more must be done to address the root causes of this systemic problem. LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their heterosexual peers. Family rejection due to sexual orientation and gender identity is the leading cause of homelessness among these young people. Many are forced to leave their homes, facing a harsh reality of discrimination, exploitation and limited resources. |
| https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/12/13/the-crisis-of-lgbtq-homelessness-in-baltimore-guest-commentary/ |
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| MI: New service offering respite foster care in Southwest Michigan |
| WSJM – December 13, 2024 |
| Heart for Home is serving 19 counties on the west side of the state, including Berrien, Van Buren, and Cass. Julia O’Carey is Heart for Home’s Berrien and Cass County recruiter. She tells us the group offers respite foster care. That is, they need families that can give a break to more long-term foster families. “It can be half a day up to five days at one time,” O’Carey said. “We come in and we’ll take the foster, adoptive, or kinship kids, and what we do is we’re licensing families to become respite foster families.” O’Carey says the licensing process through the state does take some work and time, but serving as a respite foster family isn’t the same as being a full time foster family. Heart for Home co-CEO Michelle Delaney manages the group in Van Buren County. She says she’s learned first-hand how being a foster parent can become overwhelming. |
| https://www.wsjm.com/2024/12/13/new-service-offering-respite-foster-care-in-southwest-michigan/ |
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| MO: For the good of Missouri’s children, removal from the home isn’t always the answer (Opinion) (May require subscription) |
| Kansas City Star – December 15, 2024 |
| The death of a child is an unspeakable tragedy. Such a heartbreaking event causes us all to question how such a thing could happen. Whenever a child dies from anything other than natural causes, the question is frequently asked whether the child had previous involvement with the child welfare system. That inquiry will often be answered in the affirmative, because a huge percentage of our child population is subjected to investigation. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 37% of children can expect to experience a child welfare investigation between their birth and 18th birthday. When a child from among that number dies, the temptation is to surmise that the child welfare system is somehow to blame, and that such things would be avoided if only all of those children would have been removed from their families and placed in foster care. |
| https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article297067189.html |
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| NC: Greensboro woman sentenced for stabbing Caldwell County foster mom 15 times |
| News & Record – December 13, 2024 |
| Amanda Freeman spent two days in critical condition after a former foster child stabbed her 15 times with a knife in 2023. “(The attack) was out of the blue,” Freeman said on Friday. “I did find out after the fact that she has a history of mental illness. Been in two mental facilities prior to coming to my house, which I did not know about.” Kelani Courtney Fields, 20, of Greensboro, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury during Caldwell County Superior Court in July, District Attorney Scott Reilly’s Office said in a news release. |
| https://bit.ly/4iAWyIL |
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| ND: Dickinson daycare owner, staff charged in Bismarck neglect and abuse scandal |
| Dickinson Press – December 13, 2024 |
| Jennifer Moser, a Dickinson resident and owner of KinderKidz Daycare, along with three employees – Jordan Casson, Angela Kunz and Susan Bosch — is facing criminal charges alleging neglect and failures to report suspected abuse at the daycare’s Bismarck location. Prosecutors claim that children in their care suffered injuries that were either ignored or inadequately addressed, raising concerns about compliance with child safety laws. Court documents describe a series of incidents that prompted the investigation. |
| https://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/local/dickinson-daycare-owner-staff-charged-in-bismarck-neglect-and-abuse-scandal |
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| NJ: N.J. teacher taped child to desk for nearly an hour, cops say (Includes video) |
| NJ.com – December 12, 2024 |
| A teacher in Passaic County was arrested Wednesday after an investigation revealed he taped a 9-year-old student to a desk for nearly an hour while a teacher’s aide failed to intervene, authorities said. The teacher, Todd J. Lewis, 57, of Wayne, is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child for an incident that allegedly occurred Oct. 30 in a classroom at Lenox Elementary School in Pompton Lakes. |
| https://www.nj.com/passaic-county/2024/12/nj-teachers-aide-taped-child-to-desk-for-nearly-an-hour-cops-say.html |
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| NY: Chenango County Public Defender’s Office Awarded NY Grant To Improve And Reduce Caseloads (Press release) |
| Evening Sun – December 13, 2024 |
| The Chenango County Public Defender’s Office has been awarded a three-year $750,000 competitive State Grant by the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services to establish a Model Office that will implement standards and best practices for the representation of parents in child welfare proceedings. The overarching goal of this project will be to create client-centered and interdisciplinary representation that addresses both the legal and social service issues confronting parents impacted by the child welfare system at all critical stages of their interaction with the system, including the child welfare investigation stage. |
| https://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2024-12-13/41657/Chenango-County-Public-Defender’s-Office-awarded-NY-grant-to-improve-and-reduce-caseloads |
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| OR: 10 St. Helens district staff members placed on leave amid sexual misconduct investigations (Includes video) |
| KOIN – December 13, 2024 |
| In the wake of accusations of sexual abuse against two teachers at St. Helens High School, a total of 10 district staff members have now been placed on paid administrative leave due to allegations of sexual misconduct or failure to report it. The school district revealed the number of employees on leave during a press conference Friday, but would not give any additional details. |
| https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/10-st-helens-district-staff-members-placed-on-leave-amid-sexual-misconduct-investigations/ |
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| OR: To improve lives of Oregon’s children, collaborators focus “upstream” on first 1,000 days (Includes audio) |
| Salem Reporter – December 13, 2024 |
| When parents have a question about enrolling their child in kindergarten, the first stop is usually their local school. Decades of policy have created a system of neighborhood schools that are easy to find and equipped to enroll any child of the right age who walks through their doors. Oregon parents who need help while they’re pregnant or have a newborn or toddler face a far more muddled path to getting help. |
| https://www.salemreporter.com/2024/12/13/to-improve-lives-of-oregons-children-collaborators-focus-upstream-on-first-1000-days/ |
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| PA: Advocate: Doulas essential to birth justice in Pennsylvania (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 12, 2024 |
| Nationwide, Black women face a maternal mortality rate three times higher than white women. To address the disparity, the Maternity Care Coalition is providing doulas to women in underserved rural areas in Pennsylvania. Jamiylah Miller, doula program manager for the coalition, said its doula and lactation program supports families from pregnancy to three months postpartum, helping during labor and delivery, pain management and adjusting to a newborn. However, some families who are not connected with a doula through community organizations like theirs, struggle with the cost of doula services. Recent legislation extended Medicaid coverage to help offset the cost. |
| https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2024-12-12/health/advocate-doulas-essential-to-birth-justice-in-pennsylvania/a94024-1 |
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| UT: Utah has millions of dollars available to support needy families, child care providers and our workforce. Let’s invest all available TANF funds now (Opinion) |
| Deseret News – December 15, 2024 |
| Utah likely has millions in unused federal funds that are earmarked specifically to support needy families and promote self-sufficiency. To maximize our collective potential, our state must invest more in Utah’s child care system. It can start with investing the maximum amount possible to support this mostly locally owned and operated critical industry, our families with young children and our employers looking to recruit and retain their workforce. The Utah Childcare Solutions and Workplace Productivity Plan recommends, among other suggestions, that Utah immediately invest more Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, funding to make child care more affordable for Utah’s needy families. |
| Also: Utah Childcare Solutions and Workplace Productivity Plan December 2024: https://bit.ly/3ZBE2Hv |
| https://bit.ly/3DjxCFz |
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| WA: Parents of children in WA prisons face ‘unbearable’ holiday season (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 16, 2024 |
| The holiday season is a difficult time of year for families with children in Washington’s youth detention centers. Families have limited access to children in prisons. Rashida Robbins has a child in Green Hill School, a 180-bed facility in Chehalis. She said families were invited to holiday dinners in early December but noted it was long before Christmas and on that day, she said, there will be a hole in her home that cannot be filled. “It’s pretty tough, and the lack of access to him during these times makes it even tougher,” Robbins explained. “The thought of him just sitting in a locked room makes it unbearable as a parent. It’s really rough.” |
| https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2024-12-16/juvenile-justice/parents-of-children-in-wa-prisons-face-unbearable-holiday-season/a93921-1 |
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| WA: Comment: Community health groups key to health equity in state (Opinion) |
| HeraldNet – December 14, 2024 |
| As a safety-net health care organization founded by Washington’s Community Health Centers to serve historically marginalized, low-income communities, Community Health Plan of Washington understands what is at stake as a result of the 2024 national elections. If campaign rhetoric is to be believed, the state’s most vulnerable populations will require more support from local Community Health Centers, and frontline community-based organizations who provide a broad range of health and social services to these communities. |
| https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-community-health-groups-key-to-health-equity-in-state/ |
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| WY: WY has highest rate of juvenile incarceration, rejects federal funding to help (Includes audio) |
| Public News Service – December 16, 2024 |
| Wyoming has the nation’s highest rate of juvenile incarceration, and is one of only two states refusing federal funds to help. In 2021, nearly 270 Wyoming juveniles were in placement facilities per every 100,000 youths, according to The Sentencing Project, nearly four times the national rate. Data show diversion programs such as therapy, tutoring, job-readiness programs and arts programming help keep youths out of the system. Darya Larizadeh, director of California policy and capacity building at the National Center for Youth Law, said good diversion programs are community-based and in partnership with stakeholders such as law enforcement and probation officers. |
Also: Youth Justice by the Numbers: https://www.sentencingproject.org/policy-brief/youth-justice-by-the-numbers/
Also: Protect and Redirect: America’s Growing Movement to Divert Youth Out of the Justice System: https://www.sentencingproject.org/app/uploads/2024/03/Protect-and-Redirect-Americas-Growing-Movement-to-Divert-Youth-Out-of-the-Justice-System.pdf |
| https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2024-12-16/juvenile-justice/wy-has-highest-rate-of-juvenile-incarceration-rejects-federal-funding-to-help/a94089-1 |
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| US: Paris Hilton calls on the House to take up child abuse bill before session ends (Includes video) |
| ABC News – December 16, 2024 |
| Paris Hilton said she was shopping in Saks Fifth Avenue in New York when she heard The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act — a piece of legislation she’s tirelessly lobbied for over the past three years — had passed the U.S. Senate with unanimous support. The celebrity hotel heiress told ABC News that she was with her sister, “doing a little girls, sister holiday shopping,” when she got a FaceTime call with the update that the bill, which would place greater federal safeguards on institutional youth treatment programs, had hit its first major legislative milestone. |
| https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/paris-hilton-calls-house-child-abuse-bill-session/story?id=116772437 |
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| US: A Call for Clemency: Formerly Incarcerated Women Lead a 3-Day Vigil at the White House (Press release) |
| National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarceraetd Women and Girls – December 13, 2024 |
| The National Council and formerly incarcerated women and allies will gather for a powerful three-day vigil at the White House from December 16th to 18th. The ‘Call for Clemency’ event will thank President Biden for what he has done so far but remind him the job is not done. We need clemency for women in the federal prison system who are ill, have children at risk of falling into foster care, have been sexually abused, or have served decades in prison and deserve to come home. |
| https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-call-for-clemency-formerly-incarcerated-women-lead-a-3-day-vigil-at-the-white-house-302331731.html |
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| US: FosterClub Supports Young Peoples’ Right to Speak Out Without Fear (Press release) |
| FosterClub – December 13, 2024 |
| Following a bipartisan congressional reception earlier this week, a well-respected advocate with lived experience in foster care approached a Congressperson. According to individuals in the room, he shook the Representative’s hand and asked her to protect the rights of transgender individuals in foster care. Shortly after, the advocate was approached by Capitol Police, arrested and detained overnight in jail, and subsequently released. FosterClub, the national network for young people in foster care, has issued a statement regarding the incident. |
| https://www.prweb.com/releases/fosterclub-supports-young-peoples-right-to-speak-out-without-fear-302330502.html |
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| US: When dealing with child abuse cases, attorneys need to know how children perceive time (Commentary) |
| New York Law Journal – December 12, 2024 |
| Accurately perceiving time regarding events that happened in the past is not easy. Yet, this ability is critical in law, and particularly in litigation regarding child abuse. A child’s organic, cognitive, and memory processes must function properly. The ability to describe an experience to someone else is a very complex process. Descriptions of “what happened” depend not only on memory, but on the capacity to verbalize what someone recalls happened in words that others can understand |
| https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2024/12/12/when-dealing-with-child-abuse-cases-attorneys-need-to-know-how-children-perceive-time/ |
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