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Kids At Risk Action tracks current news about at risk children bringing transparency and attention to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Please note that what you see here is only a sampling of what should be reported – Most child trauma & abuse never gets reported.
All states are struggling to find answers for saving at risk children and reversing the explosive growth of child abuse and neglect. Too many state ward children are the 4th and 5th generation of abused children raising their own families without parenting skills and with serious drug, alcohol and mental health issues.
37% of children overall and 57% of Black children are reported to child protection services in America by the time they turn 18. (American Journal of Public Health 1.17)
12 million children a year are reported to child protection services each year and in many states, 1/3 of foster children are required to take psychotropic medicines
ALL ADULTS ARE THE PROTECTORS OF ALL CHILDREN
Compilation of information and writing on this page is the hard work of David Vang, Mike Toronto, Jamar Weston, Adolf Nchanj and Blaz Zlate, Callie Benscoter, (student volunteers at Century College) Katie Frake, Boston College, Julie O, and KARA.
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AL: King’s Home open house to launch Therapeutic Foster Care program
St. Clair News Aegis – September 28, 2017
The King’s Home Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) Program provides nurturing homes to children and teens in the custody of Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR). There are approximately 3,500 children currently in the foster care system throughout Alabama according to the Alabama Children’s Policy Council. In many cases, these children have been abused, neglected and are in desperate need of a safe, healing home.
CA: New L.A. County Pilot Program Targets Foster Youth Who Cycle Through Shelters
Chronicle of Social Change – September 28, 2017
This month, Los Angeles County is rolling out a new approach to the longstanding issue of how to find homes for its most difficult to place foster youth. These are youth with a high level of mental health needs and behavioral issues who often cycle through multiple foster care placements and sometimes end up on the street. As a result, they often end up spending months living at transitional shelters such as two cottages run by David and Margaret Youth and Family Services in La Verne.
CO: State shuts down Pueblo treatment center after complaints that children were underfed, abused
Denver Post – September 28, 2017
A mental health and substance abuse treatment center for children was shut down by state authorities this week following complaints that children were abused and underfed. El Pueblo Boys & Girls Ranch, with 12 cottages on 56 acres in Pueblo, was ordered to “immediately desist” caring for children by the Colorado Department of Human Services. The ranch, which treated children with severe behavioral or psychiatric needs, could lose its child care license permanently.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/28/el-pueblo-boys-and-girls-ranch-closed/
FL: Simply Healthcare Foundation and Overtown Youth Center to Provide Trauma and Behavioral Health Services
Insurance Weekly News – September 28, 2017
Simply Healthcare Foundation is working with Overtown Youth Center (OYC) to support the OYC CARES program dedicated to offering trauma assessment and access to behavioral health services to Miami residents who have witnessed or experienced a traumatizing event. The OYC CARES program will help individuals and families overcome the potential long-term health and wellness effects associated with trauma.
GA: High cost of opioid crisis ‘unbearable’
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – September 11, 2017
Misuse of legal, prescription drugs like OxyContin costs the nation at least $78.5 billion a year, according to a study by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “But for the opioid epidemic as a whole, this is a very conservative estimate,” said Curtis Florence, a doctor and lead health economist for the center, part of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MA: Leading Child Trauma and Human Rights Scholar Theresa Betancourt Joins Boston College School of Social Work (Press release)
Boston College – September 28, 2017
Theresa S. Betancourt, whose groundbreaking research has laid bare the ravages of war on children, their families and communities, has joined Boston College’s School of Social Work as the inaugural Salem Professor in Global Practice, School of Social Work Dean Gautam Yadama announced today.
http://markets.pettinga.com/pettinga/news/read?GUID=35008735
NC: & SC: Big need for foster families in the Carolinas
WSPA – September 28, 2017
There’s a growing need for foster parents in the Carolinas. According to Chrysti Shain with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, Spartanburg County leads the state in both the number of children in foster care and the number of homes needed to care for those children.
http://wspa.com/2017/09/28/need-for-foster-families-in-the-carolinas/
NJ: State Taps Implementation Science to Improve Child Welfare Practices
Annie E. Casey Foundation – September 25, 2017
Using the principles of implementation science, New Jersey is launching an all-out effort supported by the Casey Foundation to institute evidence-based approaches to improve outcomes in its child welfare system.
Also: What Is Implementation Science?: http://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-implementation-science/
http://www.aecf.org/blog/new-jersey-taps-implementation-science-to-improve-child-welfare-practices/
NY: Did Monroe County Child Protective Services do enough for Brook Stagles? (Includes video)
WHEC – September 28, 2017
The 3-year-old girl from Greece was beaten to death last year while CPS was investigating her situation. Now, Monroe County legislators are pushing for a reform bill named after Stagles. It aims to reduce CPS workers’ caseloads and protect vulnerable children.
Also: Brook Stagles death: Legislators propose Child Protective Services Reform act (Includes video): http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/09/28/brook-stagles-death-legislators-propose-child-protective-services-reform-act/711792001/
Also: Legislation seeks to reform CPS in Monroe County: http://www.whec.com/news/legislators-seek-reform-cps-monroe-county-/4617338/?cat=565
Also: Monroe Co. Legislator: CPS in crisis, numbers prove it (Includes video): http://13wham.com/news/local/brook-stagles-story-may-bring-change-to-child-protective-services
http://www.whec.com/news/monroe-county-cps-child-protective-services-brook-stagles/4618001/?cat=565
NY: Diocese Of Brooklyn Accused Of Covering Up Ex-Priest’s Sexual Abuse
Gothamist – September 28, 2017
More than a dozen women have come forward in recent weeks to accuse a former Queens-based Catholic priest of sexual abuse, and to allege that both Maspeth’s Holy Cross Church and the Diocese of Brooklyn worked to cover up decades of his predatory behavior. For several years, authorities with Holy Cross were aware of the priest’s abusive behavior, but intentionally turned a deaf ear to the children’s complaints, according to Linda Porcaro, who served as a teacher at Holy Cross from 1986 to 1991.
http://gothamist.com/2017/09/28/church_priest_sex_abuse_brooklyn.php
OR: Child advocates needed in Clatsop County
Daily Astorian – September 29, 2017
“Our middle-class, white-picket- fence instinct is, ‘Well, let’s just take that child and put her into a happy home, and everyone feels good,'” says Julia Mabry, executive director of Clatsop CASA Program. “But that’s not how it works,” Mabry says. “That is not in the child’s best interest. The child’s best interest is to help the parents be safe and sober so they can continue their attachment and continue to be raised by their parent, if that is at all possible.”
http://www.dailyastorian.com/community/20170929/child-advocates-needed-in-clatsop-county
PA: New team created to help York County children out of foster care (Includes video)
CBS21 – September 28, 2017
Dozens of York County resources are joining together to form an Integrative Practice Team (IPT). Backed by the Children’s Home of York, the York County Office of Youth, Children and Families and Casey Family Programs, the IPT is gearing up to change how families are viewed and supported with a main goal to keep children out of foster care.
http://local21news.com/news/local/new-team-created-to-help-york-county-children-out-of-foster-care
PR: Save the Children in Fairfield (CT) working to help Puerto Rico (Includes video)
WTNH – September 27, 2017
With 700,000 children on the island and schools destroyed, normalcy is far in the distance. “What we are seeing for children is that, first of all, they are facing massive trauma,” Harrity said. “Homes destroyed.”
http://wtnh.com/2017/09/27/save-the-children-in-fairfield-working-to-help-puerto-rico/
TX: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick releases Hurricane Harvey-related interim charges
Texas Tribune – September 28, 2017
As recovery efforts in southeast Texas continue after Hurricane Harvey, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Thursday released a list of Harvey-related topics for Texas Senate committees to look into ahead of the next legislative session. ~~ On the list: “Study impact of Harvey on the capacity of out-of-home placements and care for youth in juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Recommend how the state can ensure adequate support and care while facilities are rebuilt.”
Also: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asks senators to study Harvey recovery: http://www.statesman.com/news/gov-dan-patrick-asks-senators-study-harvey-recovery/JdyrAnR2kLU2ksiMoLjcMK/
VA: Who monitors lawyers appointed to speak for vulnerable children without a voice?
News Leader – September 28, 2017
Guardians ad litem, or GALs, are required by the Supreme Court of Virginia to perform certain tasks in representing a child. A judge “hires” them on behalf of the Commonwealth, and tax money pays for their work. But despite GALs being the voice for vulnerable children, other adults who work with them in Virginia have little faith that they’re fulfilling their role. And The News Leader found there is little to no oversight or auditing of the guardian ad litem invoices.
WI: Public hearing looks at repairing foster care system (Includes video)
WKBT – September 28, 2017
Statewide, more and more kids have had to be put in foster care over the past few years, overloading the system to the point of a crisis. Many are pointing to drugs as the cause. As part of Wisconsin’s Speakers Task Force on Foster Care, lawmakers are traveling the state to hear from those working directly with the foster care system. The goal is to put together a package of bills.
Also: Stakeholders: Drugs are fueling foster care crisis in Wisconsin: http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/stakeholders-drugs-are-fueling-foster-care-crisis-in-wisconsin/article_493019c7-debb-5c6d-9b59-1e866905ca22.html
http://www.news8000.com/news/public-hearing-looks-at-repairing-foster-care-system/627688407
WV: Boone County Circuit judge discusses drug epidemic’s impact on families
Register-Herald – September 29, 2017
When William Thompson started as an attorney in Boone County, he said he thought he had a lot of abuse and neglect cases. He had 25. Last year, as a Boone County Circuit Court judge, Thompson saw 90 cases. At the end of September this year, the court has already surpassed 130 cases.
US: 9M Kids’ Health Insurance At Risk As Congress Lets CHIP Expire
US Patch – September 29, 2017
As Republicans scrambled for one last-ditch attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare before the Sept. 30 deadline, a vital program that provides health care coverage for millions of kids across the country has come to the brink of expiration. Funding for CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, will start to run dry on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn’t act – and it is increasingly looking like it won’t.
https://patch.com/maryland/arbutus/s/g8q4s/how-9m-kids-health-care-funding-could-expire
US: Commissioners Approve Pursuing Next Steps toward Suing Opioid Manufacturers
Tribune – September 28, 2017
At least twenty-five US municipal and county entities have filed lawsuits against businesses involved in the licit opioid supply chain this year. States launching suits include Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Other states are interviewing law firms; Delaware being among those who have issued Requests for Proposals. Defendants include McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo International, Teva Pharmaceutical, Allergan, Watson Pharmaceuticals, and Covidien.
US: Judge asked, ‘Does anyone want the child?’-mom posted what she heard to Facebook, response went viral
Epoch Times – September 28, 2017
Too often, stories are shared of families finding “forever homes” for infants they worked so hard to adopt. The opposite is true of the foster care system; foster children are often treated with disdain and discomfort, with the families they live with trying hard not to get too attached, in order to protect their own emotions. Foster mom Sarah shared the very reason that this is the wrong approach to fostering, though.
US: Sold for Sex: Senate Committee Investigates Human Trafficking of Native Women and Children
Rewire – September 28, 2017
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) heard testimony on the findings and recommendations of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examining the growing problem of human trafficking in Indian Country and among Native Americans, one of the most vulnerable populations in the United States. “Human trafficking is a truly despicable activity aimed at exploiting vulnerable people, usually women and girls,” said SCIA committee chair Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) in his opening remarks.
Also: Sex trafficking in Indian Country a ‘significant problem,’ senators told: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/sex-trafficking-in-indian-country-a-significant-problem-senators-told/article_a5a2c60f-aefe-55ef-a5fd-31c17e7f41bf.html
Also: Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report: Human Trafficking: Investigations in Indian Country or Involving Native Americans and Actions Needed to Better Report on Victims Served:
Testimony: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-762T
Highlights: http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687392.pdf
Also: Hoeven: Reports Highlight Need for Better Data to Combat Human Trafficking in Indian Country (Press release): https://www.indian.senate.gov/news/press-release/hoeven-reports-highlight-need-better-data-combat-human-trafficking-indian-country
US: Supreme Court will hear union dues case
New York Times – September 28, 2017
Unions including the New York State United Teachers and the AFL-CIO reacted angrily Thursday to news that the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit a case that could decide whether public sector labor groups can collect fees from workers they represent but who are not members. In Friedrichs, a Los Angeles public school teacher sought to end her payments to the teachers union there. In the case still to be heard by the court, Illinois state child protective worker Mark Janus is objecting to fees he’s obligated to pay to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents him.
Also: Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Mandatory Fees to Unions: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/us/politics/supreme-court-will-hear-case-on-mandatory-fees-to-unions.html?mcubz=3
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/U-S-Supreme-Court-will-hear-public-sector-dues-12238027.php
US: Juvenile Prisons: It’s Time to Close ‘Factories of Failure'(Opinion)
Crime Report – September 27, 2017
It’s long past time to change the paradigm that has determined how the justice system deals with youth since the 1800s, when America’s first youth prisons were launched.
https://thecrimereport.org/2017/09/26/juvenile-prisons-its-time-to-close-the-factories-of-failure/
US: Schools Brace For An Influx Of Students From Puerto Rico
National Public Radio – September 27, 2017
Nearly a week after Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, students who can’t return to school may need to continue their education on the mainland. Some of the largest school districts in Florida, plus major cities like New York City and Chicago, are preparing for the possibility of an influx of students from the island.
US: Evaluating Programs in Complex Systems: New Approaches
Annie E. Casey Foundation – September 25, 2017
Increasingly, human service programs that serve children and families are embedded in complex systems. Creating opportunity for parents and children together means that child-care centers might, for example, be in housing projects whose residences are connected to college programs. Community organizations increasingly provide parenting skills education, workforce development programs and have mental health counselors on site. The goal: program participants experience seamless delivery of multiple services under the umbrella of a single program. But integrating approaches that traditionally have been separate requires a new approach to evaluation as well.
Also: Report: Creating Opportunity for Families: http://www.aecf.org/resources/creating-opportunity-for-families/
http://www.aecf.org/blog/evaluating-programs-in-complex-systems-new-approaches/
US: How To: Creating a Kin-First Culture in Child Welfare
Annie E. Casey Foundation – September 25, 2017
WikiHow is an online instruction manual for everything from building a patio to reviewing a journal article. With a new installment on kinship care, child welfare practitioners can get step-by-step guidance on how to ensure more children are placed with relatives when their parents cannot care for them.
Also: wikiHow to Create a Kin First Foster Care System: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Kin-First-Foster-Care-System
http://www.aecf.org/blog/how-to-creating-a-kin-first-culture-in-child-welfare/
US: Latest Census Figures on Child Poverty Merit a “Thumbs Up,” But There’s More to Come (Commentary)
National Center for Children in Poverty – September 14, 2017
There seems to be far more bad news than good surrounding us these days. And so, the U.S. Census Bureau’s release this week of 2016 data on poverty, income, and health insurance released this week, contains some good news that’s worth spreading. While the numbers don’t warrant a big celebration, they certainly call for a “thumbs-up.” Poverty is at pre-recession levels, having declined from 13.5 percent in 2015 to 12.7 percent in 2016 -a reduction of 2.5 million people.
Also: Information Gateway resource: Related Statistics and Demographic Data: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/statistics/related/
http://nccpblog.tumblr.com/post/165331376052/latest-census-figures-on-child-poverty-merit-a
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh: Displaced Rohingyas at great risk of human trafficking in overwhelmed camps (Includes video)
Channel NewsAsia – September 28, 2017
Human trafficking syndicates have long operated in southeastern Bangladesh. As vulnerable people pour in, these networks are plotting to open up escape routes. Children are considered one of the high risk groups for human trafficking. The Bangladesh government estimates there are 6,000 unaccompanied children newly arrived in the country.
Also: Fear of Rohingya’s ending-up as human trafficking victims: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/09/284958/fear-rohingyas-ending-human-trafficking-victims
Canada: HSBC expands commitment to education for Canada’s most vulnerable and under-represented youth, reaching $11m in funding by 2020 (Press release)
HSBC Bank Canada (HSBC) – September 28, 2017
HSBC Bank Canada (HSBC) is expanding its commitment to four leading Canadian charities – Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, Indspire, Pathways to Education Canada and United Way – providing more than $11 million in funding by 2020 (2014-20). Together, they are providing wraparound support to Indigenous youth, as well as young people who are at-risk, in low-income communities, or involved in the child welfare system.
International: Humanitarian standards now available on mobile devices (Press release)
Sphere Project – September 27, 2017
“Two of the top strategic priorities for the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action are sector integration and localization,” says Audrey Bollier, coordinator for the Alliance. “The HSPapp will make the humanitarian standards, including those for child protection, more accessible to frontline workers and clarify our various interlinkages to immensely facilitate that work.”
http://www.sphereproject.org/news/humanitarian-standards-available-on-mobile-devices/
AL: King’s Home open house to launch Therapeutic Foster Care program
St. Clair News Aegis – September 28, 2017
The King’s Home Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) Program provides nurturing homes to children and teens in the custody of Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR). There are approximately 3,500 children currently in the foster care system throughout Alabama according to the Alabama Children’s Policy Council. In many cases, these children have been abused, neglected and are in desperate need of a safe, healing home.
CA: New L.A. County Pilot Program Targets Foster Youth Who Cycle Through Shelters
Chronicle of Social Change – September 28, 2017
This month, Los Angeles County is rolling out a new approach to the longstanding issue of how to find homes for its most difficult to place foster youth. These are youth with a high level of mental health needs and behavioral issues who often cycle through multiple foster care placements and sometimes end up on the street. As a result, they often end up spending months living at transitional shelters such as two cottages run by David and Margaret Youth and Family Services in La Verne.
CO: State shuts down Pueblo treatment center after complaints that children were underfed, abused
Denver Post – September 28, 2017
A mental health and substance abuse treatment center for children was shut down by state authorities this week following complaints that children were abused and underfed. El Pueblo Boys & Girls Ranch, with 12 cottages on 56 acres in Pueblo, was ordered to “immediately desist” caring for children by the Colorado Department of Human Services. The ranch, which treated children with severe behavioral or psychiatric needs, could lose its child care license permanently.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/28/el-pueblo-boys-and-girls-ranch-closed/
FL: Simply Healthcare Foundation and Overtown Youth Center to Provide Trauma and Behavioral Health Services
Insurance Weekly News – September 28, 2017
Simply Healthcare Foundation is working with Overtown Youth Center (OYC) to support the OYC CARES program dedicated to offering trauma assessment and access to behavioral health services to Miami residents who have witnessed or experienced a traumatizing event. The OYC CARES program will help individuals and families overcome the potential long-term health and wellness effects associated with trauma.
GA: High cost of opioid crisis ‘unbearable’
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – September 11, 2017
Misuse of legal, prescription drugs like OxyContin costs the nation at least $78.5 billion a year, according to a study by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “But for the opioid epidemic as a whole, this is a very conservative estimate,” said Curtis Florence, a doctor and lead health economist for the center, part of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MA: Leading Child Trauma and Human Rights Scholar Theresa Betancourt Joins Boston College School of Social Work (Press release)
Boston College – September 28, 2017
Theresa S. Betancourt, whose groundbreaking research has laid bare the ravages of war on children, their families and communities, has joined Boston College’s School of Social Work as the inaugural Salem Professor in Global Practice, School of Social Work Dean Gautam Yadama announced today.
http://markets.pettinga.com/pettinga/news/read?GUID=35008735
NC: & SC: Big need for foster families in the Carolinas
WSPA – September 28, 2017
There’s a growing need for foster parents in the Carolinas. According to Chrysti Shain with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, Spartanburg County leads the state in both the number of children in foster care and the number of homes needed to care for those children.
http://wspa.com/2017/09/28/need-for-foster-families-in-the-carolinas/
NJ: State Taps Implementation Science to Improve Child Welfare Practices
Annie E. Casey Foundation – September 25, 2017
Using the principles of implementation science, New Jersey is launching an all-out effort supported by the Casey Foundation to institute evidence-based approaches to improve outcomes in its child welfare system.
Also: What Is Implementation Science?: http://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-implementation-science/
http://www.aecf.org/blog/new-jersey-taps-implementation-science-to-improve-child-welfare-practices/
NY: Did Monroe County Child Protective Services do enough for Brook Stagles? (Includes video)
WHEC – September 28, 2017
The 3-year-old girl from Greece was beaten to death last year while CPS was investigating her situation. Now, Monroe County legislators are pushing for a reform bill named after Stagles. It aims to reduce CPS workers’ caseloads and protect vulnerable children.
Also: Brook Stagles death: Legislators propose Child Protective Services Reform act (Includes video): http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/09/28/brook-stagles-death-legislators-propose-child-protective-services-reform-act/711792001/
Also: Legislation seeks to reform CPS in Monroe County: http://www.whec.com/news/legislators-seek-reform-cps-monroe-county-/4617338/?cat=565
Also: Monroe Co. Legislator: CPS in crisis, numbers prove it (Includes video): http://13wham.com/news/local/brook-stagles-story-may-bring-change-to-child-protective-services
http://www.whec.com/news/monroe-county-cps-child-protective-services-brook-stagles/4618001/?cat=565
NY: Diocese Of Brooklyn Accused Of Covering Up Ex-Priest’s Sexual Abuse
Gothamist – September 28, 2017
More than a dozen women have come forward in recent weeks to accuse a former Queens-based Catholic priest of sexual abuse, and to allege that both Maspeth’s Holy Cross Church and the Diocese of Brooklyn worked to cover up decades of his predatory behavior. For several years, authorities with Holy Cross were aware of the priest’s abusive behavior, but intentionally turned a deaf ear to the children’s complaints, according to Linda Porcaro, who served as a teacher at Holy Cross from 1986 to 1991.
http://gothamist.com/2017/09/28/church_priest_sex_abuse_brooklyn.php
OR: Child advocates needed in Clatsop County
Daily Astorian – September 29, 2017
“Our middle-class, white-picket- fence instinct is, ‘Well, let’s just take that child and put her into a happy home, and everyone feels good,'” says Julia Mabry, executive director of Clatsop CASA Program. “But that’s not how it works,” Mabry says. “That is not in the child’s best interest. The child’s best interest is to help the parents be safe and sober so they can continue their attachment and continue to be raised by their parent, if that is at all possible.”
http://www.dailyastorian.com/community/20170929/child-advocates-needed-in-clatsop-county
PA: New team created to help York County children out of foster care (Includes video)
CBS21 – September 28, 2017
Dozens of York County resources are joining together to form an Integrative Practice Team (IPT). Backed by the Children’s Home of York, the York County Office of Youth, Children and Families and Casey Family Programs, the IPT is gearing up to change how families are viewed and supported with a main goal to keep children out of foster care.
http://local21news.com/news/local/new-team-created-to-help-york-county-children-out-of-foster-care
PR: Save the Children in Fairfield (CT) working to help Puerto Rico (Includes video)
WTNH – September 27, 2017
With 700,000 children on the island and schools destroyed, normalcy is far in the distance. “What we are seeing for children is that, first of all, they are facing massive trauma,” Harrity said. “Homes destroyed.”
http://wtnh.com/2017/09/27/save-the-children-in-fairfield-working-to-help-puerto-rico/
TX: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick releases Hurricane Harvey-related interim charges
Texas Tribune – September 28, 2017
As recovery efforts in southeast Texas continue after Hurricane Harvey, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Thursday released a list of Harvey-related topics for Texas Senate committees to look into ahead of the next legislative session. ~~ On the list: “Study impact of Harvey on the capacity of out-of-home placements and care for youth in juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Recommend how the state can ensure adequate support and care while facilities are rebuilt.”
Also: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asks senators to study Harvey recovery: http://www.statesman.com/news/gov-dan-patrick-asks-senators-study-harvey-recovery/JdyrAnR2kLU2ksiMoLjcMK/
VA: Who monitors lawyers appointed to speak for vulnerable children without a voice?
News Leader – September 28, 2017
Guardians ad litem, or GALs, are required by the Supreme Court of Virginia to perform certain tasks in representing a child. A judge “hires” them on behalf of the Commonwealth, and tax money pays for their work. But despite GALs being the voice for vulnerable children, other adults who work with them in Virginia have little faith that they’re fulfilling their role. And The News Leader found there is little to no oversight or auditing of the guardian ad litem invoices.
WI: Public hearing looks at repairing foster care system (Includes video)
WKBT – September 28, 2017
Statewide, more and more kids have had to be put in foster care over the past few years, overloading the system to the point of a crisis. Many are pointing to drugs as the cause. As part of Wisconsin’s Speakers Task Force on Foster Care, lawmakers are traveling the state to hear from those working directly with the foster care system. The goal is to put together a package of bills.
Also: Stakeholders: Drugs are fueling foster care crisis in Wisconsin: http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/stakeholders-drugs-are-fueling-foster-care-crisis-in-wisconsin/article_493019c7-debb-5c6d-9b59-1e866905ca22.html
http://www.news8000.com/news/public-hearing-looks-at-repairing-foster-care-system/627688407
WV: Boone County Circuit judge discusses drug epidemic’s impact on families
Register-Herald – September 29, 2017
When William Thompson started as an attorney in Boone County, he said he thought he had a lot of abuse and neglect cases. He had 25. Last year, as a Boone County Circuit Court judge, Thompson saw 90 cases. At the end of September this year, the court has already surpassed 130 cases.
US: 9M Kids’ Health Insurance At Risk As Congress Lets CHIP Expire
US Patch – September 29, 2017
As Republicans scrambled for one last-ditch attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare before the Sept. 30 deadline, a vital program that provides health care coverage for millions of kids across the country has come to the brink of expiration. Funding for CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, will start to run dry on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn’t act – and it is increasingly looking like it won’t.
https://patch.com/maryland/arbutus/s/g8q4s/how-9m-kids-health-care-funding-could-expire
US: Commissioners Approve Pursuing Next Steps toward Suing Opioid Manufacturers
Tribune – September 28, 2017
At least twenty-five US municipal and county entities have filed lawsuits against businesses involved in the licit opioid supply chain this year. States launching suits include Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Other states are interviewing law firms; Delaware being among those who have issued Requests for Proposals. Defendants include McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo International, Teva Pharmaceutical, Allergan, Watson Pharmaceuticals, and Covidien.
US: Judge asked, ‘Does anyone want the child?’-mom posted what she heard to Facebook, response went viral
Epoch Times – September 28, 2017
Too often, stories are shared of families finding “forever homes” for infants they worked so hard to adopt. The opposite is true of the foster care system; foster children are often treated with disdain and discomfort, with the families they live with trying hard not to get too attached, in order to protect their own emotions. Foster mom Sarah shared the very reason that this is the wrong approach to fostering, though.
US: Sold for Sex: Senate Committee Investigates Human Trafficking of Native Women and Children
Rewire – September 28, 2017
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) heard testimony on the findings and recommendations of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examining the growing problem of human trafficking in Indian Country and among Native Americans, one of the most vulnerable populations in the United States. “Human trafficking is a truly despicable activity aimed at exploiting vulnerable people, usually women and girls,” said SCIA committee chair Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) in his opening remarks.
Also: Sex trafficking in Indian Country a ‘significant problem,’ senators told: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/sex-trafficking-in-indian-country-a-significant-problem-senators-told/article_a5a2c60f-aefe-55ef-a5fd-31c17e7f41bf.html
Also: Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report: Human Trafficking: Investigations in Indian Country or Involving Native Americans and Actions Needed to Better Report on Victims Served:
Testimony: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-762T
Highlights: http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687392.pdf
Also: Hoeven: Reports Highlight Need for Better Data to Combat Human Trafficking in Indian Country (Press release): https://www.indian.senate.gov/news/press-release/hoeven-reports-highlight-need-better-data-combat-human-trafficking-indian-country
US: Supreme Court will hear union dues case
New York Times – September 28, 2017
Unions including the New York State United Teachers and the AFL-CIO reacted angrily Thursday to news that the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit a case that could decide whether public sector labor groups can collect fees from workers they represent but who are not members. In Friedrichs, a Los Angeles public school teacher sought to end her payments to the teachers union there. In the case still to be heard by the court, Illinois state child protective worker Mark Janus is objecting to fees he’s obligated to pay to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents him.
Also: Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Mandatory Fees to Unions: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/us/politics/supreme-court-will-hear-case-on-mandatory-fees-to-unions.html?mcubz=3
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/U-S-Supreme-Court-will-hear-public-sector-dues-12238027.php
US: Juvenile Prisons: It’s Time to Close ‘Factories of Failure'(Opinion)
Crime Report – September 27, 2017
It’s long past time to change the paradigm that has determined how the justice system deals with youth since the 1800s, when America’s first youth prisons were launched.
https://thecrimereport.org/2017/09/26/juvenile-prisons-its-time-to-close-the-factories-of-failure/
US: Schools Brace For An Influx Of Students From Puerto Rico
National Public Radio – September 27, 2017
Nearly a week after Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, students who can’t return to school may need to continue their education on the mainland. Some of the largest school districts in Florida, plus major cities like New York City and Chicago, are preparing for the possibility of an influx of students from the island.
US: Evaluating Programs in Complex Systems: New Approaches
Annie E. Casey Foundation – September 25, 2017
Increasingly, human service programs that serve children and families are embedded in complex systems. Creating opportunity for parents and children together means that child-care centers might, for example, be in housing projects whose residences are connected to college programs. Community organizations increasingly provide parenting skills education, workforce development programs and have mental health counselors on site. The goal: program participants experience seamless delivery of multiple services under the umbrella of a single program. But integrating approaches that traditionally have been separate requires a new approach to evaluation as well.
Also: Report: Creating Opportunity for Families: http://www.aecf.org/resources/creating-opportunity-for-families/
http://www.aecf.org/blog/evaluating-programs-in-complex-systems-new-approaches/
US: How To: Creating a Kin-First Culture in Child Welfare
Annie E. Casey Foundation – September 25, 2017
WikiHow is an online instruction manual for everything from building a patio to reviewing a journal article. With a new installment on kinship care, child welfare practitioners can get step-by-step guidance on how to ensure more children are placed with relatives when their parents cannot care for them.
Also: wikiHow to Create a Kin First Foster Care System: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Kin-First-Foster-Care-System
http://www.aecf.org/blog/how-to-creating-a-kin-first-culture-in-child-welfare/
US: Latest Census Figures on Child Poverty Merit a “Thumbs Up,” But There’s More to Come (Commentary)
National Center for Children in Poverty – September 14, 2017
There seems to be far more bad news than good surrounding us these days. And so, the U.S. Census Bureau’s release this week of 2016 data on poverty, income, and health insurance released this week, contains some good news that’s worth spreading. While the numbers don’t warrant a big celebration, they certainly call for a “thumbs-up.” Poverty is at pre-recession levels, having declined from 13.5 percent in 2015 to 12.7 percent in 2016 -a reduction of 2.5 million people.
Also: Information Gateway resource: Related Statistics and Demographic Data: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/statistics/related/
http://nccpblog.tumblr.com/post/165331376052/latest-census-figures-on-child-poverty-merit-a
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh: Displaced Rohingyas at great risk of human trafficking in overwhelmed camps (Includes video)
Channel NewsAsia – September 28, 2017
Human trafficking syndicates have long operated in southeastern Bangladesh. As vulnerable people pour in, these networks are plotting to open up escape routes. Children are considered one of the high risk groups for human trafficking. The Bangladesh government estimates there are 6,000 unaccompanied children newly arrived in the country.
Also: Fear of Rohingya’s ending-up as human trafficking victims: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/09/284958/fear-rohingyas-ending-human-trafficking-victims
Canada: HSBC expands commitment to education for Canada’s most vulnerable and under-represented youth, reaching $11m in funding by 2020 (Press release)
HSBC Bank Canada (HSBC) – September 28, 2017
HSBC Bank Canada (HSBC) is expanding its commitment to four leading Canadian charities – Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, Indspire, Pathways to Education Canada and United Way – providing more than $11 million in funding by 2020 (2014-20). Together, they are providing wraparound support to Indigenous youth, as well as young people who are at-risk, in low-income communities, or involved in the child welfare system.
International: Humanitarian standards now available on mobile devices (Press release)
Sphere Project – September 27, 2017
“Two of the top strategic priorities for the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action are sector integration and localization,” says Audrey Bollier, coordinator for the Alliance. “The HSPapp will make the humanitarian standards, including those for child protection, more accessible to frontline workers and clarify our various interlinkages to immensely facilitate that work.”
http://www.sphereproject.org/news/humanitarian-standards-available-on-mobile-devices/
CA: Another sex abuse lawsuit filed against Redlands Unified School District
Press-Enterprise – September 27, 2017
Another lawsuit has been filed against the Redlands Unified School District alleging a former Redlands High School student was sexually abused by former teacher and convicted sex offender Kevin Patrick Kirkland. Redlands Unified spokesman Tom DeLapp called child sexual abuse “reprehensible” in a statement Wednesday.
KS: Editorial: DCF needs to ensure foster children a bed
Topeka Capital-Journal – September 28, 2017
Over the past year, children in the state’s foster care system have had to spend the night in contractors’ offices more than 100 times. The Kansas Department for Children and Families works with Saint Francis Community Services and KVC Health Systems to administer the foster care system, and these contractors recently informed the Child Welfare Task Force about the number of overnight stays. According to Rachel Marsh, the director of public policy at Saint Francis, “It is actually an office because we don’t want to normalize this in any way. So they would end up on a couch or a makeshift bed.” But when something is happening this often, hasn’t it already been normalized?
http://www.ctnewsonline.com/opinion/article_0ee610ae-a3d3-11e7-b2d4-179c35607466.html
KS: Protecting our children from abuse: Part 3 (Includes video)
KAKE – September 27, 2017
Talking to and looking at Nicole Easton, you see confidence, independence and poise. She’s a successful professional and community volunteer. But what you don’t see is that she was the victim of child neglect and sexual assault. Today, she has turned her experience into a teaching tool.
Also: ChildAbuseWitchita.org (Infographic): http://www.kake.com/category/327657/junior-league-of-wichita-child-abuse-ub
http://www.kake.com/story/36468484/protecting-our-children-from-abuse-part-3
MA: Newburyport resident appointed president of Home for Little Wanderers
Newburyport Current – September 27, 2017
Newburyport resident Lesli Suggs has been selected to be the new president and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers. The organization is the nation’s oldest and one of Massachusetts’ largest child and family services agencies. Suggs will take over on Jan. 2 from Joan Wallace-Benjamin, who is retiring after 15 years leading the agency.
MI: Editorial: Safe Delivery law worthy of awareness
Mining Journal – September 27, 2017
Hopefully, the days of having to leave an infant in a basket on a strangers doorstep are over. The Safe Delivery of Newborns law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2001, allows complete anonymous surrender of a newborn from birth to 72 hours of age to an emergency service provider.
http://www.miningjournal.net/opinion/editorial/2017/09/safe-delivery-law-worthy-of-awareness/
MN: A village consumed: Heroin, casino money, and Minnesota’s Lower Sioux Indian Reservation
City Pages – September 27, 2017
“My own father left me to fend for myself,” he recalls thinking. “I can’t do that to my daughters.” It’s now been six months since Green’s overdose on methadone, a prescribed opioid meant to help addicts ease off heroin and prescription painkillers. Green, 32, isn’t the only one from the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation affected by the country’s opioid epidemic. The small, western-Minnesota Indian reservation of about 900 members has seen a huge spike in overdoses.
MS: Department of Human Services looking to restructure
Itawamba County Times – September 27, 2017
Itawamba County’s Department of Human Services is asking Itawamba leaders to renovate a portion of their county-owned offices. Earlier this month, Brandi Webb, Director of the Itawmaba DHS, requested the local board of supervisors help rearrange the offices of the department’s Child Protection Services. The building, located on West Cedar Street in Fulton, is owned by the county.
MS: Protecting Children: New Leader, New Challenges
Jackson Free Press – September 27, 2017
Almost 6,000 children are in the state’s custody, and some of them are backlogged in the system, newly appointed commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services Jess Dickinson told lawmakers last week.
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/sep/27/protecting-children-new-leader-new-challenges/
NC: Child Deaths Mark Crisis In Child Welfare System, New Report Shows (Includes audio)
WUNC – September 27, 2017
From 2011 to 2016, more than 120 children died in North Carolina within a year of their cases being referred to social services, according to a new investigative series by The Fayetteville Observer. The investigation was prompted by the drowning death of toddler Rylan Ott last year in Moore County, and it reveals a system where children often fall through the cracks and into abusive, and even fatal, environments.
Also: Is North Carolina doing enough to prevent child deaths?: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170927/is-north-carolina-doing-enough-to-prevent-child-deaths
Also: Observer forum: Finding solutions to our child welfare crisis: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170928/observer-forum-finding-solutions-to-our-child-welfare-crisis?rssfeed=true
http://wunc.org/post/child-deaths-mark-crisis-child-welfare-system-new-report-shows#stream/0
NM: Child abuse, neglect strain New Mexico protection program
Associated Press – September 26, 2017
New Mexico’s child protection system is straining to keep pace with an increase in abuse and neglect cases, despite increased public spending, according to a report from state analysts released Tuesday.
Report: New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee Hearing Brief: Child Protective Services: https://nmlegis.gov/Entity/LFC/Documents/Early_Childhood_And_Education/Hearing%20Brief%20-%20Child%20Protective%20Services%20-%20September%202017.pdf
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/26/child-abuse-neglect-strain-new-mexico-protection-p/
OH: 160 Lorain County Jobs and Family Service workers on strike over benefits (Includes video)
News 5 Cleveland – September 26, 2017
The strike hinges around only one remaining issue: county commissioners said the county needs to save money. So, they want service workers, whose spouses are offered health insurance through their employer, to go on their spouses’ plans. Otherwise, the workers would have to pay a surcharge.
RI: DCYF awarded grant to focus on needs of young children
Cranston Herald – September 27, 2017
The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) announced it has been awarded a $415,000 grant from the W.K Kellogg Foundation to continue improvements in delivery of services and supports to young children in Rhode Island’s child welfare system. This three-year project, titled “Rhode Island Getting to Kindergarten Initiative,” was proposed to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation over the past six months as part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for children from birth to five-years-old who are involved in the child welfare system.
http://cranstononline.com/stories/dcyf-awarded-grant-to-focus-on-needs-of-young-children,128002
RI: DCYF will not investigate Providence school employees (Includes video)
WPRI – September 27, 2017
Eleven Providence school employees placed on administrative leave did not meet the criteria for Child Protective Services investigations, the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) said Wednesday. The employees were on leave since the beginning of the school year for “allegations of inappropriate behavior or failure to follow protocols,” according to school spokesperson Laura Hart. Seven of the employees returned to work on Wednesday.
http://wpri.com/2017/09/27/dcyf-will-not-investigate-providence-school-employees/
TN: JCHA opens Baker Court apartments for youth aging out of foster care (Includes video)
WJHL – September 27, 2017
The Johnson City Housing Authority cut the ribbon on a new group of apartments built to serve youth aging out of foster care, along with elderly and disabled people. The new complex on Baker Street currently has 12 one bedroom units and the housing authority is raising money to add 12 more units soon.
http://wjhl.com/2017/09/27/jcha-opens-baker-court-apartments-for-youth-aging-out-of-foster-care/
TX: Working to make Texas children safer (Opinion)
Eagle – September 28, 2017
Our system was in crisis – with high turnover and high caseloads, the foundation was crumbling as children slipped through the gaps. Under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Joe Straus, the Legislature took significant steps toward filling these gaps.
WV: Caring adult relationships can make the difference for children in trauma
Register-Herald – September 28, 2017
In a state that leads the nation for opioid overdose deaths and babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, West Virginia children are often witnesses to and victims of trauma. The West Virginia Defending Childhood Initiative, also known as “Handle With Care,” said studies have shown prolonged exposure to violence and trauma can undermine a child’s ability to focus, behave appropriately and learn, which often leads to school failure, truancy, suspension or involvement in the juvenile justice system.
US: Brief Finds That Extended Foster Care Increases Educational Success
Chronicle of Social Change – September 28, 2017
The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago recently released a brief highlighting factors that lead to high school completion and college enrollment for foster youth. “Each month in extended foster care past age 18, increased the expected odds of completing high school by about 8 percent,” the Chapin Hall brief said.
Report: Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Memo from CalYOUTH: Predictors of High School Completion and College Entry at Ages 19/20: http://www.chapinhall.org/sites/default/files/CY_HS_IB0817.pdf
Information Gateway resource: Educational Stability for Children and Youth in Foster Care: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/service-array/education-services/meeting-needs/educational-stability/
US: ‘Having That Guilty Plea on My Record Feels Horrible’: Stories From Inside the Child Welfare System
Jezebel and Rise Magazine – September 27, 2017
In collaboration with Rise magazine, Jezebel is publishing a series of articles written by parents affected by the child welfare system. This post, the second in the series, features narratives by Antoinette Robinson and Jeffrey Mays, two parents who felt unjustly treated by the Family Court process.
https://jezebel.com/having-that-guilty-plea-on-my-record-feels-horrible-st-1818664619
US: Defending Your Identity to the State: When Parents of Trans Kids are Accused of Child Abuse (Opinion)
Huffington Post – September 27, 2017
The messages say all sorts of things, but right now, I want to talk about one of the most common themes: outraged accusations of child abuse for supporting our transgender child. They tell us how our children should be taken away, and we should be prosecuted and put in jail. After a while, it became such a broken record that I went numb to it. These weren’t as bad as those messages threatening violence, so I just began to ignore them. I’d scroll on past the comments or click delete without a twinge of emotion… until New Jersey’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency knocked on my door because someone had reported us.
US: Editorial: As Repeal Push Progressed, Foster Youth Became More Exposed to Medicaid Changes
Chronicle of Social Change – September 27, 2017
The push to replace or reform the Affordable Care Act appears to be stalled for the moment, as Republicans failed to pass a bill through the reconciliation process. Now, any substantive change will require 60 votes in the Senate, which means a bipartisan deal. That’s tough to imagine, but you never know. For Youth Services Insider, one takeaway from the past months of bill-drafting and horse-trading on health care is that there was some interest in holding foster youth harmless from any cuts to Medicaid. But that interest was not absolute; shielding of foster youth waned over time.
US: For foster parents of disabled children, money stays tight
Philadelphia Tribune – September 27, 2017
Like most parents trying to make ends meet, Vivian Shine-King needs to get creative sometimes. When she has to take her four children to doctor’s appointments, for instance, she’ll make sure multiple kids are booked at the same clinic around the same time, helping her to save on gas and parking. But Shine-King isn’t your average parent. She is foster mother to four disabled children and relies on government money to make sure they get what they need, including – crucially – health care.
Also: Money tight for disabled foster children (Video): http://www.tribtown.com/2017/09/27/us-disabled-foster-children/
http://www.tribtown.com/2017/09/27/us-disabled-foster-children/
US: Human trafficking on the dark web and beyond (Includes video)
FOX 5 NEWS – September 27, 2017
Human trafficking experts are sounding the alarm about people being for sale. Waters said that people are enticed into trafficking through false promises. The dark web is only a small portion of the trafficking that happens in the United States and in New York, she added.
http://www.fox5ny.com/news/human-trafficking-on-the-dark-web-and-beyond
US: Survey of Adoption Attitudes Reveals Surprising Trend (Press release)
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – September 27, 2017
Every five years the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption measures the attitudes of Americans and their feelings and thoughts about foster care adoption. This year the survey was completed by Nielsen on behalf of the Foundation and there were some surprising trends.
http://markets.pettinga.com/pettinga/news/read?GUID=34999710
US: US Ends Central American Minors Program for Child Refugees
teleSUR English – September 27, 2017
The United States will also set the overall refugee cap for the year at 45,000, a ceiling that keeps admissions to their lowest level in over a decade. The White House is ending the Central American Minors or CAM program that allowed vulnerable children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to apply for refugee status in the United States before leaving home
US: Immigration Officials Taking New Steps to Discourage Smuggling of Children
New York Times – September 24, 2017
The Trump administration is stepping up its pursuit of parents who paid to have their children illegally brought into the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. The effort, part of a widening crackdown on illegal immigration, is aimed at discouraging families from paying human smuggling organizations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/us/politics/parents-illegal-immigrants-human-smuggling.html
INTERNATIONAL
Australia: Aboriginal Parents Feel “An Overwhelming Sense Of Powerlessness” In Struggles With Child Protection System
BuzzFeed – September 28, 2017
It was “the difficult circumstances experienced by Aboriginal families that keep parents from actualising their parenting expectations,” the study reports. The study (subscription required) was conducted by Wiradjuri woman BJ Newton, a research associate at the University of NSW’s Social Policy Research Centre. It is the first project in Australia that specifically looks at how Aboriginal parents define and perceive child neglect.
Canada: OPSEU releases video on the “Sixties Scoop” (Press release)
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) – September 27, 2017
A video that documents the “Sixties Scoop” – the practice of taking the children of Indigenous parents from their homes for placement in adoption agencies or foster care that started in the 1960s and continues to this day – was released today at a special screening in Ottawa.
https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/09/n10111275/opseu-releases-video-on-the-sixties-scoop
Norway: Adolescents who have experienced terror attacks suffer from sleep disturbance
Medical Xpress – September 27, 2017
Adolescents who have experienced terror attacks suffer from sleep disturbance for years after the event. Researchers believe there is a need for better assessment and treatment of sleep disturbance in adolescents who have been exposed to trauma.
Report: Life Threat and Sleep Disturbances in Adolescents: A Two-Year Follow-Up of Survivors From the 2011 Utøya, Norway, Terror Attack: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.22196
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-adolescents-experienced-terror-disturbance.html
United Kingdom: Number of lone children seeking asylum doubles
Daily Mail – September 28, 2017
The number of lone asylum-seeking children in the care of councils in England has more than doubled in three years. Official statistics show local authorities were looking after 4,560 unaccompanied minors at the end of March 2017.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-4929322/Number-lone-children-seeking-asylum-doubles.html
CA: Another sex abuse lawsuit filed against Redlands Unified School District
Press-Enterprise – September 27, 2017
Another lawsuit has been filed against the Redlands Unified School District alleging a former Redlands High School student was sexually abused by former teacher and convicted sex offender Kevin Patrick Kirkland. Redlands Unified spokesman Tom DeLapp called child sexual abuse “reprehensible” in a statement Wednesday.
KS: Editorial: DCF needs to ensure foster children a bed
Topeka Capital-Journal – September 28, 2017
Over the past year, children in the state’s foster care system have had to spend the night in contractors’ offices more than 100 times. The Kansas Department for Children and Families works with Saint Francis Community Services and KVC Health Systems to administer the foster care system, and these contractors recently informed the Child Welfare Task Force about the number of overnight stays. According to Rachel Marsh, the director of public policy at Saint Francis, “It is actually an office because we don’t want to normalize this in any way. So they would end up on a couch or a makeshift bed.” But when something is happening this often, hasn’t it already been normalized?
http://www.ctnewsonline.com/opinion/article_0ee610ae-a3d3-11e7-b2d4-179c35607466.html
KS: Protecting our children from abuse: Part 3 (Includes video)
KAKE – September 27, 2017
Talking to and looking at Nicole Easton, you see confidence, independence and poise. She’s a successful professional and community volunteer. But what you don’t see is that she was the victim of child neglect and sexual assault. Today, she has turned her experience into a teaching tool.
Also: ChildAbuseWitchita.org (Infographic): http://www.kake.com/category/327657/junior-league-of-wichita-child-abuse-ub
http://www.kake.com/story/36468484/protecting-our-children-from-abuse-part-3
MA: Newburyport resident appointed president of Home for Little Wanderers
Newburyport Current – September 27, 2017
Newburyport resident Lesli Suggs has been selected to be the new president and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers. The organization is the nation’s oldest and one of Massachusetts’ largest child and family services agencies. Suggs will take over on Jan. 2 from Joan Wallace-Benjamin, who is retiring after 15 years leading the agency.
MI: Editorial: Safe Delivery law worthy of awareness
Mining Journal – September 27, 2017
Hopefully, the days of having to leave an infant in a basket on a strangers doorstep are over. The Safe Delivery of Newborns law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2001, allows complete anonymous surrender of a newborn from birth to 72 hours of age to an emergency service provider.
http://www.miningjournal.net/opinion/editorial/2017/09/safe-delivery-law-worthy-of-awareness/
MN: A village consumed: Heroin, casino money, and Minnesota’s Lower Sioux Indian Reservation
City Pages – September 27, 2017
“My own father left me to fend for myself,” he recalls thinking. “I can’t do that to my daughters.” It’s now been six months since Green’s overdose on methadone, a prescribed opioid meant to help addicts ease off heroin and prescription painkillers. Green, 32, isn’t the only one from the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation affected by the country’s opioid epidemic. The small, western-Minnesota Indian reservation of about 900 members has seen a huge spike in overdoses.
MS: Department of Human Services looking to restructure
Itawamba County Times – September 27, 2017
Itawamba County’s Department of Human Services is asking Itawamba leaders to renovate a portion of their county-owned offices. Earlier this month, Brandi Webb, Director of the Itawmaba DHS, requested the local board of supervisors help rearrange the offices of the department’s Child Protection Services. The building, located on West Cedar Street in Fulton, is owned by the county.
MS: Protecting Children: New Leader, New Challenges
Jackson Free Press – September 27, 2017
Almost 6,000 children are in the state’s custody, and some of them are backlogged in the system, newly appointed commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services Jess Dickinson told lawmakers last week.
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/sep/27/protecting-children-new-leader-new-challenges/
NC: Child Deaths Mark Crisis In Child Welfare System, New Report Shows (Includes audio)
WUNC – September 27, 2017
From 2011 to 2016, more than 120 children died in North Carolina within a year of their cases being referred to social services, according to a new investigative series by The Fayetteville Observer. The investigation was prompted by the drowning death of toddler Rylan Ott last year in Moore County, and it reveals a system where children often fall through the cracks and into abusive, and even fatal, environments.
Also: Is North Carolina doing enough to prevent child deaths?: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170927/is-north-carolina-doing-enough-to-prevent-child-deaths
Also: Observer forum: Finding solutions to our child welfare crisis: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170928/observer-forum-finding-solutions-to-our-child-welfare-crisis?rssfeed=true
http://wunc.org/post/child-deaths-mark-crisis-child-welfare-system-new-report-shows#stream/0
NM: Child abuse, neglect strain New Mexico protection program
Associated Press – September 26, 2017
New Mexico’s child protection system is straining to keep pace with an increase in abuse and neglect cases, despite increased public spending, according to a report from state analysts released Tuesday.
Report: New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee Hearing Brief: Child Protective Services: https://nmlegis.gov/Entity/LFC/Documents/Early_Childhood_And_Education/Hearing%20Brief%20-%20Child%20Protective%20Services%20-%20September%202017.pdf
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/26/child-abuse-neglect-strain-new-mexico-protection-p/
OH: 160 Lorain County Jobs and Family Service workers on strike over benefits (Includes video)
News 5 Cleveland – September 26, 2017
The strike hinges around only one remaining issue: county commissioners said the county needs to save money. So, they want service workers, whose spouses are offered health insurance through their employer, to go on their spouses’ plans. Otherwise, the workers would have to pay a surcharge.
RI: DCYF awarded grant to focus on needs of young children
Cranston Herald – September 27, 2017
The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) announced it has been awarded a $415,000 grant from the W.K Kellogg Foundation to continue improvements in delivery of services and supports to young children in Rhode Island’s child welfare system. This three-year project, titled “Rhode Island Getting to Kindergarten Initiative,” was proposed to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation over the past six months as part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for children from birth to five-years-old who are involved in the child welfare system.
http://cranstononline.com/stories/dcyf-awarded-grant-to-focus-on-needs-of-young-children,128002
RI: DCYF will not investigate Providence school employees (Includes video)
WPRI – September 27, 2017
Eleven Providence school employees placed on administrative leave did not meet the criteria for Child Protective Services investigations, the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) said Wednesday. The employees were on leave since the beginning of the school year for “allegations of inappropriate behavior or failure to follow protocols,” according to school spokesperson Laura Hart. Seven of the employees returned to work on Wednesday.
http://wpri.com/2017/09/27/dcyf-will-not-investigate-providence-school-employees/
TN: JCHA opens Baker Court apartments for youth aging out of foster care (Includes video)
WJHL – September 27, 2017
The Johnson City Housing Authority cut the ribbon on a new group of apartments built to serve youth aging out of foster care, along with elderly and disabled people. The new complex on Baker Street currently has 12 one bedroom units and the housing authority is raising money to add 12 more units soon.
http://wjhl.com/2017/09/27/jcha-opens-baker-court-apartments-for-youth-aging-out-of-foster-care/
TX: Working to make Texas children safer (Opinion)
Eagle – September 28, 2017
Our system was in crisis – with high turnover and high caseloads, the foundation was crumbling as children slipped through the gaps. Under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Joe Straus, the Legislature took significant steps toward filling these gaps.
WV: Caring adult relationships can make the difference for children in trauma
Register-Herald – September 28, 2017
In a state that leads the nation for opioid overdose deaths and babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, West Virginia children are often witnesses to and victims of trauma. The West Virginia Defending Childhood Initiative, also known as “Handle With Care,” said studies have shown prolonged exposure to violence and trauma can undermine a child’s ability to focus, behave appropriately and learn, which often leads to school failure, truancy, suspension or involvement in the juvenile justice system.
US: Brief Finds That Extended Foster Care Increases Educational Success
Chronicle of Social Change – September 28, 2017
The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago recently released a brief highlighting factors that lead to high school completion and college enrollment for foster youth. “Each month in extended foster care past age 18, increased the expected odds of completing high school by about 8 percent,” the Chapin Hall brief said.
Report: Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Memo from CalYOUTH: Predictors of High School Completion and College Entry at Ages 19/20: http://www.chapinhall.org/sites/default/files/CY_HS_IB0817.pdf
Information Gateway resource: Educational Stability for Children and Youth in Foster Care: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/service-array/education-services/meeting-needs/educational-stability/
US: ‘Having That Guilty Plea on My Record Feels Horrible’: Stories From Inside the Child Welfare System
Jezebel and Rise Magazine – September 27, 2017
In collaboration with Rise magazine, Jezebel is publishing a series of articles written by parents affected by the child welfare system. This post, the second in the series, features narratives by Antoinette Robinson and Jeffrey Mays, two parents who felt unjustly treated by the Family Court process.
https://jezebel.com/having-that-guilty-plea-on-my-record-feels-horrible-st-1818664619
US: Defending Your Identity to the State: When Parents of Trans Kids are Accused of Child Abuse (Opinion)
Huffington Post – September 27, 2017
The messages say all sorts of things, but right now, I want to talk about one of the most common themes: outraged accusations of child abuse for supporting our transgender child. They tell us how our children should be taken away, and we should be prosecuted and put in jail. After a while, it became such a broken record that I went numb to it. These weren’t as bad as those messages threatening violence, so I just began to ignore them. I’d scroll on past the comments or click delete without a twinge of emotion… until New Jersey’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency knocked on my door because someone had reported us.
US: Editorial: As Repeal Push Progressed, Foster Youth Became More Exposed to Medicaid Changes
Chronicle of Social Change – September 27, 2017
The push to replace or reform the Affordable Care Act appears to be stalled for the moment, as Republicans failed to pass a bill through the reconciliation process. Now, any substantive change will require 60 votes in the Senate, which means a bipartisan deal. That’s tough to imagine, but you never know. For Youth Services Insider, one takeaway from the past months of bill-drafting and horse-trading on health care is that there was some interest in holding foster youth harmless from any cuts to Medicaid. But that interest was not absolute; shielding of foster youth waned over time.
US: For foster parents of disabled children, money stays tight
Philadelphia Tribune – September 27, 2017
Like most parents trying to make ends meet, Vivian Shine-King needs to get creative sometimes. When she has to take her four children to doctor’s appointments, for instance, she’ll make sure multiple kids are booked at the same clinic around the same time, helping her to save on gas and parking. But Shine-King isn’t your average parent. She is foster mother to four disabled children and relies on government money to make sure they get what they need, including – crucially – health care.
Also: Money tight for disabled foster children (Video): http://www.tribtown.com/2017/09/27/us-disabled-foster-children/
http://www.tribtown.com/2017/09/27/us-disabled-foster-children/
US: Human trafficking on the dark web and beyond (Includes video)
FOX 5 NEWS – September 27, 2017
Human trafficking experts are sounding the alarm about people being for sale. Waters said that people are enticed into trafficking through false promises. The dark web is only a small portion of the trafficking that happens in the United States and in New York, she added.
http://www.fox5ny.com/news/human-trafficking-on-the-dark-web-and-beyond
US: Survey of Adoption Attitudes Reveals Surprising Trend (Press release)
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – September 27, 2017
Every five years the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption measures the attitudes of Americans and their feelings and thoughts about foster care adoption. This year the survey was completed by Nielsen on behalf of the Foundation and there were some surprising trends.
http://markets.pettinga.com/pettinga/news/read?GUID=34999710
US: US Ends Central American Minors Program for Child Refugees
teleSUR English – September 27, 2017
The United States will also set the overall refugee cap for the year at 45,000, a ceiling that keeps admissions to their lowest level in over a decade. The White House is ending the Central American Minors or CAM program that allowed vulnerable children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to apply for refugee status in the United States before leaving home
US: Immigration Officials Taking New Steps to Discourage Smuggling of Children
New York Times – September 24, 2017
The Trump administration is stepping up its pursuit of parents who paid to have their children illegally brought into the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. The effort, part of a widening crackdown on illegal immigration, is aimed at discouraging families from paying human smuggling organizations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/us/politics/parents-illegal-immigrants-human-smuggling.html
INTERNATIONAL
Australia: Aboriginal Parents Feel “An Overwhelming Sense Of Powerlessness” In Struggles With Child Protection System
BuzzFeed – September 28, 2017
It was “the difficult circumstances experienced by Aboriginal families that keep parents from actualising their parenting expectations,” the study reports. The study (subscription required) was conducted by Wiradjuri woman BJ Newton, a research associate at the University of NSW’s Social Policy Research Centre. It is the first project in Australia that specifically looks at how Aboriginal parents define and perceive child neglect.
Canada: OPSEU releases video on the “Sixties Scoop” (Press release)
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) – September 27, 2017
A video that documents the “Sixties Scoop” – the practice of taking the children of Indigenous parents from their homes for placement in adoption agencies or foster care that started in the 1960s and continues to this day – was released today at a special screening in Ottawa.
https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/09/n10111275/opseu-releases-video-on-the-sixties-scoop
Norway: Adolescents who have experienced terror attacks suffer from sleep disturbance
Medical Xpress – September 27, 2017
Adolescents who have experienced terror attacks suffer from sleep disturbance for years after the event. Researchers believe there is a need for better assessment and treatment of sleep disturbance in adolescents who have been exposed to trauma.
Report: Life Threat and Sleep Disturbances in Adolescents: A Two-Year Follow-Up of Survivors From the 2011 Utøya, Norway, Terror Attack: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.22196
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-adolescents-experienced-terror-disturbance.html
United Kingdom: Number of lone children seeking asylum doubles
Daily Mail – September 28, 2017
The number of lone asylum-seeking children in the care of councils in England has more than doubled in three years. Official statistics show local authorities were looking after 4,560 unaccompanied minors at the end of March 2017.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-4929322/Number-lone-children-seeking-asylum-doubles.html
CA: Federal Audit Gives California Poor Marks On Monitoring The Welfare Of Foster Children
California Healthline – September 26, 2017
State officials were slow to investigate complaints of abuse or neglect, failed to notify investigators of serious sexual abuse allegations and didn’t follow up to ensure cases were resolved, according to an audit released late Monday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.
Also: Audit: https://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region9/91601000.pdf
CA: Study finds that 17 percent of high school kids don’t have permanent home
Bay Area News Group – September 26, 2017
A study released Tuesday that looked at six Silicon Valley high schools found that one in six students are either in an unstable housing situation themselves or know someone who is – with most of those couch surfing, separated from their family and living somewhere temporarily with other relatives or friends.
Also: A Couch is not a home: http://acouchisnotahome.org/acouchisnotahome/home.html
Also: Count Me! Hidden in Plain Sight: Documenting Homeless Youth Populations 2017: https://billwilsoncenterorg.presencehost.net/file_download/88d44e89-cf97-4c78-a478-b94d4745f8da
Also: Report shows Silicon Valley ‘crisis’ of homeless students (Includes video): http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Report-shows-Silicon-Valley-crisis-of-12230221.php
FL: Okasloosa parents seek change after child abuse investigation within school district (Includes video)
WJHG – September 26, 2017
Not only are Okaloosa County school officials speaking out regarding the alleged abuse case at Kenwood Elementary School, but now so are parents and friends of students. What they’re asking is to see some serious changes within the school district.
IL: Lawmakers seek DCFS data about the caseloads of child welfare investigators
Chicago Tribune – September 26, 2017
State lawmakers are requesting data on the caseloads of Department of Children and Family Services investigators following a recent Tribune investigation into mismanagement at the agency’s understaffed Joliet office.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/
KS: Protecting our children from abuse: Part 1 (Includes video)
KAKE TV – September 26, 2017
Detective Heather Huhman with the Wichita Police Department’s Exploited and Missing Child Unit sees this kind of abuse every day.
Also: Protecting our children from abuse: Part 2 (Includes video): http://www.kake.com/story/36458157/protecting-our-children-from-abuse-part-2
http://www.kake.com/story/36457919/protecting-our-children-from-abuse-part-1
KY: Churches can make difference with OCA’s Gateway program
Western Recorder – September 19, 2017
One way is through the new Gateway program of the Orphan Care Alliance. The program allows social workers to post needs of at-risk families and foster families for churches to see with hopes that church members can help meet those needs.
http://www.westernrecorder.org/1965.article
ME: The emotional highs and lows of adoption
WCSH-TV – September 26, 2017
The topic of adoption is a very complex one. It can be emotionally and financially draining on a family. Penny Collins is with Adoption Partners of Maine. “You have to be aware that it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to take awhile, it’s not a hero’s activity. Real people and real grief and joy and love is involved, and it’s a beautiful thing, but it’s complicated.”
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/now/the-emotional-highs-and-lows-of-adoption/478815125
MI: Column: End discriminatory child placement practices (Opinion)
Detroit News – September 27, 2017
When the state allows good families to be turned away for religious reasons that have no bearing on their ability to care for a child, the children are the ones who suffer. The consequences include being placed in group homes rather than families, being separated from siblings, and aging out of foster care without ever finding a family.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2017/09/27/child-placement-religion-michigan/106024830/
NC: 121,000 reported cases of child abuse, neglect in NC: 600 reported cases in McDowell
McDowell News – September 25, 2017
Early data shows there were over 121,000 investigated cases of child abuse and neglect in North Carolina during fiscal year July 2016 through June 2017. State law requires individuals or institutions suspecting child abuse or neglect to report cases to the Division of Social Services (DSS) for investigation.
NC: Buncombe County opioid overdose rate nearly tripled in 2017 (Includes video)
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 25, 2017
“Children are testing positive for eight different drugs and they are infants to five years old,” Sprouse said.
NH: Editorial: Federal grants welcome aid to battle opioid crisis in region
Daily Hampshire Gazette – September 26, 2017
Northampton will receive a four-year, $1.7 million grant to expand Hampshire HOPE, a regional opioid prevention coalition, to every community in Hampshire County. Franklin County Probate and Family Court was awarded $2.1 million over five years to expand by 300 percent a first-of-its-kind program in the state, which was started a year ago.
NJ: Murphy vows to reverse Christie-era rule blocking details of child deaths
New Jersey Advance Media – September 26, 2017
Rolling back the controversial measure, implemented four years ago under the auspices of protecting child privacy, would result in the disclosure of additional details in dozens of cases of child deaths or near deaths every year that are currently shielded from public view.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/next_governor_likely_to_overturn_christie-era_rule.html
NM: Child abuse, neglect strain NM protection program (Includes video)
Associated Press – September 26, 2017
New Mexico’s child protection system is straining to keep pace with an increase in abuse and neglect cases, despite increased public spending, according to a report from state analysts released Tuesday.
Report: https://nmlegis.gov/Entity/LFC/Documents/Performance%20Dashboard%20Fourth%20Quarter%20F17.pdf
Also: Growing number of youth in state care stresses CYFD: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/growing-number-of-youth-in-state-care-stresses-cyfd/article_4fbcc345-905a-5f59-aeb4-263bc1d988ba.html
OH: State’s first center for drug-addicted babies opens in Kettering (Includes video)
WHIO – September 19, 2017
A two million dollar facility specializing in the treatment of drug- addicted babies opened Monday morning in Kettering.
PA: Auditor general hears horror stories from children and youth workers
Standard-Speaker – September 27, 2017
DePasquale, who recently released an 80-page “State of the Child” report following a year-long review of children and youth agencies around the state, visited Luzerne County on his first stop in a statewide tour to address what he calls a “broken” child welfare system.
Also: DePasquale: Child welfare system broken: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/depasquale-child-welfare-system-broken-1.2247802
TX: DFPS Announces Two Areas for Community Based Care (Press release)
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services – September 19, 2017
Texas DFPS has announced procurements for two new regions for Foster Care Redesign – a lead agency community-based network design. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is pleased to announce that the next two catchment areas for Community Based Care (CBC) will be all counties in Region 2 and Bexar County in Region 8.
https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/About_DFPS/News/2017/2017_09_19-Community_Based_Care.asp
WI: Federal grant will help county launch new program to fight opioid addiction
Kenosha News – September 26, 2017
Kenosha County will use a $300,000 federal grant to launch a new program to combat opioid addiction by linking overdose survivors with treatment services.
US: The Real Benefit of Child Welfare Waivers: Eliminating Title IV-E Eligibility Determination (Opinion)
Fostering Reform – September 25, 2017
Around the country, most states are funding the same set of programs, few if any of which can document impressive effects despite being billed as “evidence-based.” Moreover, in its most recent report on child welfare financing, Child Trends found that only nine percent of waiver funds were used for purposes not traditionally reimbursable under Title IV-E.
http://fosteringreform.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-real-benefit-of-child-welfare.html
US: Funding for home visiting set to expire, leaving early-intervention services in limbo for many
Washington Post – September 22, 2017
Home-visiting programs pair low-income struggling parents with trained nurses, social workers or educators, who provide support throughout the stressful first years of their children’s lives. Through regular visits, the support workers provide resources to help families with basic needs and teach habits and skills to parents to promote the healthy development of their children. These early-intervention programs have grown in the past few decades alongside research showing the first years to be a critical time for brain development. President Barack Obama included home visiting in his first budget, and the program got a jolt of federal funding through the Affordable Care Act in 2010 with $1.5 billion in state grants. The legislation, which has been extended twice, is set to expire at the end of the month.
Also: Congress must reauthorize a proven program for struggling families (Opinion): https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/09/26/congress-must-reauthorize-proven-program-struggling-families
Information Gateway resource: Home Visiting: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/prevention-programs/homevisit/
INTERNATIONAL
Europe: Countries have fulfilled less than a third of their asylum relocation promises
Amnesty International – September 25, 2017
European countries have utterly failed to fulfil their commitments to relocate asylum-seekers from Greece and Italy, Amnesty International said, as the two year period in which asylum-seekers are eligible for the relocation scheme comes to a close on 26 September 2017.
AL: Huntsville pastor arrested for not reporting sexual child abuse (Includes video)
Rocket City News – September 25, 2017
Michael Walker, pastor of Southside Baptist Church, is accused of failing to report the alleged sexual abuse of a child. Huntsville police said walker did not notify law enforcement after a 12 year-old girl came forward, accusing former Madison County Sheriff’s investigator Roland Campos of fondling her. Walker is now being charged with violation of mandatory reporting laws.
AR: NWA Organization Seeking to Improve Foster Care Crisis (Includes video)
KNWA – September 25, 2017
Right now in Northwest Arkansas, more than 500 foster children are in your schools, doctor offices, and playgrounds. According to Ozark Guidance, only 250 foster homes are available. The organization is looking to not only provide homes but break the cycle of kids going to and from different foster homes.
Also: State foster care numbers surge: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170925/state-foster-care-numbers-surge
Also: NWA in need of more foster families: http://www.4029tv.com/article/nwa-in-need-of-more-foster-families/12463250
CA: New DCFS director selected
Antelope Valley Times – September 25, 2017
The board considered at least two candidates in a closed-door meeting Sept. 19 before voting 3-2 to have the chief executive officer negotiate a final contract and salary with Bobby Cagle, the director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.
http://theavtimes.com/2017/09/25/new-dcfs-director-selected/
CA: Report reveals disturbing rise in child abuse cases across Fresno County (Includes video)
KFSN – September 25, 2017
Doctors at Valley Children’s Hospital are seeing an increase in the number of children coming into the hospital for child abuse. Despite several high-profile child death cases in the Central Valley this year, Child Protective Services says they are seeing numbers that are consistent with prior years.
http://abc30.com/report-reveals-disturbing-rise-in-child-abuse-cases-across-fresno-county/2454048/
CA: VUSD leaders continue work on suicide prevention
Vacaville Reporter – September 25, 2017
The law requires California school districts to adopt formal suicide-prevention, intervention and follow-up plans for all middle and high school students. A district’s plan must include provisions that specifically address the needs of “high-risk groups.” Among them are students mourning a suicide, one of the top causes of youth deaths; students with disabilities, mental illness or drug and/or alcohol problems; students who are homeless or in foster care; and students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or may be questioning their sexual identity.
http://www.thereporter.com/general-news/20170925/vusd-leaders-continue-work-on-suicide-prevention
CO: Group of doctors diagnosed boy’s injuries as the result of child abuse
Gillette News Record – September 25, 2017
The Children’s Hospital Colorado child protection team, which is a group of doctors that are called in when there is suspected child abuse or neglect, said the injuries they observed in 3-year-old Caiden Fedora on Aug. 6, 2016, were consistent with child abuse.
http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/local/article_493c3a33-30a0-5a38-b0ed-862986da6f95.html
FL: State investigation cites multiple failures in death of Largo child
Tampa Bay Times – September 25, 2017
A state investigation into the death of the infant found multiple failures on the part of the child welfare system that left the boy in a room where police investigating the death recorded temperatures of 109 degrees.
IA: Substance abuse reaches beyond the individual, impacting families and, inevitably, kids
Fort Dodge Messenger – September 24, 2017
“We believe addiction is a family disease and it impacts everyone,” said Blake Harvey, adolescent residential program supervisor with Community and Family Resources. CFR is a comprehensive addiction treatment agency active in 10 counties in central Iowa, including Webster and Hamilton.
KS: Editorial: Kids shouldn’t have to sleep in offices
Topeka Capital-Journal – September 24, 2017
Over the past year, children in the state’s foster care system have had to spend the night in contractors’ offices more than 100 times. The Kansas Department for Children and Families works with Saint Francis Community Services and KVC Health Systems to administer the foster care system, and these contractors recently informed the Child Welfare Task Force about the number of overnight stays. According to Rachel Marsh, the director of public policy at Saint Francis, “It is actually an office because we don’t want to normalize this in any way. So they would end up on a couch or a makeshift bed.” But when something is happening this often, hasn’t it already been normalized?
http://cjonline.com/opinion/editorials/2017-09-24/editorial-kids-shouldn-t-have-sleep-offices
KY: Community Approach to Kentucky’s Opioid Crisis Urged (Includes audio)
Public News Service – September 26, 2017
According to the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy, more than 1,400 Kentuckians died of a drug overdose last year – with the introduction of the synthetic opiate fentanyl into the heroin supply, driving up the death toll. Van Ingram, who oversees the agency, says over the next few weeks his office will channel about $3 million in government grants into community-level efforts.
MA: Editorial: Family Court’s attack on opioid epidemic is encouraging
Greenfield Recorder – September 25, 2017
Again, Franklin County is pioneering new ways to help cope with the opioid epidemic – this time for families that find themselves in probate court over custody and child welfare issues related to addiction.
http://www.recorder.com/family-drug-court-12702422
MS: Creating a home, ‘family tree’ for Mississippi’s foster children (Includes video)
Clarion-Ledger – September 25, 2017
“I know that feeling of bouncing around and not feeling like you had a home,” Kalahar said. “I can relate to that because I didn’t really have a home until I was 15.” Today, 20 years later, she is director of development at Methodist Children’s Homes of Mississippi. Kalahar chooses to use her family’s history to illustrate what children can achieve once they receive love and affection. Speaking to kids at Methodist, she notes that “there are a lot of people who seem to be making bad decisions” for them.
MT: Don’t cut critical services for kids (Opinion)
Missoulian – September 25, 2017
Montana is in danger. Our state has already experienced $218 million in general fund cuts, and potential for $200 million more to come. I (Geoff Birnbaum) am deeply concerned about severe cuts to rates for all mental health services, limiting the needed amount of therapeutic group care that keeps youth close to home and in communities, and severe cuts that impact foster children, victims of domestic violence, and foster care for tribal children.
NC: Cumberland County has the most foster kids in NC: Nearly 900
Fayetteville Observer – September 25, 2017
That’s enough foster children to fill an entire middle school. The surge in numbers across North Carolina is alarming child advocates who say the state needs to do more to prevent problems that rip apart families.
http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170925/cumberland-county-has-most-foster-kids-in-nc-nearly-900
NC: County names new DSS director
Goldsboro News-Argus – September 24, 2017
Tammy Schrenker, of Stanly County, was introduced Tuesday morning as the new director of the Department of Social Services for Wayne County. She will fill the position currently held by Interim Director Earl Marett.
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2017/09/24/county_names_new_dss_director/
NC: Child abuse series shows Observer commitment
Fayetteville Observer – September 23, 2017
Senior reporter Greg Barnes has spent months working on this project, digging through hundreds of documents and interviewing people across the state. It comes down to a simple question: Are we doing all we can to protect our most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect? But the answer is far from simple.
http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170923/child-abuse-series-shows-observer-commitment
NE: Ricketts announces plan to help struggling Nebraska families (Includes video)
KLKNTV – September 25, 2017
Monday, Gov. Pete Ricketts and First Lady Susanne Shore announced Bring Up Nebraska, a statewide initiative that gives local communities the ability to keep problems that struggling families face from getting worse. Incarcerating family members and entering kids into the child welfare system consumes state resources. This initiative aims at preventing that from happening.
Also: Bring Up Nebraska aims to expand collaborations that develop local solutions for families: http://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/bring-up-nebraska-aims-to-expand-collaborations-that-develop-local/article_6e52f9e0-a233-11e7-9727-7b31fc933500.html
Also: Ricketts touts benefits of local child and family services: http://www.sunherald.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article175257276.html
http://www.klkntv.com/story/36449451/ricketts-announces-plan-to-help-struggling-nebraska-families
NE: Foster Parent Advocacy Network holds ‘first of many’ outings
KPVI – September 23, 2017
“It’s just about sharing experiences and taking a little time to relax,” Loud said. “Plus, it gives the kids a sense of normalcy when they can just play at the park with other kids who are in foster care, too.”
NV: New Olive Crest director has seen the abuse her clients face
Las Vegas Review Journal – September 25, 2017
Olive Crest’s new Las Vegas director is familiar with the tragedies experienced by the children she serves. Myesha Wilson was announced as leader of the nonprofit, which provides shelter to abused children, in June. As a girl, the Oakland, California, native watched her mother get abused by her father, who used drugs and alcohol.
PA: Low caseworker pay hampers child protection in PA
CNHI State Reporter – September 23, 2017
Some of the people hired to help families in crisis in Pennsylvania need government assistance themselves to buy groceries.
PA: Workload, experiences can be overwhelming for caseworkers
Daily Item – September 23, 2017
Christina Jones majored in social work in college, but it didn’t prepare her for the overwhelming dread she faced during her first weeks on the job as a Northumberland County Children and Youth Services caseworker.
VA: Increase in substance abuse is affecting Bedford County’s foster care system (Includes video)
WDBJ7 – September 25, 2017
Bedford County is seeing a rise in children entering foster care. Officials say it ties back to Virginia’s opioid crisis, and more substance abuse related cases.
WA: Yakima Valley feeling the strain as families torn by addiction
Yakima Herald Republic – September 23, 2017
Nationwide, annual overdose deaths from opioids such as heroin and prescription painkillers have soared in recent years, topping 33,000 in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Yakima County last year, five of the 26 overdose deaths involved heroin, according to the county coroner.
Also: Addiction’s impact on Yakima families: Shelby Kreger: http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/addiction-s-impact-on-yakima-families-shelby-kreger/article_089d9db4-a0e2-11e7-9c84-03dea9004f82.html
WV: Judicial system joins Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative
Beckley Register-Herald – September 26, 2017
The West Virginia judicial system is joining the Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative (RJOI), a collaboration among state courts to utilize local, state and federal partnerships and resources to find regional solutions to the opioid epidemic. RJOI’s goal is to improve outcomes for individuals and families who enter the criminal justice and child welfare systems because of opioid use.
US: Check out the Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces! (Press release)
Dave Thomas Foundation – September 25, 2017
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is celebrating its 11th year of honoring companies that offer the country’s most impressive adoption benefits!
https://davethomasfoundation.org/partner/become-an-adoption-friendly-workplace/
US: Day by Day: ‘Unadoptable’ label is one no child deserves
This Week Community News – September 25, 2017
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption began 25 years ago and believes every child deserves a loving family. “Unadoptable” is unacceptable. “Children in foster care have had a tough start to life, but they are every bit deserving of the stability and love that comes with family,” said Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “The adults need to genuinely believe it’s worth it to give a child a home and consider the child’s needs before their own. To adopt or foster, the conversation has to focus on the child.”
http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20170925/day-by-day-unadoptable-label-is-one-no-child-deserves
US: Survivor calls for increased awareness surrounding sex trafficking (Includes video)
KCRG – September 25, 2017
The 29-year-old grew up in Iowa, was in foster care, and when she turned 18, she was living alone in Las Vegas.
Information Gateway resource: Preventing, Identifying, and Responding to Human Trafficking: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/trafficking/pir/
US: Editorial: States must respond to rising child abuse
Herald-Dispatch – September 24, 2017
Child abuse is on the rise, in part because of the epidemic of drug use and neglect, but also because social service agencies, which have been understaffed for years, are increasingly overwhelmed.
US: No Visible Bruises: Domestic Violence and Traumatic Brain Injury
True Viral News – September 23, 2017
Gael Strack, the chief executive officer of the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, is one of the domestic-violence community’s most prominent voices on strangulation and its attendant issues. In 1995, when she was the assistant district attorney in San Diego, two teen-age girls were killed “on her watch,” as she puts it.
http://trueviralnews.com/no-visible-bruises-domestic-violence-and-traumatic-brain-injury/
US: Spotlight on child abuse prompts state changes
Minneapolis Star Tribune – September 23, 2017
Spurred by high-profile cases of endangered children and chronically overworked caseworkers, many states have taken steps this year to shield children from abuse and neglect, including adding caseworkers, tightening reporting requirements and expanding the definition of “abuse.”
http://www.startribune.com/spotlight-on-child-abuse-prompts-state-changes/447186683/
INTERNATIONAL
India: Should India become a signatory to the Hague Convention on international child abduction?
Economic Times (India) – September 24, 2017
Bring our Kids Home (BOKH) is a non-governmental organisation in the US formed in 2015 by parents, including many Indians and Indian-Americans. The members of BOKH are aggrieved parents (mostly fathers) who have been lobbying with US government officials in Congress and the State Department to urge the Indian government to become a signatory to the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention, which provides a way to return a child internationally abducted by a parent.
International: Educate to Lead: Leaving No Girl or Woman Behind
Impakter – September 26, 2017
Along with other NGOs and civil society organizations, Soroptimist International (SI) participated in the consultative processes that led to the creation of the 2030 Agenda. Through grassroots project work that empowers women, girls, and their communities, SI actively contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With almost 100 years of experience, SI is working to promote gender equality across a wide spectrum of issues where discrimination disables women and girls, preventing them from playing a full part in their communities.
http://impakter.com/educate-to-lead-no-girl-woman-behind/
Sudan: Girls, Child Marriage, and Education in Red Sea State, Sudan: Perspectives on Girls’ Freedom to Choose
Relief Web – September 26, 2017
Child marriage is any formal marriage or informal union where one or both parties are under 18 years of age. Child marriage affects both boys and girls, but disproportionately affects girls. Each year, 15 million girls are married before the age of 18, and that number is growing. Worldwide, 700 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday and more than one in three girls are married before age of 15 (UNICEF 2014a, 1). Although the largest numbers of child brides are in South Asia, most of the countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage are in Africa (African Union 2015a, 3). Sudan is among the African countries with a high prevalence of child marriage. In Sudan, 10.7% of women aged 15 to 49 were married before the age of 15, and 38s% were married before the age of 18 (CBS and UNICEF 2010).
Report: https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/6326-girls-child-marriage.pdf
AK: Health care repeal would hurt Alaska youth (Opinion)
Juneau Empire – September 24, 2017
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski took a brave stand when she voted against the health care bill earlier this summer that would harm Alaskans by slashing the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. Sadly, the attack on health care has come again in the form of the Graham-Cassidy bill now in the Senate – and one of many groups that would be disproportionately impacted by the bill are kids in foster care.
http://juneauempire.com/opinion/2017-09-24/health-care-repeal-would-hurt-alaska-youth
CA: Legislature is getting more family-friendly — and it’s not just politics behind the shift
Santa Cruz Sentinel – September 24, 2017
State lawmakers this year passed bills that would give millions of Californians 12 weeks to snuggle with their newborns before returning to work, grant school employees six weeks of paid parental leave and offer moms and dads a place – besides a grimy bathroom floor – to change dirty diapers at amusement parks, theaters, sporting arenas and shopping malls.
CA: Soulciety seeks to give voice to foster children, youth on probation
East Bay Times – September 22, 2017
The contretemps has temporarily delayed plans, in the works for a year and a half, to meld Soulciety’s theatrical creativity with true stories of young adults who are either aging out of foster care or transitioning out of the criminal justice system and receiving job training, leadership development and community service opportunities through the nonprofit. Soulciety provides the services to youth in foster care or on probation through a contract with Alameda County.
DC: Monument Academy in D.C. Tries a New Model to Help Kids in Foster Care – a Charter Boarding School
74 – September 24, 2017
“Not only can we not have that for our own family, but it shouldn’t be the outcome for any child,” Bloomfield said during a visit by The 74 and the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools in mid-August, already the second week of school at Monument, which has only a six-week summer break.
FL: Childcare workers caught on video berating, taunting 8YO child with autism turn themselves in
KAKE – September 22, 2017
“There has to be an accountability measure for folks,” said Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird. “Especially when they’re supposed to be the professionals. They get hired as the professionals, they’re being paid as the professionals.”
Also: Polk childcare workers who berated autistic child turn themselves in (Includes video): http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2017/9/22/polk_childcare_worke.html?cid=rss
Also: Video shows Polk child-care workers berating autistic child: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/video-shows-polk-child-care-workers-berating-autistic-child/2338409
FL: South Florida stepped up to protect kids during Irma | Opinion
Sun Sentinel – September 22, 2017
Ensuring the safety of nearly 5,000 children under the age of 18 during a hurricane is a truly staggering undertaking – an undertaking that no organization could do alone. While ChildNet is proud to say that every single child in our local foster care system made it through the storm without incident, the credit does not belong to us.
Informationg Gateway response: Disaster Preparedness & Response: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/management/disaster-preparedness/
ID: Child-guardians program in dire need of volunteers
Idaho Statesman – September 23, 2017
“Our guardian ad litem actually goes to court . reaches out to me and encourages emails and pictures and updates and just wants to be in the loop with what’s going on,” said Ashley, who requested her last name not be published due to privacy and safety concerns. “I feel like . in the courtroom, she is the only one who really only has eyes for the kids.”
http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/health-care/article174588276.html
IN: State of Addiction: Confronting Indiana’s Opioid Crisis (Includes video)
Indianapolis Star – September 24, 2017
Opioid addiction is a public health catastrophe. More than 1 in 20 people in Indiana – that’s a staggering 286,000 Hoosiers – report having engaged in nonmedical use of opioid pain relievers. Even worse, the number of Hoosiers who have died from drug poisoning has increased 500 percent since 1999. More people now die in Indiana from drug poisoning than in car accidents. The already overburdened foster care and child welfare systems are now further taxed by the ever-increasing number of children whose parents are either addicted, locked up or dead.
LA: State’s Mandatory Reporter Law (Includes video)
KNOE TV – September 22, 2017
Teachers and administrators are often held accountable when it comes to cases involving abuse, but revisions to Louisiana’s Mandatory Reporter Law requires anyone who is directly involved with children to report suspicious activity.
http://www.knoe.com/content/news/Louisianas-Mandatory-Reporter-Law-446787893.html
MI: ‘Orphan Train’ riders remembered in Michiana (Includes video)
WSBT – September 22, 2017
Orphans from crowded east coast cities were sent to the Midwest to be adopted. The train depot in Dowagiac, where travelers now head to Chicago, was where the first Orphan Train stopped in 1854. Director of the Dowagiac Area History Museum Steve Arseneau wants the children’s stories to be remembered.
http://wsbt.com/news/local/orphan-train-riders-remembered-in-michiana
MI: ACLU alleges state bias against same-sex foster, adoptive couples
Cable News Network – September 22, 2017
The lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services argues that state-contracted, taxpayer-funded child placement agencies unconstitutionally discriminate by categorically disqualifying same-sex couples from consideration for the programs based on the organizations’ religious beliefs.
Also: ACLU challenges law allowing faith-based child services providers to turn away LGBT parents: https://baptistnews.com/article/aclu-challenges-law-allowing-faith-based-child-services-providers-turn-away-lgbt-parents/#.WcaX0cZryM8
MT: Critic of Montana’s child protection agency charged with stalking worker
Associated Press – September 22, 2017
Walton was charged with criminal contempt for sharing a confidential Child and Family Services report in an effort to change the placement of one of his grandchildren.
NC: In N.C., child killings can carry little or no prison time
Times-News – September 24, 2017
Several months after the child died, investigators charged Yates with first-degree murder and felony child abuse. She faced the possibility of life in prison. Two years later, she accepted a plea: involuntary manslaughter and felony intentional child abuse, for which she served two years and three months in prison. This case illustrates what The Fayetteville Observer found repeatedly in its investigation into child deaths in North Carolina: Punishment is often less severe than it is for killing an adult.
http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/20170924/in-nc-child-killings-can-carry-little-or-no-prison-time
NC: Deaths point to crisis in North Carolina’s child welfare system (Opinion)
Providence Journal – September 22, 2017
The social worker assigned to investigate the family hadn’t been to the home in “quite some time” before the death and had misrepresented the poor conditions, said Brenda Jackson, the DSS director. That social worker was fired after Bryan died, and the supervisors were disciplined. DSS put in place several improvement strategies in response to the handling of the case, including increased oversight, she said.
NH: DCYF Leader: More Workers Needed to Keep up with Caseload (Includes audio)
New Hampshire Public Radio – September 22, 2017
Christine Tappan was confirmed as the associate commissioner of Health and Human Services last week. Her hire is part of a reorganization of DCYF. She’ll oversee the agency where she actually worked before, from 2008 to 2012.
http://nhpr.org/post/dcyf-leader-more-workers-needed-keep-caseload#stream/0
NJ: Judges to child-beating mom: That’s abuse
Courier-Post – September 22, 2017
A Burlington County mother who beat her 6-year-old son with a phone-charging cord and made the boy and his brother walk alone to school along a busy road has lost a challenge to a court ruling that deemed her an abusive parent.
NY: Administration of Children’s Services staffers now being sent to NYPD investigator course
New York Daily News – September 24, 2017
Call it Law & Order: ACS. Staffers at the city’s Administration of Children’s Services are being sent to the NYPD’s Police Academy to receive special training in tactics and procedures they could use in their own investigations, the Daily News has learned.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/acs-staffers-nypd-investigator-article-1.3518025
NY: Kinship care, how it works and why it should be expanded (Opinion)
New York Nonprofit Media – September 22, 2017
Recent legislation to expand the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program, or KinGAP, introduced by state Sen. Tony Avella and Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, benefits foster care providers by supporting the agility and innovation needed to create the stability that young people so desperately need. Gov. Andrew Cuomo should sign this bill.
http://nynmedia.com/news/kinship-care-how-it-works-and-why-it-should-be-expanded
OH: Kinship Caregivers Support Young Victims of Ohio’s Opioid Crisis (Includes audio)
Public News Service – September 25, 2017
September is both Kinship Care Month and Recovery Month, which this year is a timely coincidence in light of the high numbers of children in the child welfare system due to the opioid epidemic.
PA: Blair County Children Youth and Families works to improve system (Includes video)
WJAC – September 22, 2017
Blair County’s Child Advocacy Center, or Center for Child Justice, opened Friday in Altoona. The center is one of multiple changes for Children Youth and Family Services aimed at improving the child welfare system. An advocacy center allows children to receive a medical exam, forensic interview and other services all under one roof.
http://wjactv.com/news/local/blair-county-children-youth-and-families-works-to-improve-system
PA: Judge in Graham Spanier criminal case sets out legal underpinnings for upholding conviction
Penn Live – September 22, 2017
Spanier, 68, was convicted by a jury in March of one count of child endangerment for what prosecutors have called his failure to take steps against longtime Penn State football icon Jerry Sandusky after a 2001 eyewitness account of potential misconduct by Sandusky was brought to the attention of university administrators.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/09/judge_in_spanier_criminal_case.html
WA: Documents: State, Centralia Home for Boys Didn’t Report Dozens of Claims of Abuse
Lewis County Chronicle – September 22, 2017
A number of allegations against state agencies and Centralia’s now-closed Kiwanis Vocational Home are being spoken aloud and taken seriously for the first time with the filing of four lawsuits by former residents since 2015.
US: States take action to combat child abuse
Herald Dispatch – September 25, 2017
Spurred by high-profile cases of endangered children and chronically overworked caseworkers, many states have taken steps this year to shield children from abuse and neglect, including adding caseworkers, tightening reporting requirements and expanding the definition of “abuse.”
US: How to protect your child’s credit
Hawaii News Now – September 22, 2017
Identity theft is terrible when it happens to anyone. The consequences range from hassle to financial disaster. But what if someone stole your identity, and you had no idea, perhaps for years – while the thief opened credit cards or secured vehicle loans, filed taxes and pocketed the refunds, or even took government benefits?
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/30513337/how-to-protect-your-childs-credit
US: Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice to lead national opioid task force
News and Tribune – September 22, 2017
Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush will co-chair a national task force aimed at finding solutions to the country’s opioid epidemic.
US: States Turning to Evidence-Based Policymaking to Improve Outcomes for Children and Youth
Pew Charitable Trusts – September 22, 2017
Policymakers want to improve outcomes for children and youth but often struggle with how best to allocate limited resources. In recent years, many have turned to evidence-based policymaking-the systematic use of high-quality research in decision-making-to help address this challenge.
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: Coordinating services for young victims in North Bay (Press release)
Department of Justice Canada – September 22, 2017
Today, Anthony Rota, Member of Parliament for Nipissing-Timiskaming, on behalf of the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced funding to establish a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in Nipissing District that will enhance and expand the integration of social, health, justice, law enforcement and other community services for victims of child abuse.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Protecting Children in Armed Conflict: Voices from the field
UN Office of the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict – September 21, 2017
Despite progress made during the past decade, children across the globe continue to be victims of grave violations in situations of armed conflict. As we speak, thousands of children, both boys and girls, continue to suffer and witness acts of violence by parties to conflict who continue to disregard international humanitarian and human rights obligations and standards.
International: Tourism crimes! Volunteering and visiting Orphanages when traveling
ETurboNews – September 22, 2017
It’s human trafficking, child abuse and a crime participants often don’t even know they are part of it. It happens in Myanmar, Nepal and other countries. An Australian adventure travel company has a strong stance on child protection and has just announced a new charitable partnership with Australia-based child protection charity Forget Me Not. This reinforces the company’s commitment to end orphanage tourism and help reunite thousands of children with their families. The new partnership is kickstarted with an A$90,000 donation, made through The Intrepid Foundation.
https://eturbonews.com/165528/tourism-crimes-volunteering-visiting-orphanages-traveling
Rwanda: Govt Lifts Ban on Foreign Adoption of Rwandan Kids
All Africa – September 21, 2017
Foreigners or persons outside Rwandan can now adopt children in the country, seven years after the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion suspended the so-called inter-country adoption of Rwandan children.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201709210076.html
Singapore: Spotting abuse of young kids
Straights Times – September 25, 2017
A recent survey by the Singapore Children’s Society suggested that pre-school teachers are not well trained in handling child abuse cases or are not aware of the resources available.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spotting-abuse-of-young-kids
AK: Helping victims redefine their worth: Taking a stand against human trafficking
Juneau Empire – September 21, 2017
Sex trafficking is a rapidly growing, very lucrative crime in our state. In fact, most trafficking victims were first exploited as children. A recent Loyola University New Orleans study of 10 U.S. cities found that one in four girls and one in five boys receiving services at Covenant House in Anchorage reported being victims of sex trafficking. Transit centers, malls and gas stations are also prime recruiting spots for youth and young adults.
CO: Ex-child welfare worker indicted on forgery charges
Columbine Courier – September 21, 2017
A former Jefferson County Human Services worker has been accused of falsifying information in 12 child abuse and neglect complaints. Richelle Schultz, 53, was indicted on 22 felony counts of attempt to influence a public servant and forgery. According to the Jeffco grand jury, Schultz is accused of committing the alleged crimes between April 30, 2016 and June 30, 2016, while working as a child welfare caseworker with the county.
http://www.columbinecourier.com/content/ex-child-welfare-worker-indicted-forgery-charges
CT: “The Faces of Kinship Care” Comes to Wes
Weslyan Argus (Wesleyan University) – September 22, 2017
On Monday, Sept. 18, University graduates Julie Magruder ’17 and Jackson DuMont ’17 returned to their alma mater for a screening of their recently released documentary, “The Faces of Kinship Care.” Produced in association with the Child Welfare League of America and the New York State Kinship Navigator, the forty-two-minute film tells the stories of three kinship care families-families where other relatives, often grandparents and great-grandparents, adopt grandchildren whose parents are unable to care for them.
http://wesleyanargus.com/2017/09/22/the-faces-of-kinship-care-comes-to-wes/
FL: Simply Healthcare Foundation and Overtown Youth Center to Provide Trauma and Behavioral Health Services (Press release)
Simply Healthcare Foundation – September 21, 2017
Simply Healthcare Foundation is working with Overtown Youth Center (OYC) to support the OYC CARES program dedicated to offering trauma assessment and access to behavioral health services to Miami residents who have witnessed or experienced a traumatizing event. The OYC CARES program will help individuals and families overcome the potential long-term health and wellness effects associated with trauma.
MS: State lawmakers start picking through budget requests
Associated Press – September 21, 2017
Jess Dickinson, who stepped down as a state Supreme Court justice to lead the Department of Child Protective Services starting this week, said his agency wants to hire more workers and needs more office space.
http://www.theolympian.com/news/business/article174590351.html
MT: Don’t cut critical services for kids (Opinion)
Helena Independent – September 21, 2017
Montana is in danger. Our state has already experienced $218 million in general fund cuts, and potential for $200 million more to come. I am deeply concerned about severe cuts to rates for all mental health services, limiting the needed amount of therapeutic group care that keeps youth close to home and in communities, and severe cuts that impact foster children, victims of domestic violence, and foster care for tribal children.
NC: Children Count on Census Count, Advocates Say (Includes audio)
Public News Service (PNS) – September 22, 2017
The year 2020 is less than three years away, but preparation for the U-S Census count is underway and there’s growing concern that the country won’t have proper funding to conduct an accurate count. The census count impacts federal funding for block grants that benefit those in need. Comments from John Quinterno, principal with South By North Strategies; Greg Borom, director of advocacy, Children First/Communities in Schools in Buncombe County; and Abby Hamrick, NC Child.
NE: Real results on empowering families (Opinion)
York News-Times – September 22, 2017
The reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) is one of my priorities as chairman of the Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee. Proposed by President George W. Bush, this program was fully authorized by Congress in Fiscal Year 2010.
NH: State Primary Source: Boutin named chair of new children’s services oversight commission
WMUR – September 21, 2017
Former state Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, who worked extensively on the issue as a lawmaker, was named chairman of the new 16-member Oversight Commission on Children’s Services.
NV: Initiative hopes to change number of kids in foster care (Video)
KVVU – September 21, 2017
Kathy Ledesma, of Adopt U.S. Kids, and adopted teen Ashley Garcia discuss how a new initiative aims to change the number of children in foster care.
http://www.fox5vegas.com/clip/13744392/initiative-hopes-to-change-number-of-kids-in-foster-care
NY: ‘In One Day I Had Lost Everything That Mattered to Me’: Stories From Inside the Child Welfare System
Rise Magazine – September 20, 2017
In their coverage, many outlets focused on a familiar narrative of monstrous parents and failing caseworkers, in stories that advanced the notion that the child welfare system had become too hesitant to remove children from their homes. Ultimately, the city’s child welfare commissioner resigned. But recent reporting has captured the opposite reality-that child welfare investigations and removals are a constant, terrifying presence in the lives of poor parents.
http://jezebel.com/in-one-day-i-had-lost-everything-that-mattered-to-me-s-1803755823
NY: LGBTQ students more likely to face bullying, homelessness
New York Daily News – September 20, 2017
Bullying and homelessness are far more likely to impact lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students compared to heterosexual kids, a new report shows. Using data from the 2015 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the report published Wednesday by the city Department of Health found that 24% of LGBTQ students experienced bullying on school property, compared with 13% of non-LGBTQ youth.
Also: Press release: Health Department Releases 2015 Data on Substance Use Among New York City Public High School Students by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2017/pr059-17.page
Also: Full Brief: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief92.pdf
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/lgbtq-students-face-bullying-homelessness-article-1.3509342
OK: Health secretary visits Nation
Tahlequah Daily Press – September 21, 2017
Dr. Tom Price, U,S, secretary of health and human services, paid a visit Wednesday to the Cherokee Nation to discuss some of the public health issues affecting the country, particularly the opioid crisis. After touring W.W. Hastings Hospital and the Jack Brown Center, Price held a press conference with Principal Chief Bill John Baker, during which they highlighted progress the tribe has made on behavioral health issues, and discussed a strategy to suppress opioid dependency.
PA: Keep families intact (Opinion)
Times-Tribune – September 22, 2017
Recently, state Rep. Kathy Watson, Bucks County Republican, introduced a bill that would help ensure that babies who are born dependent on controlled substances are safely cared for and receive critical services. The legislation would reverse a 2015 amendment to the state’s Child Protective Services Law that exempted health care providers from reporting infants born exposed to drugs when mothers were legally prescribed addictive narcotics during pregnancy. Protection of the newborn is the most crucial concern, but that’s not where the concern ends. Is it possible to care about babies and not their mothers? I don’t think so.
http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/keep-families-intact-1.2245717
TX: Safe Families for Children program begins in Abilene (Includes video)
KRBC – September 21, 2017
A new initiative to prevent families from separating has made its way to Texas. “We’ve been partnering with the Dodge Jones Foundation since 2015 to bring an innovative program to Texas called the Safe Families for Children, said Andrew Brown, Vice President of Flourish Now.
VA: Smyth County seeks bids for private security services
Smyth County News & Messenger – September 21, 2017
The presence of security personnel came back on the table after the supervisors heard the personal testimony of a foster care worker and received a letter from Department of Social Services (DSS) staff last month. They described how the drug epidemic is impacting many of their clients, often making them unstable, and how other individuals can become volatile, especially when a child is being removed from a family.
http://www.swvatoday.com/news/smyth_county/article_9bcf39fc-9d82-11e7-8b42-9bf8c0de0701.html
WA: ‘Everyone failed him’: Boy’s aunt accused of murder, DSHS accused of ‘critical errors’
Seattle Times – September 21, 2017
Whatever the outcome, the case underscores deep and persistent problems in Washington’s child-welfare system, whose 2,400 staffers serve around 100,000 children – 7 percent of the state’s juvenile population. A series of troubling events leading up to Gary’s death also shows what the new Department of Children, Youth and Families is up against.
WI: Governor Walker signs 2017-19 budget (Includes video)
WFRV – September 21, 2017
Wisconsin now has a new state budget– 2 and a half months past the deadline. Governor Scott Walker signed Wisconsin’s 2017-2019 state budget into law Thursday.
Also: WCA Commends Governor Walker & Legislature for Several County Related Initiatives as State Budget is Signed into Law (Press release): http://www.thewheelerreport.com/wheeler_docs/files/0921wca.pdf
http://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/governor-walker-signs-2017-19-budget/816043429
WV: Cassidy-Graham Would Cripple WV Opioid Treatment, Medicaid (Includes audio)
Public News Service (PNS) – September 22, 2017
Analysts say the latest version of the Republicans’ bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would hurt West Virginia and undo healthcare gains made in the last few years. Comments by Sean (Shawn) O’Leary, senior policy analyst, West Virginia Center On Budget & Policy.
US: Can Undocumented Immigrants Become Foster Parents in Your State? It Depends.
Chronicle of Social Change – September 21, 2017
Though many states are facing a renewed pressure to recruit caregivers for foster children, few jurisdictions have created licensing requirements to accommodate undocumented immigrants seeking to become foster parents. According to a recent brief from the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, 20 states include immigration requirements before caregivers can become licensed as foster parents. Eleven other states have licensing standards that represent indirect obstacles for undocumented immigrants in the child welfare system.
US: I Went Through the Michigan Foster Care System. The State Needs to Make It Easier for Kids to Find Good Homes, Not Harder. (Opinion)
American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU) – September 21, 2017
I was in the foster care system for 12 years, including 5 years in Michigan, until I was adopted at the age of 17. I love my parents. Still, I wonder whether I might have been spared the years of instability and loss had there been more families out there to care for kids in the foster care system.
US: New PSAs focus on the importance of adopting teenagers from foster care (Press release) (Includes video)
Ad Council – September 21, 2017
New public service advertisements (PSAs) launched today by the Children’s Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in partnership with the Ad Council, AdoptUSKids and KBS, highlight the importance of adopting teens from foster care and emphasize that adoptive and potential adoptive parents do not have to be a perfect parent in order to adopt youth from foster care.
Information Gateway resource: Adopting Children From Foster Care: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/adoptive/choices/foster-care/
http://www.tickertech.com/cgi/?a=news&ticker=a&w=&story=201709201709210702PR_NEWS_USPR_____MM87525
US: Putting the Child Back in Child Welfare (Opinion)
Chronicle of Social Change – September 21, 2017
It was the dead kids who inspired me to leave my comfortable, well-paid job as a researcher and become a child welfare social worker. The dead kids felt no more misery. But I couldn’t stop thinking about all the other kids living in fear of the next beating, watching child protective services (CPS) workers leave after accepting the mother’s or stepfather’s explanation of their bruises, and facing the now-angrier adult eager to punish them.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/blogger-co-op/putting-child-back-child-welfare/28179
INTERNATIONAL
International: 3 Ways the United Nations Is Helping the World (and 2 Ways It Can’t) (Includes video)
Time Magazine – September 21, 2017
UNICEF, the UN division focused on child welfare, says it has helped save the lives of more than 90 million children since 1990. Over the last two and a half decades, the UN has assisted in efforts to help more than 1 billion escape extreme poverty, 2.1 billion people access improved sanitation facilities, and 2.6 billion people access improved sources of drinking water. These accomplishments matter for billions of people, and who else is willing and able to accept these responsibilities?
http://time.com/4951483/unga-2017-united-nations-north-korea-iran/
Mexico: UNICEF intensifies efforts after second earthquake in Mexico (Press release)
UNICEF Canada – September 21, 2017
UNICEF has stepped up its efforts to support children following the second earthquake that hit Mexico in less than two weeks. “UNICEF has been supporting children in Mexico for many years but, at the moment, the country and organizations like ours face a great challenge,” says Christian Skoog, UNICEF Representative in Mexico.
http://markets.pettinga.com/pettinga/news/read?GUID=34967733
Myanmar/Bangladesh: Rakhine Crisis
European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations – September 21, 2017
Concerns are growing for the protection and welfare of particularly vulnerable groups of refugees. Child protection agencies have noted that approximately 1 200 separated or unaccompanied children have already been registered in Bangladesh.
Turkey: UNICEF Turkey Humanitarian Situation Report #12, August 2017
UNICEF – August 31, 2017
Family and baby hygiene kits were distributed to vulnerable refugee and migrant families identified as being on the move in the provinces of Adana and Gaziantep, benefitting an estimated 4,300 children.
https://reliefweb.int/report/turkey/unicef-turkey-humanitarian-situation-report-12-august-2017
Vatican City: Pope admits church realized sex abuse problem ‘a bit late’
Associated Press – September 21, 2017
Pope Francis on Thursday acknowledged the Catholic Church was “a bit late” in realizing the damage done by priests who rape and molest children, and said that the decades-long practice of moving pedophiles around rather than sanctioning them was to blame.
http://www.kansas.com/news/nation-world/article174536706.html
AR: Family foster children placement increased
Town Crier – September 19, 2017
Arkansas has made progress in placing foster children with relatives, bringing the state’s rate for family placements to the national average. Nationwide, 29 percent of foster children are placed with family members and in Arkansas the rate is 28.8 percent. Two years ago the rate in Arkansas was 14 percent.
http://www.thetown-crier.com/blogs/1790/entry/69916
AR: Hope Springs Anew in Center for Los Angeles Foster Youth
Chronicle of Social Change – September 19, 2017
A year and a half after Los Angeles County shut a pair of emergency shelters for hard-to-place foster youth, Astrid Heppenstall Heger is still working to find ways to reach the county’s “invisble children.” Last week, Heger’s Violence Intervention Program (VIP) opened the doors of the Leonard Hill Hope Center, a space that she hopes will help Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable foster youth – those who are at the highest risk of leaving county-run care and ending up homeless, being sexually trafficked or without access to healthcare services.
AZ: State’s new approach to parents, children, and opioids in Cochise County
Willcox Range News – September 20, 2017
So we implemented the Substance Exposed Newborn Safe Environment program (SENSE). The SENSE program allows children to remain in the home, provided there are no other safety issues, while their parents receive substance abuse treatment and family counseling services.
http://www.willcoxrangenews.com/news/article_a1893062-9e1f-11e7-91bc-af52846fec4e.html
DE: State works to prevent and treat substance exposure in infants – Sept. 17-23 is awareness week
Cape Gazette – September 20, 2017
Delaware and the nation are struggling with an addiction epidemic, and this epidemic is impacting pregnant women and their infants in increasing numbers. In 2016, there were 431 reports of substance-exposed infants to the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, a sharp increase from the previous year.
GA: Another child welfare leader likely leaving
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – September 20, 2017
During his tenure, Cagle has earned the goodwill of the workforce, hiring over 600 new child welfare workers and increasing the pay of frontline workers by 19 percent. He’s virtually eliminated what had been a vast backlog on investigations into child abuse and neglect.
IA: Abuse in Foster Care: Research vs. the Child Welfare System’s Alternative Facts (Opinion)
Youth Today – September 20, 2017
Suppose, hypothetically, you could gather in one room 333 former foster children. Now, suppose you asked how many of them had been abused while in foster care. Does anyone seriously believe that only one of those 333 former foster children would raise her or his hand?
IL: UIS to conduct first responder training with state agency
Associated Press – September 20, 2017
The University of Illinois Springfield is scheduled to train more than 20 first responders on ways to protect children and families.
KS: Data confirms Kansas foster kids staying overnight in contractors’ offices
Topeka Capital-Journal – September 19, 2017
Since the beginning of this year, 98 children have had to spend a night in the office of either KVC Health Systems or Saint Francis Community Services, the contractors that administer the foster care system, according to data the companies provided to state’s Child Welfare Task Force. That adds to a report earlier this year that several children stayed in an office one month.
LA: DCFS: Number of babies exposed to drugs in the womb triples from 2008 to 2016
Louisiana Radio Network – September 20, 2017
The State Department of Children and Family Services reports that the number of babies born in Louisiana who are exposed to alcohol and drugs while in the womb has tripled from 2008 to 2016. Assistant Secretary for Child Welfare Rhenda Hodnett says last year, that number reached nearly 1,700.
LA: DCFS receives grant to increase child welfare workers
Louisiana Radio Network – September 19, 2017
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services has received a grant to increase the number of child welfare workers. DCFS Secretary Marketa Garner Walters says her staff has decreased by 600 employees over the last 10 years and this is an opportunity to address the high turnover rate.
MA: Foster Parents Band Together for Bill of Rights, Say DCF Must ‘Stop Playing God’
Huffington Post – September 20, 2017
Barbara Papile, founder of the 70-member group, Massachusetts Foster Parents UNITED, is spearheading an effort to get a Foster Parent Bill of Rights passed in Massachusetts. The group is fighting for information about their charges, including behavior and health concerns, and respect as members of the child’s care team, which they say DCF routinely denies them. The bill they hope will change that is currently being debated in the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities.
MI: State sued after gay couples are rejected for adoption
Associated Press – September 20, 2017
Michigan is illegally allowing faith-based organizations to reject same-sex couples who want to adopt children or become foster parents, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the practice.
Also: Same-Sex Couples are Being Turned Away From Becoming Foster and Adoptive Parents in Michigan. So We’re Suing (Press release): https://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/lgbt-parenting/same-sex-couples-are-being-turned-away-becoming-foster-and-adoptive
Also: Michigan sued over anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ adoption law: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/09/20/michigan-sued-over-anti-lgbt-religious-freedom-adoption-law/
ACLU Sues Michigan Over Allowing Religious Adoption Organizations to Turn Away Same-Sex Couples: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/laurettabrown/2017/09/20/aclu-sues-michigan-over-allowing-religious-adoption-organizations-to-turn-away-samesex-couples-n2384335
MI: Blavin Scholars Program helps normalize college for foster students
Michigan Daily (University of Michigan) – September 18, 2017
When the Blavins introduced the program, they said they were met with uncertainty. Still, since 2009, the Blavin Scholars Program has strived to create a stress-free community in which students can have a “normal college experience.” In addition to financial aid of up to $5,000, Blavin scholars receive campus coaches, educational programming and options for year-round housing, including during holidays and breaks.
MT: Families fear cuts to early intervention program for disabled kids
Great Falls Tribune – September 18, 2017
Early intervention services for Paige, which includes aid to infants and toddlers with special needs, could be on the chopping block as part of the 10 percent in budget cuts proposed by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, QLC officials said. They said if the state goes through with it, it would make Montana the first state in the nation to cut early intervention services.
Also: Lawmakers need to look at raising revenue (Opinion): https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/letters_to_editor/lawmakers-need-to-look-at-raising-revenue/article_9e0993ec-2357-531a-a89b-46b8c5bfc7e3.html
NY: Child-Welfare Agency Gets Props for New Approach to Helping Families Navigate Challenges
City Limits – September 19, 2017
Happy stories rarely land the city’s child-welfare system in the headlines, and the last few weeks have been no exception. But much of what the agency does occurs out of the media spotlight, and last week research emerged telling a different kind of ACS story.
Also: Report: Implementing Evidence-Based Child Welfare: The New York Experience: https://www.casey.org/media/evidence-based-child-welfare-nyc.pdf
NY: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Grant Enables News Nonprofit to Expand into New York (Press relase)
Fostering Media Connections – September 19, 2017
Fostering Media Connections, a rapidly growing news organization, has received a $150,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to cover the child welfare systems in New York City and State for the next two years.
OR: FOX 12 Investigators: Housing foster kids in hotels is costing Oregon millions (Includes video)
KPTV/Fox 12 – September 20, 2017
It’s a bandage solution to Oregon’s foster care crisis and the state is bleeding money trying to keep up with the costs. The FOX 12 Investigators have uncovered that the expenses of placing Oregon’s foster kids in hotel rooms are adding up to millions of dollars.
PA: New Snyder County Children and Youth leader has 17 years of experience
Daily Item – September 19, 2017
A licensed behavior specialist consultant with more than 17 years of experience in the child welfare field has been tapped to lead Snyder County’s Children and Youth Services. Jennifer Napp Evans, of Winfield, was unanimously selected to fill the director position held since 2005 by Rose Weir, who retired after nearly three decades with the county agency.
RI: DCYF gets private grant to improve support for children in welfare system
WPRI – September 20, 2017
Following a period of some difficult situations for the agency, the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) said Wednesday it is receiving a $415,000 grant to improve its delivery of services and support infrastructure for young children in the state’s child welfare system.
SC: State needs foster families. This NFL Hall of Famer wants to help
South Carolina State – September 20, 2017
Now, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy is planning stops in South Carolina and will appear in a statewide ad campaign encouraging S.C. families to consider adopting or fostering children in need. Dungy is the national spokesman for All Pro Dad, a program of Family First, which is partnering with the state Department of Social Services to raise awareness about adoption and foster family recruitment.
http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article174325481.html
TX: San Augustine County opens Children’s Service Center to protect kids (Includes video)
KTRE – September 20, 2017
Child welfare advocates celebrated and dedicated the San Augustine County Children’s Service Center Wednesday.
TX: US lawmakers seek increased support for homeless, foster care college students
Daily Texan (University of Texas at Austin) – September 20, 2017
The Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act, introduced to the U.S. Congress on Sept. 12, would facilitate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, process for unaccompanied youth and push universities to expand support for homeless students nationwide. “For many students, higher education can be a ticket to the middle class, so it is vitally important that students from all walks of life have the chance to go to college,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, one of the four bill sponsors, in a press release.
TX: Hurricane Harvey brought out the heroes of CPS
Dallas Morning News – September 19, 2017
When Hurricane Harvey hit a few weeks ago, Child Protective Services employees, like so many other Texans, went to work. Hundreds of caseworkers and other CPS employees were directly affected, and 76 lost their homes. Despite the immediate hardship, caseworkers in the Houston and Galveston area who had moved to temporary shelters spent time calling CPS families to make sure they were safe and had what they needed. Because of their selfless perseverance, all CPS children were safe and accounted for.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/09/19/hurricane-harvey-brought-heroes-cps
US: Combating Child Abuse: States Take Action
Pew Charitable Trust: Stateline – September 20, 2017
Spurred by high-profile cases of endangered children and chronically overworked caseworkers, many states have taken steps this year to shield children from abuse and neglect, including adding caseworkers, tightening reporting requirements and expanding the definition of “abuse.”
US: CCHR Files Over 6,000 Complaints About Mental Health Abuse and Psychiatric-Pharma Violations of Human Rights (Press release)
Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) – September 19, 2017
Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a 48-year mental health watchdog headquartered in Los Angeles, is calling for anyone who has a family member or friend abused in the mental health system to contact the group for assistance. In the last year, CCHR filed more than 6,000 complaints to state and federal health and mental health agencies, departments of justice, FBI and legislators on behalf of individuals whose rights, lives and insurance coverage were potentially endangered undergoing psychiatric treatment.
US: Holding Space for Children
Officer.com – September 19, 2017
The work of law enforcement officers is complex and it gets more complicated each day. As holes in social services, child welfare and mental health continue to gap wider, officers, particularly patrol officers have to adapt their ability to work in and with a variety of situations far removed from enforcing law. One of the areas that many officers find themselves in is dealing with children.
https://www.officer.com/investigations/article/20976060/holding-space-for-children
US: House Ways and Means advances legislation to reauthorize home visitation program (Press release)
National Association of Counties (NACO) – September 19, 2017
On September 13, members of the House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance H.R. 2824, the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act. The bill would reauthorize the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) Program at its current level of $400 million per year for Fiscal Years 2018 – 2022. H.R. 2824 will require a vote on the House floor and consideration in the Senate before becoming law.
US: New Docu-Series Follows Queer Couple’s Foster-Adopt Odyssey (Includes video)
Chronicle of Social Change – September 19, 2017
Last week, The F-Word, a comedic documentary series following the journey of a queer couple looking to adopt from foster care, premiered online on PBS’s Indie Lens Storycast. The series’ producers and featured couple, Kristan Cassady and Nicole Opper, open up their lives to give others insight into the mystifying process of becoming a foster parent and eventually adopting. Their tale comes at a time when California and the rest of the country are grappling with finding caregivers for an increasing foster care population.
INTERNATIONAL
Greece: Police Cells Are No Place for Migrant Kids (Opinion)
Human Rights Watch – September 19, 2017
Is it ever acceptable for children to be detained in dark and dirty police cells, without access to the most basic services? Of course not. But when it comes to unaccompanied migrant children, Greek authorities appear to think the answer is yes.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/19/police-cells-are-no-place-migrant-kids
AL: State’s child population shrinks, becomes less white
AL.com – September 18, 2017
Since 2000, the total number of people living in Alabama has risen 9.4 percent, but the percentage of children has decreased. Children now make up roughly one quarter of Alabama’s population, according to the 2017 Alabama Kids Count Data Book. The study was released today by VOICES for Alabama’s Children, a nonprofit that advocates for child well-being in the state.
Alabama’s Kids Count Data Book: https://www.alavoices.org/research/2017alabama-kids-count/
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/study_ranks_best_counties_for.html
CA: BREAKING: Bobby Cagle to Lead Nation’s Largest Foster Care System
Chronicle of Social Change – September 19, 2017
After a long search, Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors voted to hire a new director for the county’s sprawling Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) today. In a 3-2 vote, the board voted to hire Bobby Cagle, who most recently was the director for the Division of Children and Family Services for Georgia’s Department of Human Services.
CA: Contra Costa County Permanently Halts Fees For Parents of Juvenile Offenders
NBC Bay Area – September 19, 2017
After mulling over the issue for almost a year, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted in favor of permanently repealing fees levied against the parents of juvenile offenders.
CO: Fostering Success program supports students of independent backgrounds
Rocky Mountain Collegian – September 18, 2017
Of all the foster youth in the United States, only 10 percent attend college and less than three percent will earn a college degree, according to a pamphlet distributed by Fostering Success at Colorado State University. The Fostering Success program aims to support CSU students who “experienced foster care, kinship care, orphan status, unaccompanied homelessness or other independent backgrounds,” according to a pamphlet distributed by the program.
GA: Social worker helps students succeed in and out of classroom
North Fulton Herald – September 13, 2017
For many kids, being prepared for school entails getting new notebooks, packing or paying for a lunch and seeing if your friends are in your class. But for many children, school isn’t their first priority when they need food, clothing and support. That’s where Forsyth County Schools Social Worker Amy Gamez comes in.
KS: Some Kansas children sleep in offices while waiting for foster homes
Wichita Eagle – September 19, 2017
Children have stayed overnight in the offices of Kansas foster care contractors more than 100 times over the past year because places able or willing to accept them couldn’t be found.
http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article174173731.html
MD: Audit: State social services agency misspent nearly $5 million
Baltimore Sun – September 18, 2017
Legislative auditors say Maryland’s Department of Human Services mishandled state contracts and unnecessarily spent nearly $5 million – sometimes without getting anything in return. An audit released Monday found the agency’s handling of a huge IT project “resulted in DHS paying approximately $4 million more than necessary for one project that was ultimately cancelled.”
Audit report: https://www.ola.state.md.us/Reports/Fiscal%20Compliance/DHS-OS17.pdf
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-dhs-audit-20170918-story.html
MI: Muslim doctor accused of mutilating ‘countless’ little girls freed on $4.5 million bond
WND – September 19, 2017
After five months in jail, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, the Detroit-area Muslim doctor accused of mutilating the genitalia of “countless” young girls, was released on a $4.5 million unsecured property bond Tuesday. Until Tuesday, Nagarwala had been the only one of eight defendants in the nation’s first FGM case being held without bond.
MO: Teen with two dads and six siblings serves as HRC Youth Ambassador
Proud Parenting – September 18, 2017
The 2017 HRC Youth Ambassador cohort is a group of 16 inspiring young people, ages 15-22, from across the country. Young people are invited to participate in the program because of their courage in sharing their own stories, and their demonstrated commitment to speaking out about issues facing all LGBTQ youth. As Youth Ambassadors, they represent HRC Foundation and add their voice to help raise awareness about HRC’s youth-focused programs.
Also: HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador Spotlight: Weston Charles-Gallo: http://www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-foundation-youth-ambassador-spotlight-weston-charles-gallo
MT: DPHHS cuts would be detrimental to young moms and their kids (Opinion)
Missoulian – September 19, 2017
In response to Gov. Steve Bullock’s request for state agencies to reduce their budgets by 10 percent, the Department of Public Health and Human Services is proposing two significant reductions in services to young families provided by Mountain Home Montana.
NC: Physical child abuse cases skyrocket in Davidson County
WXII – September 19, 2017
The Davidson County Social Services Department said in the past month, the number of physical abuse cases they’ve received have quadrupled. Katrina McMasters, Davidson County Child Protective Services Program Administrator, said there is a wide variety of child abuse cases that come through the Department of Social Services’ doors, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as well as neglect cases.
http://www.wxii12.com/article/physical-child-abuse-cases-skyrocket-in-davidson-county/12274053
NH: My Turn: Invest in family drug courts (Opinion)
Concord Monitor – September 20, 2017
According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, more than 20,000 reports of neglect and abuse are now made annually. Parental substance abuse is a factor in approximately 80 percent of cases referred to child protective services.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/Family-drug-courts-and-parental-opioid-addiction-12570327
NH: New Jersey official tapped to lead New Hampshire DCYF
Concord Monitor – September 19, 2017
The state Department of Health and Human Services announced a new director of its Division for Children, Youth and Families on Tuesday, six months after its previous leader departed amid scandal. Joseph Ribsam, who currently serves as the deputy commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families, was appointed by Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers after a nationwide search, according to the department. He’ll begin the role Oct. 27.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/New-DCYF-Director-New-Hampshire-Joseph-Ribsam-New-Jersey-12601978
NY: First Lady Chirlane Mccray Launches Nyc Unity Project, First Ever Citywide Commitment To Support Lgbtq Youth (Press release)
NYN Media – September 19, 2017
In the face of dangerous, divisive rhetoric and policies coming from the Trump administration targeting the LGBTQ community, First Lady Chirlane McCray today launched the NYC Unity Project – the City’s first-ever, multi-agency strategy to deliver unique services to LGBTQ youth, including a new 24-hour drop-in center in Jamaica, Queens that will open in October 2017.
NY: How public schools are failing foster kids (Opinion)
New York Post – September 18, 2017
For the 5,000 or so school-age foster kids around the city and the thousands more who have spent time in the system, the educational options offered by the city and state are insufficient to mitigate the trauma and turmoil they’re experiencing at home.
http://nypost.com/2017/09/18/how-public-schools-are-failing-foster-kids/
OH: Four local nonprofits receive $101,000 each from Impact 100
Soapbox Cincinnati – September 19, 2017
Impact 100, a local organization that dedicates time, effort and resources to help the community, awarded $101,000 to four organizations during its annual awards ceremony on Sept. 12. The 2017 grant recipients include First Step Home, Lighthouse Youth and Family Services, NKY Community Action Commission and Ohio Valley Voices.
http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/091917-impact-100-grant-recipients.aspx
PA: Local Organizations Unite In Fight Against Suicide (Includes audio)
KYW – September 18, 2017
Suicide prevention treatment took center stage in Philadelphia on Monday as specialists united in the fight against the causes of depression. Experts from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Jefferson Medical College, the City of Philadelphia and other organizations, gathered at CHOP as they look to implement suicide prevention task forces.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/09/18/chop-suicide-prevention/
WV: Finding a Family: Foster Care and Adoption Panel in Elkins (Includes video)
WTRF – September 18, 2017
Price says while progress is being made, there are still not enough families to meet the needs of children. “We are desperate in this state right now,” said Price. “We have children who need homes, temporary homes immediately for the night, for the week, for a short period of time. We have workers in the state having to spend the night with children in their offices.”
US: Aging Out of Foster Care Makes Eating Right a Challenge
City Limits – September 18, 2017
Tony Turner knew he had to improve his eating habits to reverse a recent diagnosis of prediabetes, but, after several years in the foster care system, he did not know where to start. Turner realized he rarely received guidance on how to prepare nutritious meals or how to shop for healthy food on a budget so he decided to advocate for such programming at his foster care agency, which responded by introducing a 12-week nutrition program to address those deficits.
Also: Information Gateway resource: Support Services for Youth in Transition: Life Skills: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/outofhome/independent/support/lifeskills/
https://citylimits.org/2017/09/18/aging-out-of-foster-care-makes-eating-right-a-challenge/
AZ: DCS: Phoenix Woman Who Used Hemp Oil on Son Will Get Foster-Care License
Phoenix New Times – September 18, 2017
Arizona Department of Child Safety officials will revise a newly updated policy banning foster-care licenses for people who possess hemp oil following a parent’s plea for change. The change won’t affect the DCS’ ongoing discrimination of state-authorized medical-cannabis consumers in the foster-care program.
CA: Stockton emerging as public health model for toxic stress intervention
Bakersfield Californian – September 16, 2017
While scores of public agencies are working to develop resources and programs to address childhood trauma and toxic stress in their communities, San Joaquin County has been turning itself into a model for how to address the issue.
CO: Former Jeffco child welfare case worker falsified reports in 12 cases, indictment says
Denver Post – September 18, 2017
A former Jefferson County child welfare case worker filed reports in a dozen cases in which she falsely suggested she had interviewed alleged abuse victims, their family members and witnesses, county officials said Monday.
Also: Former JeffCo caseworker tasked with investigating child abuse accused of falsying information: http://www.9news.com/news/former-jefferson-county-caseworker-indicted-on-22-counts/476678395
FL: Donna Krauser Is Named Chief of Out of Home Care at the Children’s Home Network (Press release)
Children’s Home Network – September 18, 2017
The former Director of Fostering Families at the Children’s Home Network, Donna Krauser, has been promoted to Chief of Out of Home Care within the organization. Donna Krauser, CWCM-Sup and CWLC-Sup brings over 28 years of prior experience in child welfare to Children’s Home Network, including leadership positions as a Foster Parent Program Director, a Licensing and Placement Director, and Foster Home and Adoption Network Coordinator in both state agencies and community-based care.
GA: DFCS director meets with foster parents
Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News – September 16, 2017
Local foster parents gathered together Wednesday night to share their thoughts about the direction of the organization with the new director leading the Division of Family and Children Services branch in Cherokee County.
ID: Want to help Idaho children? Volunteering for this job can change a life.
Idaho Statesman – September 18, 2017
But in Southwest Idaho, many children are being sent through the foster- and child-protection process without a dedicated advocate. The programs that train and coordinate those advocates need more volunteers, and they need more funding.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/canyon-county/article174076131.html
IL: 4 common misperceptions about adopting-and why they shouldn’t stop you (Opinion)
Chicago Tribune – September 18, 2017
“Many of the things they discuss are more about putting a child in the best home than about saying yes or no to a parent’s ability to parent,” said Megan Lestino, vice president of public policy and education at the Alexandria, Va.,-based National Council For Adoption. Adoption experts encourage people mulling the process to apply. Here are common considerations.
http://www.islandpacket.com/living/family/article173893621.html
IN: When poverty traps children
Journal Gazette – September 17, 2017
A child in poverty may be unsure when he will eat his next meal, may be taken out of school because his family is behind on the rent, or may be staying with negligent babysitters or by themselves because a parent can’t afford quality child care. Those and other effects of poverty increase the chances of a child suffering academically, physically and mentally, according to the National Center on Child Poverty.
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20170917/when-poverty-traps-children
KS: Task force on child welfare system getting down to work
Lawrence Journal-World – September 18, 2017
A task force that Kansas lawmakers set up to study the state’s child welfare system will hold its first substantive meeting Tuesday as it begins a top-to-bottom review of the state’s foster care system and other child welfare services.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/sep/18/task-force-child-welfare-system-getting-down-work/
LA: DCFS struggling with poor morale, high employee turnover rate (Includes video)
WAFB – September 18, 2017
The head of the state’s child welfare agency says staffing issues remain a big challenge for the organization. In the past decade, Secretary Marketa Walters says the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has lost about 600 people on the frontlines of child welfare. That has stretched workers thin and increased their workloads. Turnover is also a problem, she says. It’s the highest in the Baton Rouge area, at 50 percent for child welfare workers.
http://www.wafb.com/story/36396716/dcfs-struggling-with-poor-morale-high-employee-turnover-rate
LA: State picked for opportunity to enhance child welfare workforce
Advocate – September 18, 2017
Louisiana’s child welfare efforts, which officials say have been mired by high turnover and caseloads, could get a boost thanks to a new federal partnership that will help the state’s department of social services come up with ways to enhance its workforce.
Also: Eight Child Welfare Systems Selected to Test Workforce Strategies: http://www.qic-wd.org/eight-child-welfare-systems-selected-test-workforce-strategies
MI: Target 8 update: 100+ child deaths not reported to watchdog (Includes video)
WOOD TV – September 17, 2017
On average, CPS reports around 300 child deaths yearly to the ombudsman, which means it missed more than 10 percent of cases.
http://woodtv.com/2017/09/16/target-8-update-100-child-deaths-not-reported-to-watchdog/
MN: ‘She’s Our Daughter’: Couple Blocked From Adopting Girl Fights For Parental Rights (Includes video)
WCCO – September 18, 2017
A Minneapolis couple says they are trying to give a 6-year-old girl a better life, but tribal law is preventing that from happening. Jason and Danielle Clifford are foster parents and welcomed the girl into their home in July of last year.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/09/18/white-earth-adoption-battle/
MT: Families could lose critical help for young kids under massive cuts
Billings Gazette – September 16, 2017
ECI and programs like it around the state are in jeopardy of being eliminated under proposed budget cuts by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. DPHHS administers the federal entitlement program and pays for it through a mix of state funds and federal money from what’s called the Part C program of the U.S. Department of Education.
NC: Over 121,000 Investigated Cases of Child Abuse and Neglect in North Carolina (Press release)
Children’s Home Society of NC – September 19, 2017
Early data shows there were over 121,000 investigated cases of child abuse and neglect in North Carolina during fiscal year July 2016 through June 2017. State law requires individuals or institutions suspecting child abuse or neglect to report cases to the Division of Social Services (DSS) for investigation (G.S. 7B-301).
NE: Editorial: Public needs to know facts about juvenile probation
Omaha World-Herald – September 18, 2017
Nebraska lawmakers created the position of inspector general for child welfare in 2012 to receive complaints, conduct investigations and provide the public with information about problems and successes in how the state handles cases involving vulnerable children. The latest report from Julie Rogers, the inspector general, has triggered sniping between herself and the Nebraska court system.
NM: CYFD brings on former clients to help teens (Includes video)
KOB4 – September 18, 2017
If you’ve never lived in a foster home or spent time in a juvenile detention center, it’s hard to understand what life is like for kids who do. That’s why the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department is now hiring interns who’ve had those experiences.
NV: Las Vegas radio host sparks controversy over same-sex couple adoptions post (Includes video)
KTNV – September 18, 2017
She’s made a living off her strong opinions, now well-known Las Vegas radio host Heidi Harris is facing a firestorm of controversy after a social media post regarding same-sex couple adoptions. Recently, the Heidi Harris Radio Show Facebook page made a post about an ad featuring two men helping a baby walk.The post said the ad is from the Clark County Department of Family Services, which was promoting child adoptions.
NY: Local child sex abuse cases rising
Observer-Dispatch – September 18, 2017
Most of the 702 investigations the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center conducted last year involved child sex abuse. That number also includes computer forensics investigations, but not cases involving serious physical abuse, said Oneida County Deputy Sheriff Joseph Lisi, the center’s director.
http://www.uticaod.com/news/20170918/local-child-sex-abuse-cases-rising
OH: Cynthia M. Scanland: September is time to pay tribute to kinship care providers
limaohio.com – September 19, 2017
Kinship parenting provides a strong foundation and is considered a type of family preservation. Just as kinship caregivers step up for children, society must rally to ensure supports and services keep these families strong.
OH: Fentanyl blamed as overdoses, deaths race ahead of 2016 pace in Hamilton County, Cincinnati (Includes video)
Cincinnati.com – September 18, 2017
In the next seven days of the heroin epidemic, at least 180 people in Greater Cincinnati will overdose and 18 will die. Babies will be born to addicted mothers. Parents will go to jail. Children will end up in foster care. This is normal now.
TX: CPS hard at work in Harvey’s wake (Opinion)
Courier of Montgomery County – September 18, 2017
Those who work in the 24/7 world of child welfare are already heroes, but Harvey demanded so much more. Hundreds of caseworkers and other CPS employees were directly affected and 76 lost their homes.
http://www.yourconroenews.com/opinion/article/CPS-hard-at-work-in-Harvey-s-wake-12207717.php
TX: Drug court allows people to get life back in order (Opinion)
Midland Reporter-Telegram – September 18, 2017
We chose to open our home and our hearts. It was during this time that we were introduced to the system currently in place for handling alcohol and drug related offenses and how that works, or doesn’t work, with child protective services and child custody issues.
http://www.mrt.com/opinion/article/Drug-court-allows-people-to-get-life-back-in-order-12203845.php
US: Eight Child Welfare Systems Selected to Test Workforce Strategies (Press release)
Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), University of Nebraska- Lincoln (UNL) – September 19, 2017
Staff turnover in child welfare agencies is typically up to six times the national average turnover rate across all industries. High turnover is just one example of costly workforce issues that can negatively impact vulnerable children. The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln (UNL) will partner with eight sites to strengthen their workforce.
http://www.qic-wd.org/eight-child-welfare-systems-selected-test-workforce-strategies
US: Federal children’s health insurance program to expire
Brattleboro Reformer – September 18, 2017
As debates over the future of Obamacare continue in Congress, a federal program that funds health insurance for millions of children nationwide could expire this month. The children’s health insurance program, called CHIP for short, will expire Sept. 30 if Congress does not act to continue it.
http://www.reformer.com/stories/federal-childrens-health-insurance-program-to-expire,519696
US: Trauma, Opiates and Child Welfare: How Family-Serving Agencies Can Do Better (Opinion)
Chronicle of Social Change – September 18, 2017
But another result of the current opioid epidemic is that the number of children entering foster care due to parental substance abuse has risen sharply in recent years. Therefore, it is more crucial than ever that child welfare systems focus on keeping families together to prevent unnecessary entry into foster care.
Also: Report: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/ondcp/commission-interim-report.pdf
Also: Children of the Opiate Crisis: The Reality Behind Our Nation’s Epidemic (Opinion): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/children-of-the-opiate-crisis-the-reality-behind-our_us_59c06e4be4b0f96732cbc8b2
Information Gateway resource: Resources for Families: Substance Use Disorder Treatment: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/bhw/resources/sud-treatment/
US: Xanax Or Zoloft For Moms-To-Be: A New Study Assesses Safety (Includes audio)
National Public Radio – September 18, 2017
Chodos, who is a nurse, knew that there are concerns about drugs like Xanax and other medications its class- benzodiazepines. Studies completed decades ago suggested a risk of birth defects from these drugs, but data from more recent studies have shown no clear evidence of an increase. There are remaining questions, researchers say, about whether prenatal exposure to the drugs can influence behavior.
US: Unfeeling U.S. agencies confiscate children from Indian parents (Opinion)
Sunday Guardian (India) – September 16, 2017
Young Indian couples travelling to the United States on short to mid-term job assignments are increasingly facing the menace of child confiscation by the country’s child protection agencies, who wrongly accuse them of abuse. The “child abuse” is determined using the controversial Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) indicator, the veracity of which is contested.
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh: More than 600,000 Rohingya children could be in Bangladesh by the end of the year as demand for humanitarian assistance outstrips supply
Global News Wire – September 16, 2017
“The efforts of the Government of Bangladesh need to be recognized, having generously allowed more than 750,000 Rohingya into the country including those who were here prior to the last three weeks. That number could rise beyond one million by the end of the year if the influx continues, including about 600,000 children, according to UN agencies.
Cambodia: Supporting Family-Based Care: Tara Winkler’s Talk on Orphanages Considers Internal Exploitation (Includes video)
Trend Hunter – September 19, 2017
Tara Winkler, an activist, author, and child protection leader, begins her talk on orphanages by telling her audience about the time she spent volunteering in Cambodia. Eventually, she came to learn that the orphanage that she was working to support was incredibly corrupt, and all of the money that had been donated was embezzled by the director, who was also neglecting and abusing the children there.
https://www.trendhunter.com/keynote/talk-on-orphanages
Canada: Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde Sets Out Priorities as Parliament Resumes: ‘We Want Action and Progress’ (Press release)
Assembly of First Nations – September 18, 2017
As steps are taken on longer-term work, National Chief Bellegarde called for immediate action to end discrimination in areas where Canada’s own courts are demanding action. “We must end the discrimination in the First Nations child welfare system and call on Canada to immediately and fully implement the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders,” said National Chief Bellegarde.
Georgia: 388 children adopted inside and outside Georgia since 2015
Inter Press News (IPN) – September 19, 2017
As Georgia’s Social Service Agency reports, there are 350 beneficiaries in the small family-type houses and 1523 children enjoy foster care. As the agency informed IPN, 1428 children experienced foster care in 2015, 1539 – in 2016, 1523 – according to data from January including August, 2017.
International: Millions of World’s Children Lack any Record of Their Births (Includes audio & video)
Voice of America – September 16, 2017
In the developed world, birth certificates are often a bureaucratic certainty. However, across vast swaths of Africa and South Asia, tens of millions of children never get them, with potentially dire consequences in regard to education, health care, job prospects and legal rights. Young people without IDs are vulnerable to being coerced into early marriage, military service or the labor market before the legal age. In adulthood, they may struggle to assert their right to vote, inherit property or obtain a passport.
https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-of-world-children-lack-any-record-of-their-births/4031597.html
Zambia: World Vision to launch a new Child Protection Campaign
Lusaka Times – September 19, 2017
World Vision Zambia says it will soon launch a new Child Protection Campaign which will further maximize the current interventions on the plight of children in Zambia. The campaign dubbed: “It takes a World… to end violence against children” seeks to drastically reduce child marriages, gender based violence and child labour, vices that are prevalent in Zambia.
https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/09/19/world-vision-launch-new-child-protection-campaign/
AZ: Yavapai County courts work to protect LGBT youth
Daily Courier – September 15, 2017
Helping to get everyone on the same page are the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and the National Juvenile Defender Center. The two organizations recently collaborated to create a bench card with principles and best practices to ensure youth or other juvenile court participants who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and gender non-conforming (LGBTQ-GNC) are treated with respect in the courtroom.
https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/sep/15/yavapai-county-courts-work-protect-lgbt-youth/
CA: Home visits help new parents raise healthy children
Kaiser Health News – September 16, 2017
Gil, a family support worker with the Imperial County Home Visiting Program, has visited the family dozens of times since Leilanie’s birth. Each time, Gil teaches them a little more about child development and helps them cope with the stresses of work, school, relationships and parenting.
CA: Long Beach legislator’s bill to keep ICE out of schools heads to governor’s desk
Press-Telegram – September 15, 2017
A bill seeking to limit the ability of California educators to cooperate with federal immigration officers or other authorities involved in immigration enforcement advanced on Friday afternoon to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.
CO: Juvenile detention system has failed to improve (Opinion)
Denver Post – September 15, 2017
Before we drafted this bill, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Colorado State Public Defender, Disability Law Colorado and the Colorado Juvenile Defender Center released Bound and Broken, a report on the division’s culture. We were horrified to learn of the many reports – corroborated by official records as well as medical reports – of staff physically abusing young people who came into DYS already traumatized and with mental illness and other disabilities.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/15/colorados-juvenile-detention-facilities/
DE: State Works to Prevent, Recognize and Treat Substance Exposure in Infants (Press release)
State of Delaware – September 14, 2017
Delaware and the nation are struggling with an addiction epidemic, a fact that is well known. Less well known is that the addiction epidemic is impacting pregnant women and their infants in increasing numbers. In 2016, there were 431 reports of substance exposed infants to the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, a sharp increase from the previous year.
http://news.delaware.gov/2017/09/14/dph-announces-resources-treating-substance-exposure-infants/
IA: DHS director reviewing screening process for foster care parents
Radio Iowa – September 15, 2017
A top state administrator is considering a change that would have state employees conduct the screening for prospective foster parents rather than out-source that work.
http://www.radioiowa.com/2017/09/15/outsourced-screening-of-foster-care-parents-under-review/
KS: Foster challenge issued
Emporia Gazette – September 15, 2017
There are 149 children in Lyon County and five in Chase County in the foster care system. There are only 32 licensed foster homes between both counties. Approximately 48 percent of local children under St. Francis Community Services’ care are placed in homes outside of the county.
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/article_be85e9eb-71e1-5f3a-88b3-e2a3f6a0c678.html
KY: Richard Nelson: Fixing the foster care system critical to improving the lives of Kentucky children (Opinion)
Northern Kentucky Tribune – September 16, 2017
I recently talked with Kentucky’s newly appointed Adoption Czar Dan Dumas, who is spearheading major change in a system that many see as dysfunctional. Dumas said that after immersing himself into the foster care system, he’s seeing more than he may have bargained for. “I’ve cried more in the last 80 days than I have in the last 51 years,” Dumas said.
MI: A prosecutor’s role in child protection
Escanaba Daily Press – September 16, 2017
Recently, a high profile case has ignited local discussion about our state system of child protection. I am a father of a one year old daughter and I am faithfully committed to child protection both at home and at work. Typically, the county prosecutor is the attorney for the local branch of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
http://www.dailypress.net/opinion/local-columns/2017/09/a-prosecutors-role-in-child-protection/
MI: Kent County program creates incentives for foster care providers
Michigan Live – September 15, 2017
The state is launching a pilot program in Kent County next month intended to test a performance-based funding model for foster care and adoption service providers. The five-year funding pilot will launch on Oct. 1, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced in a press release.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/09/kent_county_pilot_creates_ince.html
NC: Matt Leclercq: Observer investigates North Carolina child deaths
Fayetteville Observer – September 17, 2017
You’ve seen a few of these headlines in the newspaper over the years. But you’ve not seen anything like the series of stories we’ll bring you next week on child abuse. The Observer’s senior reporter, Greg Barnes, has spent months investigating child deaths in North Carolina. It started after last year’s now famous case of Rylan Ott, the toddler from Moore County whom a judge unwisely reunited with his unstable mother. The boy wandered away from home and drowned, a tragedy that spawned Rylan’s Law, requiring social services workers to take more steps to ensure children in foster care aren’t prematurely returned to parents.
NE: Legislative leaders defend child welfare watchdog’s role
Lincoln Journal Star – September 15, 2017
The leaders of the Nebraska Legislature on Friday defended the role of their inspector general for child welfare to hold the state Probation Office accountable, after representatives of the state’s judicial branch said the inspector general’s annual report had no credibility. Legislative Speaker Jim Scheer, Executive Board Chairman Dan Watermeier and Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Laura Ebke issued a news release Friday emphasizing lawmakers’ role in oversight of state agencies to bring about improvements.
NV: No foster child will be forgotten: A state mandate means all kids in the system will have attorneys on their side
Las Vegas Sun – September 18, 2017
Brittain described that lawyer as a mentor who helped him become the man he is today – a UNLV student who strives to someday work with people suffering from mental illness and substance abuse issues. As a member of the nonprofit’s youth advisory panel, Brittain also is adamant that all children deserve the same legal representation and assistance he received.
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/sep/18/no-foster-child-will-be-forgotten-a-state-mandate/
OH: New toolkits help juvenile courts’ work with children and families (Press release)
Ohio Supreme Court Public Information Office – September 18, 2017
Two new resource toolkits intended to help juvenile courts assess current practices were released today by the Ohio Supreme Court’s Children & Families Section. A Caregiver Notice Toolkit and a Youth Engagement Toolkit will allow both court staff and child-welfare staff to review statutes and best practices and work with greater care and efficiency with the families and children involved in court cases.
Caregiver Notice and Right to be Heard Toolkit: http://www.sc.ohio.gov/JCS/CFC/resources/caregiverNotice/caregiver.pdf
Youth Engagement in Court Proceedings Toolkit: http://www.sc.ohio.gov/JCS/CFC/resources/youthEngagement/youthEngagement.pdf
http://www.akronlegalnews.com/editorial/18763
OH: Fighting opioid crisis in Ohio (Opinion)
Salem News – September 16, 2017
And we have an escalating crisis in our foster care system. Our child welfare agencies are bursting at the seams with kids who need to be placed with loving foster care families because one or both of their parents are addicted to drugs. At least 50 percent of kids and 70 percent of infants placed in Ohio’s foster care system have parents with opioid addictions.
Information Gateway resource: Heroin/Other Opioids and Child Welfare: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/bhw/casework/families-sud/drug/heroin/
http://www.salemnews.net/opinion/local-columns/2017/09/fighting-opioid-crisis-in-ohio/
PA: Report: Pennsylvania Child Abuse Workers Swamped, Underpaid
Associated Press – September 15, 2017
The county caseworkers who investigate child abuse in Pennsylvania are underpaid, inadequately trained, plagued by high turnover and face dangerous conditions, according to a report released Thursday that recommended changes to the system.
Also: Auditor General DePasquale Says ‘State of the Child’ Special Report Shows Broken Child-Welfare System Broken Puts Children at Risk: http://www.paauditor.gov/press-releases/auditor-general-depasquale-says-state-of-the-child-special-report-shows-broken-child-welfare-system-broken-puts-children-at-risk
http://wesa.fm/post/report-pennsylvania-child-abuse-workers-swamped-underpaid#stream/0
PA: State’s child welfare ‘system is broken’: 5 things to know today
Pittsburgh Tribune Review – September 15, 2017
1). PENNSYLVANIA’S FOSTER CARE ‘SYSTEM IS BROKEN.’ The bleak assessment by Auditor-General Eugene DePasquale is based on a yearlong review of the state’s Children and Youth Services system, or CYS. His office released Thursday the 80-page report, “State of the Child.” which flags problems and includes 17 recommendations for improvement.
RI: Tanja F. Kubas-Meyer: Children’s agency can’t solve crisis alone
Providence Journal – September 15, 2017
It is crucial to understand that front-line staff vacancies at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, inexperienced leadership, and reductions in community-based and residential services for high risk families – including mental health and substance abuse treatment – have helped bring us to this moment. While no system escapes tragedy, recent incidents cited in the series make it clear that there is need for a much stronger and more coordinated safety net for children and families at risk.
TX: Mental Health for Kids: This Texas Foundation Is On the Case
Inside Philanthropy – September 15, 2017
The foundation has been going strong for many decades now, most recently awarding grants to seven nonprofits in Texas. Aside from its state-specific focus, something that stands out about Hogg is its commitment to local children, adolescents, and young adults. The new grants totaling $1.9 million are primarily aimed at early intervention and prevention for youth.
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2017/9/15/hogg-foundation-for-mental-health-grants-teenagers
TX: Human Trafficking Even Bigger Concern In Houston After Hurricane Harvey
Patch – September 13, 2017
The Mayor’s Office is focusing on: Tracking an increase in online sex ads and traffickers posting pictures of themselves buying supplies for their victims’ children. The information has been forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. Exploring partnership with a local day laborer organization to increase their laborer outreach and education; educating day laborers about purchasing sex and making sure they understand law enforcement deterrence efforts.
VA: Helping Virginia’s foster children with Connecting Hearts (Video)
WTVR – September 15, 2017
Deborah J Johnston, Founder and CEO of Connecting Hearts, is with us to share the non-profits mission of obtaining permanency for Virginia’s children in foster care, whether it is in the form of reunification, kinship care, or adoption.
http://wtvr.com/2017/09/15/helping-virginias-foster-children-with-connecting-hearts/
WA: Home alone time for kids? It depends
Spokesman-Review – September 17, 2017
“It depends, because you may have a 10-year-old who is perfectly capable of being home alone and another 10-year-old who you wouldn’t consider doing that for a number of years more,” said Norah West, a spokeswoman with Washington state Department of Social and Health Services.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/sep/17/home-alone-time-for-kids-it-depends/
WI: Judge gives class status to juvenile inmates in Lincoln Hills lawsuit
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – September 15, 2017
U.S. District Judge James Peterson made the ruling from the bench three months after finding inmates’ civil rights were likely being violated and two months after ordering changes to how Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls operate. That earlier order required the institutions to curb their use of solitary confinement, pepper spray and handcuffs.
US: After a Series of Foster Care Hackathons, Here’s What Happened Next
Chronicle of Social Change – September 15, 2017
Hackathons – like the foster youth policy and technology hackathons – have spurred a new wave of civic engagement, and these collaborations between the technology and public sector can move the dial on social issues. In an article featured in the Review of Policy Research journal, authors Peter Johnson and Pamela Robinson examine how hackathons, by working with open data and examining government services, can act as a form of civic engagement to spur change.
US: Care and connections: Bridging relational gaps for foster youths
Brookings Institution – September 14, 2017
In the United States, more than 20,000 youths “age out” of foster care each year. But leaving foster care presents its own challenges. Only 55 percent of former foster youths report having a high school diploma or GED by the time they’re 19, compared with 87 percent of their peers in the population sample.
Also: Report: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/09-14-2017_fostercarereport2.pdf
https://www.brookings.edu/research/care-and-connections-bridging-relational-gaps-for-foster-youths/
INTERNATIONAL
Australia: Town gripped by paedophile epidemic with ‘90% of school-age children sexually abused’
Independent – September 18, 2017
Thirty-six men have been charged with more than 300 offences against 184 children after an investigation uncovered a “staggering” rate of abuse in Roebourne, Western Australia.
Canada: OPP’s revamped sex assault investigation strategy includes new training, oversight from advocacy groups
CBC News – September 15, 2017
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has unveiled a revamped strategy to handle sexual assault reports after a seven-month internal review into cases previously dismissed as “unfounded.” The report also identified the need for improved oversight and accountability for sexual assault investigations. In response, the OPP will establish committees in each of its six regions to oversee policy and training. The members of those committees will include the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Sexual Violence Advisory Group, child protection services and local victims services organizations.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/opp-sexual-assault-1.4291690?cmp=rss
Myanmar: More than half the refugees fleeing Myanmar are children
Quartz – September 18, 2017
The number of people who have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh over the last three weeks has now crossed 400,000, according to the United Nations. If that’s not bad enough, here’s something even more troubling-the majority of them are children.
Nigeria: Lagos considering review of adoption processes
PM News Nigeria – September 17, 2017
The Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf has said that the government is considering the review of its adoption processes to meet with current realities and align with global best practices.
https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2017/09/17/lagos-considering-review-of-adoption-processes/
Uganda: The children of South Sudan’s war face hunger, rape and other violence on their long, often-solitary walks to safety
Los Angeles Times – September 15, 2017
Many children like Lutana have been arriving here in recent weeks, navigating a rickety bridge that marks the border between South Sudan and Uganda. Most often, they are dusty and painfully thin. Many seem numb and withdrawn, unwilling or unable to describe what occurred on their lonely journeys.
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-south-sudan-children-20170915-story.html
AZ: State DCS to Medical-Marijuana Patients: We Don’t Want You as a Foster Parent
Phoenix New Times – September 14, 2017
Two weeks ago, Phoenix resident Rebecca Masterson took in a kid who desperately needed a home. The 16-year-old boy has no parents and has “anger issues” from a life of neglect, she wrote on her personal blog on September 1. She met him earlier this year after choosing to become a foster parent. The state DCS rejected her after she admitted she was a registered caregiver under the state’s medical-marijuana law and kept a product in her home that contained cannabidol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound that’s found in cannabis.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-dcs-medical-marijuana-users-foster-parents-9683245
AZ: Six Things You Can Do Today to Help Arizona Dreamers Affected by the End of DACA (Opinion)
Phoenix New Times – September 08, 2017
It’s devastating to sit back and watch as Dreamers are being encouraged to get help if they’re considering suicide because our government seems hellbent on preventing them from ever becoming full legal citizens. And when you’re coming from a position of relative privilege (in this case, having the luck of being born a U.S. citizen) it’s easy to become so racked with guilt that you just start flailing. So, with that in mind, here are a few ways that you can help DACA recipients here in Arizona.
CA: LAUSD to pay $150 million in landmark settlement for ‘high-need students’ (Includes video)
KABC – September 14, 2017
The Los Angeles Unified School District agreed Thursday to pay $150 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of “high-need students” at 50 secondary and high schools in the district. The claim follows passage of Proposition 30 and state legislation which designated funds for children most at risk. The ACLU, Community Coalition and Public Advocates alleged that LAUSD’s accounting failed to pass along the funds to the targeted groups.
http://abc7.com/education/lausd-to-pay-$150-million-in-landmark-settlement/2417815/
CA: Is This App the Key to Reunifying Los Angeles Families?
Chronicle of Social Change – September 12, 2017
The immensity of Los Angeles County’s foster care visitation challenge is hard to fathom. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is hoping that an app, like one developed during a first-of-its kind hackathon this spring, can help ensure that foster children have important visits with their biological parents while in care.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/analysis/app-key-reunifying-los-angeles-families/28143
CT: Rally Bolsters CCSU Students Whose Parents Face Deportation (Includes video)
Hartford Courant – September 15, 2017
Central Connecticut State University students rallied Thursday in support of two of their classmates whose parents have been ordered to leave the country by Sept. 29. A little over a week after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he would begin winding down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Jose Diaz spoke at CCSU about the Obama-era policy that, for the past five years, has shielded him from deportation and allowed him to work. Some of the students at the rally had no idea their peers’ parents were being deported. “It’s just unbelievable,” said Sabrina Maldona, a senior sociology major. “They have to live their life now without their support system. You need your family.”
FL: After Hurricane Irma, Millionaire Welcomes 70 Foster Kids Into His Florida Mansion
Southern Living Magazine – September 14, 2017
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, many Floridians are still without power. Some, even, still with no place to go after their homes were damaged or completely destroyed. Among the displaced were a group of 70 foster children of foster care community SOS Children’s Village Florida. However, thanks to one generous millionaire, these kids went from sleeping on the floor of a hurricane shelter to relaxing in style in a 27,000-square-foot mansion in Boca Raton. Marc Bell is the former owner of a magazine and a producer of the popular musical Jersey Boys. He and his wife, Jennifer Bell, were happy to open their home to dozens of kids, when they needed somewhere safe to say.
IA: Child Advocates Cautiously Optimistic About Health Insurance Program (Includes audio)
Public News Service – September 15, 2017
A federal program that funds health coverage for more than 83,000 Iowa children will run out of money at the end of the month, but there’s reason to be hopeful. Earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee reached agreement on a plan to protect the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers children whose parents earn slightly too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but a resolution has not been reached in the House.
IL: Column: Commissioners face tough call on repealing Cook County soda tax (Opinion)
Chicago Tribune – September 14, 2017
Commissioners heard from tax supporters including medical professionals, child welfare advocates and county employees – particularly in health and public safety. Public defenders and other county workers said revenue from the sweetened beverage tax is needed to fund essential services. Health care workers praised the county for discouraging consumption of sugary drinks that contribute to diabetes, obesity and other problems.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/opinion/
MI: Rep. Hughes bill protects rights of law-abiding gun owners
WWMT – September 14, 2017
State Rep. Holly Hughes introduced legislation protecting the fundamental rights of legal gun owners who apply to become foster parents in Michigan. Rep. Hughes, of Montague, said she started working on the bill after learning about a couple who filed suit against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, alleging the department’s policies on firearms violate their Second Amendment rights.
http://wwmt.com/news/local/rep-hughes-bill-protects-rights-of-law-abiding-gun-owners
MT: Opioid presentation highlights scourge of illegal use of prescription drugs
Char-Koosta News – September 14, 2017
A prescription opioid addiction epidemic is not only problematic in the local community or Indian Country – it is a modern American epidemic. Watts opened with the past prescription opioid abuse epidemic through Indian Country and the substantial loss of resources, addictions, disabilities, childhood development problems, and death. He also spoke about the future fight of ending it and beginning the journey of healing for communities.
http://www.charkoosta.com/2017/2017_09_14/opioid_meeting.html
NC: Board of Commissioners: County gets update from DSS director (Correction)
Mitchell News-Journal – September 13, 2017
The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners at a special-called meeting this past Tuesday received information about respite and an update from Department of Social Services Director Paula Holtsclaw. A Caring Alternative is a social services group based out of Morganton and is working on opening a respite home in McDowell County. “The reason I asked Sheila if she’d come tell us about it is that it would eliminate having a child spend the night at the office if we get them late,” he said.
https://www.mitchellnews.com/news/board-commissioners-county-gets-update-dss-director
NH: DCYF reform proceeding on many fronts, but still has far to go, lawmaker says
New Hampshire Union Leader – September 14, 2017
The state is slowly improving its child protective services but still has a long way to go, according to state Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, who’s been leading much of the effort from the legislative side for the past year as a Senate representative on the Commission to Review Child Abuse Fatalities.
OH: Diocese addresses child abuse prevention with training (Includes video)
WTOV – September 14, 2017
For the last 15 years, the Diocese of Steubenville has been taking steps to educate its members of the proper ways to treat children. “It’s certainly to show them the signs to be concerned about, and also to work with our children and give them the best possible way for them to grow,” said Bishop Jeffrey Monforton.
http://wtov9.com/news/local/diocese-addresses-child-abuse-prevention-with-training
OH: September is Kinship Appreciation Month (Includes video)
WLIO – September 14, 2017
Allen County Children Services has worked tirelessly to place kids in its custody with a family member. It’s called kinship placement. Last year, children services worked with 365 kids who were placed in kinship relative care. Officials say this placement is much better for the children, as it’s less disruptive than being put in foster care, with people they don’t know.
http://www.hometownstations.com/story/36371821/september-is-kinship-appreciation-month
PA: Ask the experts: What options exist for LGBT family-building?
Philadelphia Gay News – September 14, 2017
According to the Williams Institute, about 27 percent of Pennsylvania’s LGBT residents are raising children. From fostering to fertility treatments, LGBT people have a plethora of avenues available to welcome children into their families; as laws and technology evolve, those options are continuing to become more robust. PGN checked in with agencies that specialize in helping local couples and individuals start families to find out how prospective parents can get started and what they should expect as they set off down the path to parenthood.
Also: Series to recruit foster parents for LGBT youth: http://www.epgn.com/special-editions/217-2017-family-issue/12490-series-to-recruit-foster-parents-for-lgbt-youth
PA: Auditor general: Child protection ‘broken’ in Pa.
Daily Item – September 14, 2017
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a damning report Thursday that concluded the state’s child protective services system is “broken.” “Children are being horribly abused and neglected in Pennsylvania every day,” DePasquale said. “In recent months we’ve heard of toddlers being kept in cages, newborns left home alone and starving school-aged children locked in filthy rooms.”
Also: Press release: Auditor General DePasquale Says ‘State of the Child’ Special Report Shows Broken Child-Welfare System Broken Puts Children at Risk: http://www.paauditor.gov/press-releases/auditor-general-depasquale-says-state-of-the-child-special-report-shows-broken-child-welfare-system-broken-puts-children-at-risk
Also: Report: State of the Child: A Look at the strengths and challenges of Pennsylvania’s child-welfare system and the safety of at-risk children: http://www.paauditor.gov/Media/Default/Reports/RPT_CYS_091417_FINAL.pdf
Also: Report: Workload of PA child abuse caseworkers jumped from 25 to 75 in Dauphin County (Includes video): http://www.wgal.com/article/report-workload-of-pa-child-abuse-caseworkers-jumped-from-25-to-75-in-dauphin-county/12245397
SC: New report found DSS has shown progress improving foster care system, but more work remains
Post and Courier – September 14, 2017
The S.C. Department of Social Services has made recent strides reforming the state’s foster care system, but more work needs to be done, a new review found. A class action lawsuit filed on behalf of several foster children in 2015 was settled last year. Part of that settlement requires DSS to submit to routine progress reports, which must be conducted by court-appointed monitors. The first of those reports was released Thursday.
Also: DSS Monitoring Report: https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/postandcourier.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/57/757873c8-9962-11e7-bc02-0791bbc16964/59baa2173a00e.pdf.pdf
TX: Weir: Tan Parker – Providing relief for Houston flood victims (Includes video)
Cross Timbers Gazette – September 14, 2017
Initially elected to office in 2006, Parker is an effective champion for economic development, job creation, tax relief, appraisal reform, border security, and promoting fiscally responsible government spending. He is also known for his advocacy for children on a wide range of policy issues including improvements to the foster care system, a framework to support homeless teens, the crackdown on human trafficking, and the protection and welfare of children on a wide range of issues including abuse, wellness, and public safety.
VA: Williams: Richmond’s leaders, community must rebuild relationship from the ground up
Richmond Times-Dispatch – September 14, 2017
During an occasionally edgy news conference Tuesday, when asked by a reporter what would happen to the children of parents evicted for criminal activity, he said “we have to enforce our lease” and that the fate of the children would be “up to the foster care systems and the legal systems.”
US: 95 Percent of Homeless Youth Who Experienced Sex Trafficking Say They Were Maltreated as Children
Chronicle of Social Change – September 14, 2017
The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania recently completed a multi-city research study on the prevalence of sex trafficking among homeless youth, with a special emphasis on child welfare risk and protective factors. Little rigorous research has focused on the correlation between child welfare experience and sex trafficking, yet estimates have been cited that the majority of victims of child sex trafficking have experienced the child welfare system.
Also: Information Gateway resource: Administration on Children, Youth and Families Anti-Trafficking Strategy: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/trafficking/acyf-strategy/
US: A Case for Collecting Adverse Childhood Experiences Data (Opinion)
Youth Today – September 14, 2017
Let me start with a radical statement: I love data. One of my favorite activities in my role as chief strategy officer at Children & Families First, a large nonprofit child and family services agency, is turning columns of numbers into sets of colorful graphs. But even more satisfying is watching someone engage with the data as it reveals previously hidden meaning.
http://youthtoday.org/2017/09/a-case-for-collecting-adverse-childhood-experiences-data/
US: No Excuse for Leaving Children to Suffer and Die in Abusive Homes (Opinion)
Chronicle of Social Change – September 14, 2017
The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities found that up to half of child fatalities involve children known to CPS, and even more were from families who were known in the past. But these children who died are only the tip of the iceberg. For every Adrian Jones, there is an unknown number of children who survive chronic abuse before being rescued.
US: Russell Medical promotes safe sleep education with ‘Baby Boxes’
Alexander City Outlook – September 14, 2017
New moms must complete a newborn safety curriculum consisting of 14 videos on topics ranging from safe sleep to breastfeeding to childhood development to receive the Baby Box. Upon completion of the curriculum the new mom presents their certificate to the nurse manager and receives their box of supplies.
Also: Baby Box University: https://www.babyboxuniversity.com/
Also: Sleeping safe with baby (Includes video): http://www.wkyc.com/news/health/sleeping-safe-with-baby-1/474936238
Also: Bed-sharing: Discounted cribs, safe-sleep guidelines and more resources: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/bed_sharing_co_sleeping_baby_box_resources.html
US: Sen. Murray Introduces Bold, Comprehensive Child Care and Early Learning Bill to Bring Down Costs of Child Care in Washington State and Across the Country (Press release)
Office of U.S. Senator for Washington State Patty Murray – September 14, 2017
Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act, a comprehensive early learning and child care bill to ensure affordable, high-quality child care for working families across the country. The bill builds on Sen. Murray’s work to expand access to child care for families who need it and strengthen economic security for working families in Washington state and across the country.
US: The lesser-known side effects of natural disasters
Axios – September 13, 2017
The World Health Organization reported that traumatic brain injuries in children under two were five times higher in counties affected by Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina than children in counties less affected or not affected at all.
https://www.axios.com/the-lesser-known-side-effects-of-natural-disasters-2484426808.html
US: Children Remain the Poorest Age Group Despite Poverty Drop; We Must Move Forward, Not Backwards (Press release)
Children’s Defense Fund – September 12, 2017
Children remain the poorest age group in America with more than 13.2 million children-18.0 percent of all children-living in poverty in 2016, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. There were 40.6 million people in poverty-one in three is a child.
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh: Rohingya solo children at risk of sexual abuse
Gulf News – September 13, 2017
More than 1,100 Rohingya children fleeing violence in western Myanmar have arrived alone in Bangladesh since August 25, according to the latest Unicef figures. These solo children are at risk of sexual abuse, human trafficking and psychological trauma, the UN children’s agency said.
Also: Hundreds of Rohingya children arrive in Bangladesh alone: https://www.dawn.com/news/1357529
http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/rohingya/rohingya-solo-children-at-risk-of-sexual-abuse-1.2089551
AZ: 8 resources for parents around Arizona (Includes video)
Arizona Republic – September 13, 2017
With challenges at every level of parenting, it’s important to know what resources are out there. Organizations throughout Arizona offer various classes, workshops and services that can help. Here are eight.
CA: Board of Commissioners: County gets update from DSS director
Mitchell News-Journal – September 13, 2017
The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners at a special-called meeting this past Tuesday received information about respite and an update from Department of Social Services Director Paula Holtsclaw. A Caring Alternative is a social services group based out of Morganton and is working on opening a respite home in McDowell County. “The reason I asked Sheila if she’d come tell us about it is that it would eliminate having a child spend the night at the office if we get them late,” he said.
https://www.mitchellnews.com/news/board-commissioners-county-gets-update-dss-director
DC: Sexual Assault Task Force Advocates More Bystander Training
Hoya (Georgetown University) – September 14, 2017
The university’s Sexual Assault and Misconduct Task Force advocated for expanded mandatory bystander education and training for all undergraduate and graduate students and finalized the 11 recommendations it made last April to improve sexual misconduct prevention and survivor support, Tuesday. Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olsen said first-year students will be the first class to go through mandatory “Bringing in the Bystander” training.
http://www.thehoya.com/sexual-assault-task-force-advocates-bystander-training/
KY: Gov. Bevin Makes Appointments to Kentucky Boards and Commissions
Surf KY – September 13, 2017
Gov. Matt Bevin today made the following appointments to Kentucky Boards and Commissions: Adria Elaine Johnson, of Louisville, is commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services. She will represent child welfare agency members responsible for foster care and serve for a term expiring June 30, 2021.
MA: Trump’s Aggressive Immigration Policies Have Created A Public Health Disaster (Opinion)
WBUR – September 14, 2017
We are seeing only the tip of the iceberg of public health disasters stemming from the Trump administration’s aggressive detention and deportation policies. Lower birth weights have been reported in Latina mothers affected by immigration raids, and a spike in adverse mental health symptoms has been reported in many immigrant communities. Immigrants are fearful of being targeted and are avoiding public benefits, including health care and food assistance. Fear of repercussions is resulting in a decrease in immigrants reporting crime, including domestic violence. The downstream social impact of community and family insecurity is detrimental to all of Massachusetts.
http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2017/09/14/health-immigrants-sondra-crosby
MI: Kent Co. pilot project designed to improve outcomes for children in foster care
WWMT – September 13, 2017
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is announcing a pilot project in Kent County that will support innovation and provide greater incentives for foster care and adoption service providers to meet outcomes that benefit children and families.
MN: Klobuchar legislation on sex trafficking passes Senate
Brainerd Dispatch – September 13, 2017
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, have announced that their bipartisan legislation, the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, has passed the Senate. When a state passes a safe harbor law, it means that kids sold for sex should be steered towards child protection services, rather than being arrested, charged, or convicted under a state’s criminal laws.
http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/4327042-klobuchar-legislation-sex-trafficking-passes-senate
NC: Wilson County DSS earns award for child welfare program
Wilson Times – September 13, 2017
The Wilson County Department of Social Services has earned an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties for implementing Signs of Safety in its child welfare program. Signs of Safety is a child protection practice model developed in Australia and used in 12 countries. Officials say the goal is always child safety. Signs of Safety emphasizes the importance of setting clear, behavior-driven goals and building true collaboration with the family.
http://www.wilsontimes.com/stories/wilson-county-dss-earns-award-for-child-welfare-program,95911
NE: Report: Suicide attempts, sexual abuse cases rise among young Nebraskans in state care
Omaha World-Herald – September 14, 2017
Nebraska youths in state care attempted suicide in rising numbers last year, according to a new report. The report, issued Wednesday by the inspector general of Nebraska child welfare, said sexual abuse cases involving such young people also have increased.
Also: Inspector General’s Annual Report: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/105/PDF/Agencies/Inspector_General_of_Nebraska_Child_Welfare/285_20170913-145750.pdf
Also: Inspector general for child welfare airs concerns: http://journalstar.com/legislature/inspector-general-for-child-welfare-airs-concerns/article_9f0915da-ff0a-53a5-bca8-2dc4c2d6fbbb.html
NE: Pilot project can help Nebraska lead education reform (Opinion)
Grand Island Independent – September 13, 2017
The damage done by toxic stress can be reversed but the success rate increases the earlier that intervention begins. In addition, the intervention will be more successful in a home setting; thus, the cause of the neglect must be dealt with at the family level, when possible. This early intervention is not an area where K-12 teachers play a major role. The intervention should begin long before school age. Child welfare professionals and/or visiting nurses, trained in early education, should fill this role since they can bring their special skills and training to the family much earlier.
NJ: The Last Goodnight (Includes video)
nj.com – September 13, 2017
A two-year NJ Advance Media investigation uncovered how a series of unthinkable tragedies with Jordan’s children came to pass. The probe also revealed how the state child welfare agency failed to act on a potentially lifesaving call to its child abuse hotline after JoJo’s birth.
NM: First-Ever Abuse Hotline Open for New Mexico Native Americans (Includes audio)
Public News Service – September 14, 2017
Compared with other groups in the U.S., Native Americans are twice as likely to experience rape or sexual assault. At the same time, they historically have lacked access to services. Associate director of the StrongHearts Native Helpline, Lori Jump, said advocates answering the phones are trained in tribal sovereignty and law, because reporting such a crime is a different experience for Native Americans.
NM: Growing number of New Mexico foster families house more than six kids (Includes video)
KRQE – September 13, 2017
KRQE News 13 looked into the amount of “over-placements” granted by the state, which is when more than six kids are allowed in one home. In 2013, there were 84 foster homes in New Mexico with more children than the state’s recommended maximum. That number has since gone up.
http://krqe.com/2017/09/13/new-mexico-foster-families-house-more-than-six-kids-and-its-growing/
OH: Editorial: Our child welfare laws need updating badly
WCPO – September 13, 2017
What if a loving family member – but not a parent – is ready and able to provide a safe, nurturing home for a child whose mom and dad aren’t up for the responsibilities of parenting? Does our system recognize what’s best for the children in these situations?
http://www.wcpo.com/news/opinion/editorial-our-child-welfare-laws-need-updating-badly
PA: Executive Director JoAnne Fischer to Retire After 40 Transformational Years as Advocate for Women (Press release)
Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) – September 13, 2017
For more than 40 years, JoAnne Fischer has advocated tirelessly – and very effectively – for the needs and rights of women, children and families here in the Philadelphia region, primarily, but also statewide nationally and globally. Today, she announces her plans for retirement, effective January 2018, as Executive Director of Maternity Care Coalition (MCC), a nonprofit agency that focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of pregnant women, parents and young children.
WA: Skookum Kids targets ‘modern orphan crisis’
Lynden Tribune – September 13, 2017
Ray Deck III is the founding director of Skookum Kids. “We face a modern orphan crisis,” he said when he launched his effort. A serial entrepreneur, Ray Deck III already had a decade of experience inciting change from within complex organizations.
WI: First Lady Tonette Walker Hosts First Spouses in Milwaukee to Discuss Trauma-Informed Care (Press release)
Urban Milwaukee – September 13, 2017
First Lady Tonette Walker kicked off the First Spouses Convening today in Milwaukee and welcomed First Spouses from across the nation to the two-day conference, which focuses on Trauma-Informed Care. The First Spouses Convening, sponsored by Casey Family Programs in partnership with First Lady Tonette Walker, gives the nation’s First Spouses the opportunity to hear from Trauma-Informed Care experts about how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) affect child welfare and impact a child’s developing brain, discuss ways to incorporate Trauma-Informed Care into existing initiatives, and brainstorm next steps moving forward to change outcomes for children and families throughout the United States.
US: Bills to Watch: Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice Legislation in 2018
Chronicle of Social Change – September 13, 2017
Yesterday, Youth Services Insider hit on the two no-brainer pieces of legislation that Congress should get moving this year when it comes to youth services. Today, we look at the longer list of bills and policies to watch as Washington prepares for what will surely be a tumultuous fiscal 2018.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/subscriber-content/bills-to-watch/28139
US: Untrained Police Officers in Schools Focus on Girls of Color, Report Says
Youth Today – September 13, 2017
Black girls are nearly four times more likely to be arrested at school than their white counterparts and Latina girls are almost three times more likely to be arrested in elementary school than white girls, a new report says. Researchers at the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality and the National Black Women’s Justice Institute found that the explosion of police in the nation’s schools is forcing increasing numbers of black and brown girls into the school-to-prison pipeline.
Report: Be Her Resource: A Toolkit about School Resource Officers and Girls of Color: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/press-releases/upload/be-her-resource.pdf
US: Deal Struck to Extend Financing for Children’s Health Program
New York Times – September 12, 2017
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the top Democrat on the panel announced on Tuesday night that they had reached agreement on a plan to prevent the imminent exhaustion of federal funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Nearly nine million children receive health insurance through the program, on which the federal government has been spending about $14 billion a year. The program is for children in families that make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford other coverage.
Information Gateway resource: Behavioral Health & Wellness: Federal Supports and Services: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/bhw/federal/
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh: Humanitarian Situation report, Rohingya influx
UNICEF – September 12, 2017
UNICEF is providing psychosocial support to 5,157 traumatized children through 41 Child Friendly Spaces (CFS). UNICEF has also triggered lifesaving nutrition interventions for the new arrivals by screening a total of 3,166 children and referring 143 SAM children for treatment. With UNICEF support, the Government is mobilizing vaccinations for all Rohingya children under 15 years against polio as well as measles and rubella; 41 Education in Emergency (EiE) Kits have been provide to established temporary learning centers in UNICEF-supported 41 Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) to reach an estimated 1,230 newly arrived children.
Canada: Air Canada : Foundation Helps Conquer Sexual Exploitation of Quebec Youth! (Press release)
Canadian Newswire (CNW) – September 13, 2017
The Missing Children’s Network is proud to announce that the Air Canada Foundation will support its sexual exploitation prevention program with a donation of $25,000. This generous donation will contribute to improving the program through the creation of educational tools to help youth recognize the dangers of exploitation.
Canada: Statement: 10 years since Indigenous rights fully recognized by the United Nations – how is Canada doing?
Canadian Newswire (CNW) – September 13, 2017
Today, on the tenth anniversary of the UN adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, issues the following statement.
http://www.tickertech.com/cgi/?a=news&ticker=a&w=&story=201709201709131113CANADANWWEB______C6607
Ghana: The Global Cocoa Crisis and What a Corporate Funder is Doing to Help Farmers in Ghana
Inside Philanthropy – September 14, 2017
It turns out that many promises have been made and broken to the cocoa farmers of the world. Cargill, the global food giant, is among those entities that have been criticized at times for the treatment of these farmers. But it’s now been working for five years to address concerns raised about its cocoa supply chain, including allegations of child slavery.
Kenya: SHOFCO and GE Partner On New Maternal and Infant Care Initiative in Kenya
AfricaBiz – September 14, 2017
Charity Shining Hope for Communities Organization (SHOFCO) of Kenya just announced, thanks to support from General Electric (www.GE.com), a new infant and maternal care initiative aimed at increasing access to pre-natal screenings for expectant mothers in Kibera, believed to be the largest urban slum in Africa with an estimated 700,000 inhabitants.
CA: Effort underway in Redding to assist homeless teens (Includes video) (Correction)
Record Searchlight – September 09, 2017
A 17-year-old boy sleeping on the roof of Redding’s library under an air-conditioning unit illustrates the shadowy existence of teen homelessness in Shasta County. A recently formed, core group that wants to bring the issue of homeless teens to the forefront met for the first time Thursday at the Catalyst center on Industrial Street in Redding.
FL: and TX: ‘The Aftermath of the Aftermath’: Hurricanes Stretch Safety Net and Providers
Governing – September 12, 2017
History suggests that social services will be in high demand for months. Are caseworkers in Texas and Florida prepared?
http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-hurricane-harvey-irma-welfare-aid.html
KY: Young people vulnerable to sex trafficking in Kentucky (Includes video)
WTVQ – September 13, 2017
Though people of all ages are trafficked, Castellanos says children and teens can be particularly vulnerable. Traffickers sort of have a radar for vulnerability and they look for folks who are vulnerable to being exploited. It can be hard to acknowledge such an ugly part of our communities, but Castellanos says throughout the state, people she talks to always want to know more.
https://www.wtvq.com/2017/09/13/young-people-vulnerable-sex-trafficking-kentucky/
MD: ‘DaddyOFive’ YouTubers sentenced to five years probation for child neglect
Baltimore Sun – September 12, 2017
The couple behind the controversial “DaddyOFive” YouTube channel were sentenced to five years of probation on charges of child neglect in Frederick County Circuit Court on Monday.
MN: St. Louis County will hike levy 4.45 percent for 2018
Duluth News Tribune – September 12, 2017
Extra money also is going to fight the ongoing epidemic of drug abuse and and mental health issues. That includes supporting innovative opioid treatment programs and partnerships, expanding Mental Health Court across the county, and the embedded social worker within the Duluth Police Department. The county also is making additional investments to support families providing foster care, of which there has been a critical shortage across the region, and offset state funding cuts impacting vulnerable adults.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4326912-st-louis-county-will-hike-levy-445-percent-2018
MT: There Were 13,343 Reports Of Suspected Child Abuse In Montana This Year, Half Were Investigated
KGVO-AM – September 12, 2017
“As of August of this year, the number of children in the state in foster care is 3,822 compared to 3,610 at the same time last year,” said McDonald. “The number of reports to central intake of suspected abuse and neglect year to date is 13,343. Those reports resulted in 6,854 CPS investigations.”
NV: Increased use of pot by pregnant women spurs Nevada campaign (Includes video)
Las Vegas Review-Journal – September 12, 2017
The state of Nevada is preparing a public information campaign to address the increasing use of marijuana by pregnant women and highlight the potential harm the drug can do to a fetus.
OH: The opioid crisis is sending a record number of kids into foster care (Includes video)
Circa News – September 12, 2017
The goal of the court system and the foster care system is to ultimately return foster children to their birth parents. But according to Jessica Parks of the Necco Foster Care Agency, the reality is that because of the growing heroin epidemic, it doesn’t happen that way as often anymore.
OK: Battling addiction in the Cherokee Nation (Opinion)
Hill – September 13, 2017
So far this year, we’ve placed as many children into foster homes as we did during all of last year. Sadly, once the grip of addiction takes hold, too many parents are never able to be reunited with their children.
http://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/350352-battling-addiction-in-the-cherokee-nation
OR: State hires new child welfare director
Oregonian – September 12, 2017
Marilyn Jones is a 20-year veteran of the agency, and currently works in Baker City where she has been a district manager for child welfare and self-sufficiency programs such as food stamps for a decade.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/oregon_hires_new_child_welfare.html
PA: Free Baby Box offer for expectant parents in Columbia aims to enable safe sleep
Lancaster Online – September 11, 2017
Healthy Columbia is offering free Baby Boxes to expectant parents in the 17512 ZIP code. The program provides a cardboard bassinet with a firm mattress and fitted sheet, onesies, bibs, wash cloths, socks, a wearable blanket, burp cloths, and parent education about safe sleep.
TX: CPS racing to find abused and neglected children after Harvey (Includes video)
KTRK TV – September 12, 2017
On a normal week, Coward has about eight cases. After Harvey, they had 90. He said many of these are neglect and abuse cases. Coward and other special investigators worked day and night to ensure all of those children were located and safe.
Also: Texas, foster-care providers helped children during Harvey: http://www.tribtown.com/2017/09/12/tx-exchange-harvey-foster-care/
http://abc13.com/cps-racing-to-find-abused-children-after-harvey/2409083/
WA: Seattle mayor resigns in wake of new sexual abuse allegations
UPI – September 12, 2017
The mayor of Seattle, Ed Murray, has announced his resignation, amid allegations of child sex-abuse.
Also: Murray resigning following latest sex abuse allegation: http://www.capitolhilltimes.com/Content/News/Homepage-Rotating-Articles/Article/Murray-resigning-following-latest-sex-abuse-allegation/26/538/5171
WI: Tiny house plan for foster care teens moves forward (Includes video)
CBS 58 – September 12, 2017
The City of Milwaukee is moving forward with plans to build tiny homes for the teens. The City Plan Commission approved the project Monday.
http://www.cbs58.com/news/tiny-house-plan-for-foster-care-teens-moves-forward
WI: Winter: State law change not easy to achieve
Chippewa Falls – September 12, 2017
Winter said one of the driving areas for the department in 2016 has been in child protective services area. Last year the agency had a total of 127 children in care, with 95 of them involved in cases related to methamphetamine abuse. That’s compared to 13 cases in 2014, when there were children in 10 meth-related cases.
US: Child Welfare System Increasingly Relying on Relatives to Raise Children Exposed to Trauma
New Kerala – September 13, 2017
Thirty percent (127,819) of children in foster care are being raised by grandparents or other relatives, a six percent increase since 2008. In the wake of the opioid epidemic, that number is even more dramatic in the states hardest hit by the opioid epidemic like Ohio, which saw a 62 percent increase in the number of children placed with relatives in foster care since 2010. For each child in foster care with a relative, there are 20 children outside of the system with a relative.
Report: The State of Grandfamilies in America: 2017: http://gu.org/OURWORK/Grandfamilies/TheStateofGrandfamiliesinAmerica/TheStateofGrandfamiliesinAmerica2017.aspx
Also: Grandparents Make All the Difference for Traumatized Kids: http://www.nextavenue.org/grandparents-difference-traumatized-kids/
http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-271515.html
US: Opioid Epidemic Continues to Ravage the Midwest
Roll Call – September 13, 2017
Despite action by Congress to address the opioid addiction epidemic, hard-hit areas of the country like this one in the Midwest are finding it difficult to keep up with the fallout from the unfolding situation.
Also: Working together to defeat the opioid epidemic (Opinion): http://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/350370-working-together-to-defeat-the-opioid-epidemic
http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/opioid-epidemic-continues-to-ravage-the-midwest
US: ‘Kids on the Hill’ Brings Child Welfare News Coverage to Capitol Hill (Press release)
Fostering Media Connections – September 12, 2017
Fostering Media Connections (FMC) is publishing a special legislative issue about child welfare and taking it directly to every congressional office on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Entitled “Kids on the Hill,” the magazine’s stories deal with issues such as opioids and their contribution to rising foster care numbers, immigration policy involving minors and how education services can play a role in outcomes for foster youth.
US: Senators announce bipartisan extension of children’s health program
Hill – September 12, 2017
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) could be extended for five years under an agreement whose terms were first announced by Senate Finance Committee leaders Tuesday night.
US: Young Leads Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Remove Barriers, Provide Support for Homeless and Foster Students in Higher Education (Press release)
Office of U.S. Congressman from Alaska, Don Young – September 12, 2017
Representatives Don Young (R-AK) and Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act of 2017 to help remove barriers and provide support to help homeless and foster kids access and succeed in higher education.
Also: Clark bill makes college more accessible to homeless and foster youth: http://sampan.org/2017/09/clark-bill-makes-college-more-accessible-to-homeless-and-foster-youth/
https://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399011
US: Young Mothers Known to Child Welfare System More Likely to Suffer Untreated Health Issues
Chronicle of Social Change – September 12, 2017
According to the report, adolescent childbearing is associated with an increased risk for adverse birth outcomes and use of negative parenting approaches. The research suggests that young women with child welfare involvement are in need of health services as they transition to motherhood. Further, these mothers may be vulnerable to poor self-care during the post-birth stage.
Report: Health Status of Young Adult Mothers with a History of Child Welfare Involvement: http://policylab.chop.edu/research-glance/health-status-young-adult-mothers-history-child-welfare-involvement
Information Gateway resource: Supporting Young Parents: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/supporting/support-services/supporting-young-parents/
INTERNATIONAL
Peru: Peru Should Think Outside the ‘Baby Box’ (Opinion)
US News and World Report – September 12, 2017
Baby box programs purport to protect children by allowing them to be safely abandoned to the care of the government. But Peruvian critics of the proposal rightly ask whether their government is able to provide that care.
AR: State group warns health care at risk for 121,000 youths (Opinion)
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette – September 12, 2017
Congress must quickly reauthorize a federal program that covers health care costs for tens of thousands of Arkansas children, advocates said Monday. The 20-year-old Children’s Health Insurance Program’s budget is approved only until the end of this month unless the Senate and House agree to extend it. The program helped pay for primary, dental and mental health care for about 121,000 children in fiscal 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and it is credited for driving down the uninsured rate among children.
Also: Restoring Hope For Arkansas Children (Press release): http://www.boonevilledemocrat.com/opinion/20170911/restoring-hope-for-arkansas-children
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/sep/12/state-group-warns-health-care-at-risk-f/
AZ: Smith: Arizona’s new approach to parents, children and opioids in Pinal County
Arizona Department of Child Safety – September 11, 2017
Over a five-week period this summer, there were 53 reported opioid overdoses in Pinal County alone. To combat the epidemic, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey recently designated opioid addiction a statewide health emergency. As is so often the case with substance abuse, children are the ones who pay the highest price. Over the past two months, about 161 babies were born in Arizona exhibiting signs of drug withdrawal.
AZ: Moving ahead with proposal to add AHCCCS work requirements
Arizona Daily Star – September 09, 2017
Among populations that could be shut out of health care if the restrictions are put in place, critics say, are adults who are caregivers for disabled children or elderly relatives, people with felonies who have trouble finding jobs and people with untreated mental illness.
CA: Foster youth get a little help from CASA volunteers
San Bernardino Sun – September 09, 2017
CASA, the acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocates, is a nonprofit that gives a voice to the 5,700 children in foster care in San Bernardino County – removed from their homes because they are in danger there. At any given time, CASA is serving 100 of these children, with another 260 on the waiting list, said Cesar Nevarrete, executive director of CASA of San Bernardino County. “All foster children we represent were removed from their homes because they were in danger,” he said. “The numbers of foster children keep increasing and the No. 1 reason is drugs and neglect by the parents.”
http://www.sbsun.com/2017/09/09/foster-youth-get-a-little-help-from-casa-volunteers/
DE: Attorney General Matt Denn to push for addiction recovery high school (Includes video)
News Journal – September 06, 2017
Armed with that study, state Attorney General Matt Denn said he will push nine specific initiatives for the coming year, including a plan to develop a recovery high school by 2018 that will target students struggling with substance abuse.
LA: For 25 years, CASA speaks up for abused, neglected children
Advocate – September 09, 2017
The association assigned cases to its first two volunteers in September 1992. A quarter-century later, it has become well-known for its assistance to East Baton Rouge Parish children who’ve been removed from their homes for their protection. Liz Betz, director for all but the first few months of the association’s history, can’t identify when the organization turned the corner.
MD: Washington County group offers support to grandparents acting as parents
Herald-Mail – September 09, 2017
Grandparents are no longer just grandparents to their grandchildren. In some cases, some have taken over the role as their parents. And luckily for these grandparents, who are being honored today as the country marks Grandparent’s Day, there is a local resource of support to help them through their unique situation.
MS: Virginia Dawkins: Hope for recovery
Meridian Star – September 07, 2017
Our jails and prisons are filled with addictive inmates, and the children of these inmates are being raised by family members or Foster Care homes. In one way or another, addiction effects our entire society, yet it is often the innocent children who suffer most.
MT: 8 child deaths reported to Child and Family Services in Montana this year
Independent Record – September 11, 2017
Eight child fatalities have been reported to the state this year under a law that requires an ombudsman to investigate the circumstances when a child involved with Child and Family Services dies. Shannon McDonald, who oversees the Child and Family Services division, told an interim legislative committee Monday about the number of deaths reported. She said that none of the children who died were in out-of-home care at the time.
MT: Legislative committee hears concerns over Medicaid cuts
Associated Press – September 11, 2017
“If my children were not getting these services, my son would be in (juvenile detention) or the state hospital. My daughter would be the same or possibly dead, and if she were dead I’d be in the state hospital,” said Libby Velde of Missoula. “There has got to be another area in our budget that can fluctuate without such a dire consequence to every single Montana citizen.” The health department’s proposals, submitted Friday, list $105 million in proposed cuts, including in senior and long-term care, child protection services and addictive and mental disorder programs. Lawmakers must look at those plans and make recommendations. The final decision is up to the governor.
http://www.kentucky.com/living/health-and-medicine/article172712966.html
NC: Child abuse and neglect cases directly correlated with drug epidemic
Clarksburg Exponent Telegram – September 10, 2017
The number of child abuse and neglect cases in North Central West Virginia has doubled over the past four years, and officials believe there is a direct correlation with the drug epidemic. Barbour Prosecutor Thomas Hoxie said that before the drug outbreak, his office was dealing with 10 to 20 abuse and neglect cases a year. Last year, it saw 108 cases. It has seen 75 cases so far this year; Hoxie predicted there will be 115 to 120 by year’s end.
NY: Bravehearts Demonstrates That Foster Kids Must Be Listened to (Opinion)
Youth Today – September 11, 2017
There is one strategy we’re convinced will make the human services sector more effective: listening to the children and families enmeshed in the system. The shift from viewing the people we serve with condescension to considering them critically important partners is difficult. But if we have learned anything from our long history, it is that the best solutions require a partnership with youth and families.
http://youthtoday.org/2017/09/bravehearts-demonstrate-that-foster-kids-must-be-listened-to/
OH: Officials unveil first-of-its-kind program to reduce opioid deaths
Fox19 – September 07, 2017
Naloxone distribution in Hamilton County will be increased by more than 400% in an effort to prevent deaths. “It’s not just the number of people who are dying every day, it’s the babies who are being born every day addicted, it’s the number of children who are in foster care because one or both parents are drug addicts,” said DeWine. “In fact we believe about half of all the children are there because one or both parents are drug addicts. Our jails have become detox centers. Our courts are overflowing.”
OH: Should children be allowed to get married? In Ohio, thousands do (Includes video)
Dayton Daily News – September 07, 2017
Child marriage isn’t limited to Third World countries. It happens fairly regularly in Ohio. Brides and grooms so young that they aren’t allowed to vote, buy tobacco, alcohol or a lottery ticket, go to an R-rated movie or enter a casino are getting married after approval by the courts.
OH: State budget prioritizes opioid epidemic
Highland County Press – September 07, 2017
Regarding treatment options, we invested $32 million in treatment and detox programs to assist those currently addicted. In order to provide for the loved ones of these individuals, especially children, we set aside $30 million for Child Protective Services and for kinship care. ADAMHS boards received $14 million and funding for drug court programs was expanded by $6 million.
OK: EDITORIALLY SPEAKING: Help create more positive outcomes
Muskogee Phoenix – September 09, 2017
Helping organizations that serve youth to become trauma informed will help create more positive outcomes when children become adults. A study that focuses on emotional, physical and sexual abuse, household challenges and neglect in a person’s first 18 years practically forecasts trouble. Higher scores on the Adverse Childhood Experiences study indicate the more negatively a person’s mental, social and physical life will be impacted.
OR: New homeless shelter in Old Town/Chinatown sparks old debate
Portland Tribune – September 12, 2017
“We have people every day aging out of foster care, being discharged from mental health institutions, coming out of the corrections institutions in our community,” Jolin said, adding that those people can face more obstacles than others in getting housing. “That means we’re going to have to continue providing an emergency response.”
PA: Amish bishop admits to covering up sex abuse, sentenced to probation
Penn Live – September 11, 2017
Six years after failing to report sexual abuse in the Amish community, a local bishop admitted to covering up the allegations. Christ Stoltzfus was mandated to report the sex abuse allegations under Child Protective Services law but failed to report the abuse in 2011. Stoltzfus, 69, of Roller Road in Mifflin Township, told investigators that he was informed one of the incidents “wasn’t really that bad” during an interview in February 2017, according to state police.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/09/amish_bishop_admits_to_coverin.html
PA: Effort underway in Redding to assist homeless teens (Includes video)
Record Searchlight – September 09, 2017
A 17-year-old boy sleeping on the roof of Redding’s library under an air-conditioning unit illustrates the shadowy existence of teen homelessness in Shasta County. A recently formed, core group that wants to bring the issue of homeless teens to the forefront met for the first time Thursday at the Catalyst center on Industrial Street in Redding.
PA: Joe Paterno may have known of earlier Jerry Sandusky abuse claim, police report reveals
CNN – September 09, 2017
A new report published today by CNN shines a light on a small new detail about a very big question: What did former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno know about the secret life of his longtime assistant Jerry Sandusky?
Also: CNN report shines light on small detail with big interest in Sandusky child abuse scandal: Analysis: http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/09/cnn_report_shines_light_on_sma.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/09/us/penn-state-paterno-sandusky-police-report/index.html
TX: Texas CPS, foster-care providers go all out to protect vulnerable children from Hurricane Harvey
Dallas Morning News – September 11, 2017
Texas Child Protective Services and its contractors had to evacuate more than 400 foster kids in institutions because of Hurricane Harvey and, probably, hundreds more who lived in foster homes along the Gulf coast, protective services officials said Monday. The state and dozens of its private foster-care providers relocated the children without incident, according to Protective Services Commissioner Henry “Hank” Whitman and Kristene Blackstone, his deputy who runs CPS.
WA: Jefferson commissioners approve deal to provide transitional housing
Peninsula Daily News – September 12, 2017
Jefferson County commissioners on Monday approved an eight-month service agreement with the Olympic Community Action Programs to provide transitional housing for people struggling with drug abuse and/or mental illness. OlyCAP then works with a number of local and state organizations including Safe Harbor, Discovery Behavioral Healthcare and Child Protective Services to help those housed in the cottages recover and move out after their allotted 90 days.
WI: Milwaukee advances tiny homes plan for young adults leaving foster care (Includes Video)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – September 11, 2017
Three dozen “tiny homes” would be built for – and with the help of – teens aging out of foster care, under a plan that advanced Monday at City Hall. “This is a group that, if caught early enough, these are not people that need long-term permanent housing,” said Tim Baack, the president and CEO of Pathfinders.
US: Leading Organizations Partner on a Campaign to Heal Childhood Trauma (Includes video) (Press release)
Calo Programs – September 12, 2017
Calo Programs, innovators in healing the effects of early life trauma in young people, is partnering with three of the nation’s leading authorities on attachment, trauma and adoption: the American Adoption Congress (AAC), the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) and the Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh). Together they are launching a first-of-its-kind mobile campaign to increase awareness, compassion and understanding of the lifelong impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and to share a hope for healing.
Information Gateway resource: Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/bhw/treatment/
http://www.prweb.com/releases/healchildhoodtrauma/09/prweb14669667.htm
US: Algorithms for Equitable Social Impact (Opinion)
Community Science News – September 11, 2017
When it comes to making life-changing, longer-term decisions-where a deep understanding of all the social, circumstantial, situational, and environmental causes must come together to produce a lasting change-mirroring the human brain is not the way to go! For example, when complex decisions need to be made for a child who has been abused and neglected, in order to preserve the family or find a safe and loving permanent home, the sensory-based tools of rapid predictive learning that are so accurate at recognizing faces, making sure we avoid accidents, etc., will not work.
http://www.communityscience.com/news-detail.php?news=244
US: Child Welfare System Increasingly Relying on Relatives to Raise Children Exposed to Trauma (Press release)
Generations United – September 11, 2017
Thirty percent (127,819) of children in foster care are being raised by grandparents or other relatives, a six percent increase since 2008. In the wake of the opioid epidemic, that number is even more dramatic in the states hardest hit by the opioid epidemic like Ohio, which saw a 62 percent increase in the number of children placed with relatives in foster care since 2010. For each child in foster care with a relative, there are 20 children outside of the system with a relative.
Information Gateway resource: Working With Kinship Caregivers: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/kinship.pdf
http://investor.biospace.com/biospace/news/read?GUID=34902078
US: Our State Department can continue helping the world’s orphans (Opinion) (Includes video)
Washington Examiner – September 11, 2017
In light of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to reorganize the executive branch, implement significant cuts in foreign aid, and streamline our foreign policy structures, it is important that certain issues do not get lost in the political shuffle. There is an abundance of waste in foreign aid programs, but not all spending is waste. And what emerges from this major reorganization will determine foreign policy priorities for years to come. To that end, the administration must not allow orphans and extremely vulnerable children in need of permanent families to fall by the wayside.
US: Editorial: Protect DACA beneficiaries
Minnesota Daily – September 10, 2017
DACA lets long time residents with illegal status to legally enter the job market and apply for university. DACA recipients pay taxes while becoming regular and productive members of society. Many societal and business leaders have expressed this view, including Kaler. He responded to the Trump administration’s Tuesday announcement frankly and with a heavy heart. His many concerns are shared by Minnesota students and the Minnesota Daily.
http://www.mndaily.com/article/2017/09/editorial-protect-daca-beneficiaries
US: Revamping addiction treatment for low-income drug users
Kaiser Health News – September 10, 2017
The five-year pilot project, which gives the state flexibility in its use of federal money, was approved in 2015 by the agency that oversees Medicaid. The California project officially started earlier this year. Virginia, Massachusetts and Maryland also have federal permission to expand drug treatment for Medicaid members. Other states, including West Virginia and Michigan, are seeking it.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/nation-world/national/article172388287.html
US: Has Anyone Noticed? Foster Parenting As We Know It Is Dead
Chronicle of Social Change – September 09, 2017
Today a stay-at-home parent is a concept that many children cannot even grasp. Yet the social structure of the single wage-earner, and the stay-at-home parent, is the foundation of the original idea of foster parenting. Our social structure has changed in other ways as well. People move frequently and they move great distances. Communities are less stable and fewer families know their neighbors well, if at all. Empty nesters sell the family home, often moving to a far distant location. Extended families may get together only once or twice a year and then only briefly. Rarer is the household today that enjoys strong support from neighbors and extended family.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/blogger-co-op/anyone-noticed-foster-parenting-know-dead/27916
US: Concerns About Job Corps Safety Continue in Congress
Youth Today – September 07, 2017
Roughly two years after the homicides of two students prompted a congressional review of Job Corps, federal lawmakers continue to probe for answers about safety in its training centers and its funding may be cut.
http://youthtoday.org/2017/09/concerns-about-job-corps-safety-continue-in-congress/
INTERNATIONAL
Australia: Community eyes and ears key in fight against child sexual assault (Includes video)
Border Mail – September 08, 2017
Albury council’s youth development officer Mandy Wilson said this year had seen more support agencies come on board, with 700 white balloons displayed along Dean Street businesses. “Council has been involved the past seven years and we want to send a clear message its not okay to sexually abuse kids, and that kids should feel protected,” she said.
Bangladesh: Rohingya crisis response needs to be scaled up urgently as desperation grows in Bangladesh: Save the Children
International Save the Children Alliance – September 11, 2017
Save the Children is calling on the international community to fully fund a US$77 million emergency appeal to help the newly arrived Rohingya in southern Bangladesh. Almost 300,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in the past two and a half weeks following a rapid and alarming escalation of violence in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, since August 25, including disturbing reports of hundreds of people, including children, being killed.
Dubai: Schools more alert to suspected cases of child abuse
TravelWireNews – September 11, 2017
Afra Al Basti, Director-General of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC) said schools are also seeking more awareness from the foundation since the Child Protection Law took effect in June 2016.
http://travelwirenews.com/dubai-schools-more-alert-to-suspected-cases-of-child-abuse-399999/
South Africa: The child care funding crisis: Is there life after subsidies? (Opinion)
Daily Maverick – September 08, 2017
Inadequate funding for baby homes is creating a crisis in care which may leave some children quite literally out in the cold. With government solutions inadequate or non-existent, can business-based philanthropy make the difference? This year, the much maligned CEO SleepOut™ movement took up the challenge. As some South Africans continue to contend with the model, the question may well be, if not this, then what?
AR: Governor declares programs’ successes
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette – September 09, 2017
“There have been some real advances made, without a doubt, Elliott said, referring to the state’s opening of re-entry centers for inmates. “I see the same thing about foster care. I do want to give the governor credit with taking strides and improving that situation.”
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/sep/09/governor-declares-programs-successes-20-1/
AZ: ‘It Shouldn’t Hurt to be a Child’: A closer look at nonprofits working to prevent child abuse and neglect (Includes video)
Arizona Republic – September 10, 2017
This summer, 16 Arizona nonprofits shared $425,000 in grants from the “It Shouldn’t Hurt to be a Child” specialty license plate program.
AZ: New approach to opioids in Navajo County
White Mountain Independent – September 08, 2017
To combat the epidemic, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey recently designated opioid addiction a statewide health emergency. As is so often the case with substance abuse, children are the ones who pay the highest price. Over the past two months, about 161 babies were born in Arizona exhibiting signs of drug withdrawal.
Related: Sue Smith: Arizona’s new approach to parents, children and opioids in Pima County: http://tucson.com/opinion/local/sue-smith-arizona-s-new-approach-to-parents-children-and/article_3489492d-659b-58be-8ba6-dd8bc5e93076.html
CA: A decade after settling sex abuse cases, the Diocese of San Diego still copes with the fallout (Includes video)
San Diego Union-Tribune – September 10, 2017
Ten years ago this week, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle the lawsuits filed by Lynch and 143 other adults. As children, each had been sexually assaulted by a priest or, in one case, a layman supervising altar boys. This was a landmark moment in one the largest scandals in the church’s 2,000-year-old history. From Dublin to Manila, Boston to Portland, Ore., Catholic officials were hauled into court and forced to account for shielding predatory clerics, often for decades.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/religion/sd-me-diocese-20170802-story.html
CA: Foster care: Spend money now or spend money later (Opinion)
Eureka Times-Standard – September 08, 2017
Training foster parents is critically important. Bottom line is the care of children is enormously underfunded with no view to future costs of that underfunding. Social worker training is important; a new worker destroyed my relationship with this child. Money now or money later or these children grow up and repeat what happened to them. Many of these children have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and are so damaged that a reasonably successful adoption is unlikely unless they are very young. The foster home the article featured is not, I think, typical. We get what we pay for.
http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/20170908/foster-care-spend-money-now-or-spend-money-later
DE: Smaller US Cities Struggle With High Teen Gun Violence Rates
Associated Press – September 09, 2017
The CDC recommended that agencies share information such as school truancy records, child welfare reports and emergency room visits to identify minors who need help earlier in life to avoid violence later. But after closing a $400 million budget gap through a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts, Delaware Gov. John Carney said the state doesn’t have the money to execute the CDC’s plan.
FL: Stay or go? Foster group homes make a tough call as Irma approaches
Tampa Bay Times – September 08, 2017
Almost 40 Hillsborough foster children are expected to ride out Hurricane Irma at Joshua House, a group foster home in Lutz. On Friday, they were joined by another 14 foster kids, five staffers, three family members, a dog and two cats – evacuees from another foster home in Brevard County. As Hurricane Irma moves closer to a direct strike on Florida, group foster homes across the state are weighing whether they should ride out the storm or evacuate. For officials who have to make that decision, it’s a complex calculation.
GA: Terry Tucker named CEO of Families First
Atlanta Journal And Constitution – September 08, 2017
Terry Tucker, a prominent voice in Atlanta’s nonprofit and for-profit worlds, has been named CEO of Families First. Tucker, 42, is currently chief strategy officer and general counsel with the City of Refuge. He begins his new role with the Atlanta-based in October.
http://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/terry-tucker-named-ceo-families-first/IDrxH0xFgq60Dz96GPVnjL/
IA: Attacks on homeschooling are short on facts (Includes video) (Opinion)
Des Moines Register – September 08, 2017
Iowa homeschoolers celebrated the 2013 education reform bill that passed a split legislature to reduce regulations and provide more educational freedom to families who chose to educate at home. But since then, opponents of educational freedom have been steadily making the case for its repeal by leveraging local tragedies and playing off of public distrust of homeschooling families.
KS: New United Way CEO brings real-world experiences to leadership role
Lawrence Journal-World – September 11, 2017
Jannette Taylor is bringing that worldview to Lawrence. On Monday, she will start as the new CEO of United Way of Douglas County. The local United Way board announced Taylor’s hiring in July. Erika Dvorske resigned as CEO of the United Way of Douglas County in January to become director of strategic partnerships and development with SS & C Solutions Inc. Rob Mackey has been serving as interim leader of the organization since January.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/sep/11/new-united-way-ceo-committed-making-world-better/
KY: Traumatic childhood can leave lasting scars | Lambeth (Opinion)
Louisville Courier-Journal – September 08, 2017
Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control have identified a list of ten traumatizing childhood events referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs. These can include overt abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual) as well as less immediately identifiable stressors such as neglect, guardian substance abuse, and mental illness within the household. A growing body of research confirms that these childhood events can have negative, lasting effects on an individual’s health and well-being long into adulthood, and the greater the number of ACEs to which one is exposed, the more likely one is to face serious, long-term health impacts.
MI: Sen. Casperson introduces legislation for foster parents that own firearms
Escanaba Daily Press – September 09, 2017
A policy change by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) that took effect in 2015 requires all firearms legally possessed in foster homes be locked in a gun case or stored with a trigger-lock separate from ammunition. Under this policy, firearms cannot be carried in a holster, even by someone who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, or stored in any other safe manner.
Also: Michigan: Bill Introduced to Protect Second Amendment Rights of Foster Parents: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170907/michigan-bill-introduced-to-protect-second-amendment-rights-of-foster-parents
MT: Agencies turn in 10 percent budget cut plans
Associated Press – September 08, 2017
The hardest-hit agency under the 10 percent reduction plan is the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. Bullock asked the department to find ways to trim $105 million in spending over the next two years, including in senior and long-term care, child protection services and addictive and mental disorder programs.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/business/article171988632.html
NE: DHHS Initiates Programs Aimed at Reducing Child Abuse, Neglect (Press release)
Department of Health and Human Services – September 10, 2017
Stress related to the family’s needs is all too frequently a source of tension and sometimes may result in child abuse and neglect. To help families address their worries and deter child abuse and neglect, the Children and Family Services Division (CFS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has initiated several programs to meet the needs of families and lower their stress levels.
http://krvn.com/regional-news/dhhs-initiates-programs-aimed-at-reducing-child-abuse-neglect/
NY: Back to School at a Child Welfare-Focused Charter in the Bronx
Chronicle of Social Change – September 08, 2017
Last week, a New York charter school catering to children caught up in the city’s child welfare system started the new school year with almost 100 new fifth and sixth graders.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/news-2/back-school-child-welfare-focused-charter-bronx/28077
OH: Editorial: Our child welfare laws need updating badly
WCPO – September 11, 2017
What if a loving family member – but not a parent – is ready and able to provide a safe, nurturing home for a child whose mom and dad aren’t up for the responsibilities of parenting? Does our system recognize what’s best for the children in these situations? Two recent WCPO.com stories described cases where, unfortunately, it appears that hasn’t happened. The stories pointed to a legal framework for child welfare that’s badly in need of a re-examination and updating.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/opinion/editorial-our-child-welfare-laws-need-updating-badly
OH: Being a grandparent in 2017 can be anything but retirement
Bucks County Courier Times – September 10, 2017
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of children who lived in a household maintained by a grandparent went from 2.2 million in 1970 to 3.9 million in 1997 and 5.8 million in 2014.
PA: Services for abused, neglected kids to get boost
Express – September 09, 2017
By participating, the county can improve services to abused or neglected children and their families. The initiative is designed to build on past successes, and Clinton County was chosen to participate because it is already doing well in this area, said Autumn Bower, assistant director of county Children and Youth Services.
http://www.lockhaven.com/news/local-news/2017/09/services-for-abused-neglected-kids-to-get-boost/
PA: Beth Bitler: It’s time to treat drug addiction of mothers and their babies (Opinion) (Correction)
Allentown Morning Call – September 05, 2017
Recently, state Rep. Kathy Watson, a Republican from Bucks County’s 144th District, introduced a bill that would help ensure that babies who are born dependent on controlled substances are safely cared for and receive critical medical and developmental services. The legislation would reverse a 2015 amendment to the state’s Child Protective Services Law that exempted health care providers from reporting infants born exposed to drugs when mothers were legally prescribed addictive narcotics during pregnancy. Clearly, the protection of the newborn is the most crucial of concerns, but that’s not where the concern ends.
http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-drug-addiction-infants-bitler-yv-0906-20170905-story.html
RI: Tobi’s world: How the ‘safety plan’ fell apart
Providence Journal – September 09, 2017
Child welfare experts agree that children usually do best when the family unit is preserved. Even in the most challenging cases, where family risk factors such as mental illness, drug abuse or past violence exist, reunification often remains the goal. To keep a child in a home where such risks are present, child-welfare workers may develop safety plans, sometimes relying on other live-in relatives or babysitters to watch the child and keep them safe.
Also: Tobi’s world: The infant who didn’t stand a chance: http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170908/tobis-world-part-1-infant-who-didnt-stand-chance?rssfeed=true
http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170909/tobis-world-part-2-how-safety-plan-fell-apart
TX: Harvey deals a blow to Texas’ already-struggling child welfare system (Includes audio)
Bryan-College Station Eagle – September 08, 2017
Texas’ child welfare system was already in crisis before Hurricane Harvey. Now, perhaps hundreds of foster families in Houston and along the Gulf Coast have been displaced by the storm and hundreds of child welfare workers have been unable to return to work, said the state official who oversees Child Protective Services on Friday. And state officials say flooded roads have kept caseworkers from meeting in person with some at-risk children as required by law.
Also: Top Stories: Texas Foster Care Makeover; The Arts In South Texas After Harvey: http://keranews.org/post/top-stories-texas-foster-care-makeover-arts-south-texas-after-harvey
WV: Hoops opens Child Advocacy Center
Herald-Dispatch – September 11, 2017
Cabell Huntington Hospital will officially open the Child Advocacy Center at the Hoops Family Children’s Hospitals on Tuesday, providing care to victims of abuse in a hospital setting. “We are a safe, child-friendly place for children to speak with trained professionals and medical providers,” said Angela Seay, child advocacy coordinator at the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital, in a hospital release. “We conduct a thorough evaluation of the child to identify the appropriate care and services needed.”
US: Handling Abuse in the Church
Aquila Report – September 11, 2017
Making the policy known at every new volunteer orientation is an important part of warding off would-be child predators. We have to acknowledge that all too often, churches have been the easiest place for child predators to gain unsupervised or minimally supervised access to children because of poorly enforced child protection policies.
https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2017/09/handling-abuse-church/
US: Teen pregnancies will rise if funding cuts are not reversed (Opinion)
Seattle Times – September 10, 2017
America’s physicians must advocate for comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to pregnancy prevention. This is the best way to ensure that adolescents can achieve their dreams of parenthood – when they are ready. The costs of teen pregnancy go beyond this generation. Only half of teen mothers graduate from high school, and their children are more likely to drop out of high school, be in foster care, be incarcerated as adolescents and be unemployed as adults.
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/teen-pregnancies-will-rise-if-funding-cuts-are-not-reversed/
US: ICE arrests young immigrant’s sponsor months after feds assured him he’d be safe
Santa Fe New Mexican – September 09, 2017
It had been more than 10 years since Gari, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who was living in Santa Fe, had seen his younger brother. So he was surprised earlier this year when he received a call from a federal government agency telling him his teen brother had emigrated alone from the Central American country to the Arizona-Mexico border. The boy was in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which asked Gari to take legal guardianship of his brother. At first, Gari was apprehensive because it would require him to give his personal information to a federal agency – something that virtually all unauthorized immigrants try to avoid. But Health and Human Services officials assured him in January that it wouldn’t jeopardize his own safety. The boy just needed a legal guardian as he dealt with his own immigration case, they said. Gari, 34, was arrested at his home Aug. 14 by federal immigration agents who had used his little brother as bait.
US: Calling on Congress to Do Something Grand for Grandfamilies (Opinion)
Huffington Post – September 08, 2017
The Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act would create a federal task force charged with developing a one stop shop for information designed to help grandfamilies navigate the school system, plan for their families’ future, address mental health issues, and build social and support networks. It will also issue a report to Congress about what is working and what is needed to better help the families.
Also: Child Welfare System Increasingly Relying on Relatives to Raise Children Exposed to Trauma (Press release): http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/child-welfare-system-increasingly-relying-on-relatives-to-raise-children-exposed-to-trauma-300516211.html
US: DACA: Legally, what happens now? (Includes video)
Daily Miner – September 08, 2017
For those DACA recipients who are parents of children born in the United States, both Djurisic and De La Ossa recommend having a power of attorney ready with a family member or guardian who also have legal status in the country. This would be necessary in case parents are deported.
Also: AP FACT CHECK: What the Trump administration said about DACA: http://www.wpxi.com/news/politics/a-look-at-the-facts-surrounding-obama-immigration-program/603600532
https://kdminer.com/news/2017/sep/08/daca-legally-what-happens-now/
US: News Nonprofit Fostering Media Connections Secures $100K Grant to Cover Foster Care (Press release)
Fostering Media Connections – September 08, 2017
Fostering Media Connectionshas received a $100,000 grant from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation to produce news stories on the higher education and employment of foster youth and the intersection of child welfare and technology. The Walter S. Johnson Foundation assists transition-age foster youth and other vulnerable youth to become successful adults by promoting positive change to the systems and policies that serve them.
Information Gateway resource: Resources for Youth About Permanency: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/permanency/resources/youth/
INTERNATIONAL
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Displaced children tell stories of suffering in DRC’s Kasai
UN High Commissioner for Refugees – September 08, 2017
12-year-old Felix* sits in silence, staring around the compound where he is staying. He and four other children were taken in by foster parents after they escaped the conflict in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Greece: ‘Robust action’ required to assist growing number of refugees on Greek islands – UN
UN News Centre – September 08, 2017
The United Nations refugee agency today urged “robust action” to improve conditions on Greece’s eastern Aegean islands, where the number of new refugee arrivals increased last month. “In August, there have been 3,695 sea arrivals compared to 2,249 in July,” said Cécile Pouilly, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at a press briefing in Geneva.
Also: Situation Update: Unaccompanied Children (UAC) in Greece: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/58979
Also: Overcrowding of Refugee Sites on Greek Islands Causing Distress: https://www.voanews.com/a/greek-islands-refugee-overcrowding/4021821.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57482#.WbR4dsaQyM8
International: UNICEF East Caribbean Humanitarian Situation Report, 8 September 2017
Relief Web – September 08, 2017
Based on the storm’s current trajectory, children in the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba are at risk, including over three million under five years old. UNICEF is concerned that hundreds of thousands of children could suffer the worst effects of the storm, with those living in coastal zones at highest risk.
United Kingdom: New figures show that cases of child neglect are up by 49 per cent across Hampshire
Basingstoke Gazette – September 10, 2017
New figures show that last year the NSPCC referred 297 cases of neglect in Hampshire to the police and children’s services in the county following reports of suspected child neglect. This is an increase of increase of 49 per cent – compared to 199 referrals in 2011/12 – over five years, the charity’s latest figures revealed.
http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/15524889._Child_neglect__on_the_rise/?ref=rss
United Kingdom: The Government’s Not Sure If Child Refugees Will Be Reunited With Their Families After Brexit
BuzzFeed News – September 07, 2017
The government has refused to confirm that unaccompanied child refugees will continue to be reunited with extended family members in the UK after Brexit – raising fears that many will be stranded overseas and left at risk of trafficking and abuse.
AR: Building Bridges: Center offers safe place for children
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – September 07, 2017
Bridges offers five visitation rooms, each outfitted as a family living room for comfort, as well as providing the parent an opportunity to see good parenting in a home setting. “We want it to be child centered,” Holstein said. “We think about what would a child see, what’s best for the child.”
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/sep/07/building-bridges-20170907/?f=features
AR: Next Phase Unveiled In Effort To Improve Arkansas Child Welfare System (Includes audio)
WKNO – September 07, 2017
A year after Arkansas reached an alarming record in the number of children in foster care – and the governor said the system was in crisis – the state’s top child welfare officials say significant improvements have been made. But in a meeting with reporters Wednesday, they acknowledged there’s still much more work to be done.
http://wknofm.org/post/next-phase-unveiled-effort-improve-arkansas-child-welfare-system
AZ: CarePortal adds technology to Arizona Helping Hands endeavor
Scottsdale Independent – September 07, 2017
CarePortal, an initiative of The Global Orphan Project, is now partnering with Arizona Helping Hands to meet basic needs of children in Maricopa County. Together, the two organizations will support children in foster or kinship care placements, while also helping other children remain with their biological families, according to a press release.
AZ: Foster Care: Putting Children First
Au-Authm News (AAN) (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community) – September 07, 2017
Each May, the Foster Care Program honors, reunites and celebrates their families during National Foster Care Awareness Month. But the momentum from the awareness push can’t end in May; the program works every day to encourage Community members and employees to become licensed foster care families.
http://www.srpmic-nsn.gov/community/auauthm/stories/story05.asp
CA: Our County Our Kids works to improve the foster system despite severe lack of resources
Santa Maria Sun – September 06, 2017
There are more than 400 kids rotating through the foster system each month in Santa Barbara County, but only about 175 families are accepting children. While a majority of the county’s foster children are from Santa Maria, Pennon said most fostering families, also commonly called resource families, are located in Santa Barbara. This inequity poses a threat to the program’s goal of limiting the trauma foster children experience by placing them with a resource family in their original school district.
GA: Local groups need volunteers to nurture newborns in need
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – September 07, 2017
You’ll find plenty of ways to volunteer around Atlanta, but nothing feels sweeter than spending your time helping babies. Some of Georgia’s tiniest residents need your help, and some of the local non-profit and community groups in the area know just how you can help.
IL: 4 common misperceptions about adopting – and why they shouldn’t stop you (Opinion)
Chicago Tribune – September 07, 2017
When Christine DeLoach decided to adopt, a few questions crossed her mind. Would an adoption agency be concerned that she was a single mother? What about the limited space in her small New York City apartment? Would her age matter? Along with adoption advocates, she has a message for people who want to be parents — don’t count yourself out.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/sc-fam-adoption-reasons-hard-easy-0919-story.html
IN: Problem of numbers: Children ultimate losers in understaffing of DCS (Opinion)
Journal Gazette – September 07, 2017
State law dictates caseload numbers for child protection workers. But who enforces state law? Not the Indiana Supreme Court, which ruled it can’t force the Indiana Department of Child Services to follow caseload limits. Not DCS, which argued in defending the case it can’t “wave a magic wand” and come up with the money to hire enough caseworkers. And not the Indiana General Assembly, which set the caseload limits in law but hasn’t provided enough money to meet them.
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/20170907/problem-of-numbers
KS: After boy found in concrete, ex-Wichita mayor seeks answers
Associated Press – September 07, 2017
A former Wichita mayor and gubernatorial candidate said members of his family made unsuccessful efforts to confirm the safety of his 3-year-old grandson before a body that police believe is the boy’s was found encased in concrete.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article171742402.html
MA: Audit: 80 children addicted to drugs not properly reported
Leominster Champion – September 07, 2017
State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump has released an audit of the UMass Memorial Medical Center’s compliance with mandatory reporting requirements when children are born with a physical dependence on an addictive drug, known as substance-exposed newborns. The audit found that 80 of the 456 substance-exposed births were not properly reported to the state Department of Children and Families within required timeframes, and in one of those cases, the incident was never reported. As a result of the audit, Bump has called for the hospital to improve its reporting and filing of these incidents.
http://www.leominsterchamp.com/articles/audit-80-children-addicted-to-drugs-not-properly-reported/
MI: Target 8: Dozens of child deaths not reported promptly to watchdog (Includes video)
WOOD – September 07, 2017
Michigan’s child welfare agency failed to immediately report several dozen child deaths to a state-mandated watchdog agency, as required by law. “I was surprised, definitely surprised,” Seth Persky told Target 8 in an interview at the Lansing headquarters of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which is the division that includes CPS. “These are child deaths. We don’t want to miss any child deaths, of course.”
http://woodtv.com/2017/09/07/target-8-dozens-of-child-deaths-not-reported-promptly-to-watchdog/
MO: Orvin Kimbrough, president and CEO, United Way of Greater St. Louis
St. Louis Post-Dispatch – September 08, 2017
United Way of Greater St. Louis began in 1922 as the Community Fund, organized by volunteers to raise money to help operate 40 charities. Today, the organization encourages collaboration, fundraising and volunteerism for more than 160 nonprofit organizations in Missouri and Illinois. The organization is led by president and CEO, Orvin Kimbrough. Even though his childhood was marked with challenges and tragedy, Kimbrough defied the odds and is embracing the opportunity to change the lives of many in the community.
NE: DHHS initiates programs aimed at reducing child abuse, neglect
KNOP – September 07, 2017
Stress related to the family’s needs is all too frequently a source of tension and sometimes may result in child abuse and neglect. To help families address their worries and deter child abuse and neglect, the Children and Family Services Division (CFS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has initiated several programs to meet the needs of families and lower their stress levels.
NE: Town Hall meeting with Sen. Krist Tuesday
Lincoln Journal-Star – September 07, 2017
A Town Hall meeting with state Senator Bob Krist is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 19) at Lincoln Southwest High School, 14th and Pine Lake Road. The meeting has been scheduled in response to 3% cuts to the Disabled & DHHS Regulations to Providers; including Medicaid, Child Welfare, Behavioral Health, & Developmental Disabilities.
NY: Regulations Under the New York State Paid Family Leave Benefits Law Take Effect (Press release)
K & L Gates LLP – September 07, 2017
After much anticipation, the New York State Department of Labor recently finalized the regulations accompanying the New York Paid Family Leave Benefits Law (“PFL Law”). Although the law becomes effective on January 1, 2018, employers subject to the law should start preparing accordingly. The PFL Law will cover most private employers in New York, with few exceptions, and it will provide wage replacement and job protection to employees who need time off to bond with a new child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or assist when a qualifying family member has been called to active military duty. New York State has made available on its website fact sheets for employers here and for employees here highlighting the law’s key provisions.
http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=7ab22a3a-76d2-430c-8b7e-b33a38eb7a3d
OH: Foster care spike linked to substance abuse
Akron.com – September 07, 2017
The region’s drug problems are having an effect on the littlest and most vulnerable residents – children. According to Summit County Children Services (SCCS) officials, the opioid crisis locally is presenting additional challenges to the tax-levy supported agency. “We forget there’s children left behind in the wake of this epidemic,” said Ann Ream, director of community relations for SCCS.
http://akron.com/akron-ohio-community-news.asp?aID=35209
SD: Fewer juvenile offenders behind bars in South Dakota
Associated Press – September 05, 2017
New data from the governor’s office shows that since juvenile justice reforms were implemented in 2015, the number of juvenile criminals being incarcerated has dropped more than 50 percent.
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/state/4322709-fewer-juvenile-offenders-behind-bars-south-dakota
TX: New State Law Provides Equal Protection to Foster Parents Under Family Leave Policies
Seyfarth Shaw LLP – September 07, 2017
At the state level, Texas law does not require employers to provide family leave to employees. However, a newly enacted law provides that if a Texas employer chooses to offer time off to employees to help them care for a biological or adoptive child, it must also offer the same leave to foster parents (i.e., to care for a foster child).
http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=5711715c-86e0-4b94-aae2-2997709e4c8c
VA: Dept. of Social Services Launches Campaign to Promote Safer Sleep for Infants (Press release)
Virgininia Department of Social Services – September 06, 2017
The Safe Sleep 365 campaign, which coincides with National Infant Safe Sleep Awareness Month in September and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month in October, is designed to educate parents, families and caregivers regarding the steps they can take to prevent sleep-related death in infants.
Also: Safe Sleep 365: http://dss.virginia.gov/safe_sleep/
WA: Initiative aims to return fatherhood into the fabric of family
Spokesman-Review – September 08, 2017
Hauenstein is starting a new organization, the Spokane Fatherhood Initiative, to get the church involved in finding solutions for fatherless kids like the ones he worked with at UGM. The group, called SpoFI for short, will take a three-pronged approach to care for children: recruiting more foster and adoptive parents, promoting Christian mentoring opportunities, and helping to build better fathers.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/sep/08/union-gospel-mission-aims-to-return-fatherhood-int/
WI: 400 Items Already Stopped by Marathon Co. Courthouse Security
WSAU-WAOW – September 07, 2017
Since the updated security features were installed at the Marathon County Courthouse, officials say they have stopped nearly 400 dangerous items from entering the facility. “The purpose of this is to keep weapons out of the courthouse,” said Karger. “It’s not just for the safety of the staff. It’s for the safety of our visitors, for the safety of the people who work here. It’s for everyone’s safety.” The county is now considering adding additional security to the entrances of North Central Health Care and at the Child Welfare Department.
WV: Roundtable Addresses Health Concerns of Kids Displaced by Drug Epidemic (Includes video)
WBOY – September 06, 2017
As the drug epidemic continues in West Virginia, physicians, educators, legislators and more are making sure children are not forgotten. “It has become a child welfare crisis in our state,” said Dr. John R. Phillips, President of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at WVU Medicine Children’s. “80 percent of children moved from homes are due to the drug epidemic in our state. In 2006, 970 children were removed from homes because of drug abuse. In 2016, that skyrocketed to 2,171 children.”
US: Four Things Every Foster Youth Should Know Before College (Opinion)
Chronicle of Social Change – September 07, 2017
Many people who work with the child welfare system know that only three percent of foster youth graduate from college. This means that, despite the number of youth who enroll, most do not finish.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/youth-voice/four-things-every-foster-youth-know-college/27966
US: Hatch child protection bill passes Senate committee
Deseret News – September 07, 2017
A bipartisan bill designed to improve federal child protection law sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The legislation would make permanent a pilot program that ensures that organizations serving children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities have access to FBI fingerprint background checks for their employees, volunteers and coaches.
Also: Child Protection Improvements Act Passes in the Senate Judiciary Committee (Press release) (Includes video): https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ID=0570BBC9-D208-4163-9566-B2E1AB8F6462
US: School-to-Prison Pipeline Can Be Dismantled Using Alternative Discipline Strategies (Opinion)
Youth Today – September 07, 2017
The school-to-prison pipeline refers to the streamlining of at-risk students from schools to incarceration or related correctional-type facilities that results from punitive discipline practices and criminalizing misconduct in schools. Ultimately, the school-to-prison pipeline is the consequence of zero tolerance policies that originally mandated schools to penalize students for bringing weapons and drugs onto school grounds.
US: U.S. Center for SafeSport CEO Shellie Pfohl will ‘remain fearless’ in fight against sports bullying
Excelle Sports – September 07, 2017
After years of working with the Obama administration as the executive director of the Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, Pfohl decided to take on a new role as the first CEO of the U.S. Center for SafeSport when the nonprofit launched in March. Though the organization, she wants to help all athletes experience sport and all of its benefits without the fear of bullying or abuse.
US: Why more grandparents are raising their grandchildren
Conversation – September 07, 2017
So-called “custodial grandparents” have primary responsibility for raising one or more of their grandchildren. As researchers and health and social service professionals, we know that this is a growing group of often invisible caregivers.
http://theconversation.com/why-more-grandparents-are-raising-their-grandchildren-83543
US: Evaluation by Nobel Economist Endorses Nurse Family Partnership
Chronicle of Social Change – July 24, 2017
The Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program, which provides services to new mothers from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday, positively impacts children up through the age of 12 but affects male and female children differently, according to new analysis of a decades-old study on the model.
Information Gateway resource: In-Home Services: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/supporting/inhome/
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: Supporting indigenous communities with analytics: Using big data to drive insight and better outcomes for indigenous women and girls (Press release)
Insights (SAS Canada) – September 07, 2017
SAS joined the Vulnerable Persons Project to help the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) develop an analytical approach to help identify those at the most risk. “This project is a perfect fit for SAS, a proud participant in the Data for Good movement,” said Cameron Dow, President, SAS Canada. “Using data to improve outcomes for at-risk indigenous women and children is truly a data for good story that SAS is honored to be a part of.”
Canada: ‘Children under 10 too young to take bus to school alone’
BBC News – September 06, 2017
In a post on his blog “5 Kids 1 Condo”, he wrote that he wanted to “raise capable, independent humans”. But the Ministry of Children and Family Development said it is illegal for children under 10 to be unsupervised. Mr Crook, who writes about parenting and urban living, said he wanted to teach his children that it is possible to rely on public transport instead of a car.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41178021
International: More than 10 million children live in countries threatened by Hurricane Irma (Press relase)
UNICEF Canada – September 07, 2017
More than 10.5 million children live in the countries that are likely to be exposed to the damage from Hurricane Irma, UNICEF warned today. Based on the storm’s current trajectory, children in the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba are at risk, including over three million under five years old. UNICEF is concerned that hundreds of thousands of children could suffer the worst effects of the storm, with those living in coastal zones at highest risk.
AR: 28.8% of kids in foster care now with kin
North West Arkansas Democrat Gazette – September 07, 2017
State officials over the past two years have more than doubled the percentage of children entering the foster system who are placed with a relative.
Also: DHS sees improvements in child welfare services, officials say: http://www.kait8.com/story/36306924/dhs-sees-improvements-in-child-welfare-services-officials-say
Also: DHS report shows improvements in Arkansas foster care system, worker caseload: https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2017/09/06/dhs-report-shows-significant-improvements-in-arkansas-foster-care-system-caseworker-caseload
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/sep/07/28-8-of-kids-in-foster-care-now-with-ki-1/
CA: Rising High: Los Angeles School Aimed at Disconnected Youth Expands
Chronicle of Social Change – September 06, 2017
Reid graduated in the spring with nine others in the first culminating class from Da Vinci RISE High, a new model of education for disconnected youth in foster care, those experiencing homelessness or students with other needs that schools have traditionally been ill-equipped to meet. The Los Angeles-area school expanded this fall to a second site at A Place Called Home, a South L.A. community center and social service agency.
CA: The Chainsmokers And Los Angeles Youth Network Announce Partnership To House Foster, Runaway, And Homeless Youth (Press release)
Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN) – September 05, 2017
Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN) is proud to announce a new partnership from the Grammy Award winning artist/producer duo The Chainsmokers. The donation will help fund LAYN’s services for homeless and foster youth in Los Angeles. The donation will help in the vital services including emergency shelter, transitional housing, education and job development, health and wellness, and aftercare program.
CO: Larimer County to state: You’re funding child welfare wrong
Coloradoan – September 05, 2017
Larimer County saw its state allocation drop almost $390,000 this fiscal year. Meanwhile, it posted the best record for absence of repeat maltreatment among peer counties and the lowest rates of children in congregate care or out-of-home care. “The state continues to perpetuate a model that is not the best model, according to all the evidence,” Commissioner Tom Donnelly said. “We have the best results in the state, and we’re penalized for that.”
FL: Children of the crisis: Addiction’s smallest victims (Includes video)
Click Orlando – September 06, 2017
Neonatologists at several Central Florida hospitals estimated last year, more than 300 babies were born with withdrawal symptoms caused by opioid addiction. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) happens when a pregnant mother is taking prescribed pills, heroin or even prescribed drugs in a program.
https://www.clickorlando.com/opioid-addiction/children-of-the-crisis-addictions-smallest-victims
IA: New research finds possible correlation between drug addiction, child neglect
Daily Iowan – September 07, 2017
The data, recently published online in the journal Human Brain Mapping, is on the second phase of a five-year study funded by the National Institute of Drug Use. It shows how drug use affects the way that new mothers respond to their infants’ facial expressions.
IN: Problem of numbers: Children ultimate losers in understaffing of DCS (Opinion)
Journal-Gazette – September 07, 2017
State law dictates caseload numbers for child protection workers. But who enforces state law? Not the Indiana Supreme Court, which ruled it can’t force the Indiana Department of Child Services to follow caseload limits. Not DCS, which argued in defending the case it can’t “wave a magic wand” and come up with the money to hire enough caseworkers. And not the Indiana General Assembly, which set the caseload limits in law but hasn’t provided enough money to meet them.
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/20170907/problem-of-numbers
KS: Opioid crisis sending more kids into foster care each year in Kansas City (Includes video)
KSHB – September 04, 2017
The opioid epidemic is adding to the increasing number of kids in foster care each year. More than 6,500 kids on both sides of the state line in the Kansas City metro are in the system, with thousands less licensed foster homes. “Over the last five years, there are some estimates that approximately 80 percent of children who come into care is actually a result of substance use or abuse by a parent or caretaker,” said President of Cornerstones of Care Denise Cross.
http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/opioid-crisis-sending-more-kids-into-foster-care-each-year-in-kc
MD: The Kids Count Report: Tracking Child Welfare in America (Audio)
WYPR – September 06, 2017
As more than 16 million American children currently live in poverty, our panel considers how to best meet the challenges that this most vulnerable segment of our population faces. What is the impact on academic performance? How have social policies contributed to the current predicament? Where does Maryland stand in the rankings; and how these obstacles can be overcome through effective policies and social services?
http://wypr.org/post/kids-count-report-tracking-child-welfare-america
NJ: Family Service Association launches Campaign for Change
Shore News Today – September 06, 2017
Family Service Association of South Jersey, a nonprofit agency dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals and families in the community, announced its new fundraising initiative, the Campaign for Change: “$20.17 for 2017”.
NY: Care for children no longer in family situation and with behavioral problems significant cost for county
Batavian – September 06, 2017
An ongoing expense struggle for the county’s Department of Social Services said Commissioner Eileen Kirkpatrick is the cost of supporting children in foster care, and especially those who are institutionalized because of serious behavioral problems. There are about 15 kids in institutional care, which costs the county about $225,000 per year per child.
PA: State asks county to weigh in on helping kids
Daily Item – September 06, 2017
The initiative will focus on enhancing child dependency agencies that serve abused and neglected children and their families, according to Kimberly Bathgate, spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts which along with state Supreme Court Justice Max Baer, the Office of Children and Families in the Courts, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and Office of Children, Youth and Families chose the participating counties out of 12 applicants.
Also: Child welfare workers to get additional training from state: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/child-welfare-workers-to-get-additional-training-from-state-1.2239784
TX: A New Texas Law Will Create a More Private Foster Care System (Includes audio)
Texas Standard – September 06, 2017
It was originally called Foster Care Redesign – and now that Senate Bill 11 has taken effect, it establishes a model that increasingly privatizes the foster care system.
TX: Foster Care Community “Ready” for Any Children Affected by Harvey (Includes video)
KAMC news – September 06, 2017
More than 5,000 foster children reside in the Houston and Beaumont areas hit heavily by flooding from Harvey. The foster care community here in Lubbock said they are “ready” in case any kids need to be relocated to West Texas.
US: CCHR Supports Attorneys’ Challenge to FDA’s Proposal That Would Allow Increased Electroshocking of Children and Adolescents (Press release)
Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) – September 05, 2017
The mental health watchdog, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) announced its endorsement of attorneys Jonathan Emord and Kendrick Moxon’s opposition to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposal to reduce the risk classification of the electroshock (ECT) device. The attorneys recently filed a supplement to the Citizens Petition they wrote last year to the FDA Commissioner, saying that any reclassification of the shock device would expand the use of electroshock that is already documented to cause brain damage and potentially death. Such a reclassification would mean a broader use of electroshock on children and adolescents that could endanger them, CCHR says.
INTERNATIONAL
Japan: No Place for Single Mothers
Atlantic – September 07, 2017
There is no such thing, legally, as joint custody in Japan, and women there tend to be the ones financially responsible for their children. Women usually work part-time or low-paying jobs because they had previously dropped out of the workforce to raise their children, and find it hard to get hired into well-paying, full-time jobs. And because of safety-net reforms developed over the past two decades, they can depend on little help from the state.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/09/japan-is-no-place-for-single-mothers/538743/
AR: State payroll adds 297 workers; colleges see most of fiscal year’s gain
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette – September 03, 2017
When the governor took office, he signed an executive order requiring agencies under his control to get his approval to fill vacant positions. The order “has been used as a tool to control unnecessary growth,” the governor said. “Overall, the bulk of our increase is related to the Division of Children and Family Services and the Division of Developmental Disability Services,” said Amy Webb, a department spokesman.
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/sep/03/state-payroll-adds-297-workers-in-17-20/
CA: Don’t Expect Training to Solve Shortage of Quality Foster Homes (Opinion)
Chronicle of Social Change – September 05, 2017
I can attest to the importance of receiving training in all the important knowledge about trauma, attachment and brain development that we have acquired in the past ten years. Much of this new knowledge helps explain some of the behaviors that foster parents might otherwise misinterpret as hostile or disrespectful. But I’m a bit skeptical that this legislation will achieve its grand purposes of ensuring the success of CCR, for a couple of reasons.
CA: FOCUS Program helps kids exposed to trauma
Turlock Journal – September 05, 2017
“Handle with care.” Those three small words can have a huge impact on students throughout Turlock Unified School District who may have been exposed to violence or trauma, thanks to a program that has quietly worked to help lessen the effects of traumatic experiences on children throughout Stanislaus County over the past year and a half.
http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/17/article/34991/
CO: Larimer County to state: You’re funding child welfare wrong
Coloradoan – September 05, 2017
Larimer County is asking the Colorado Department of Human Services to reconsider how it pays counties for child welfare efforts. In a letter dated Aug. 29, the Board of County Commissioners noted that its efforts, like other counties’, to keep children in need of services with their families is leading to less money from the state.
CO: September Recognized as Kinship Care Month (Press release)
Denver Human Services – September 05, 2017
Kinship care, the act of taking in children by relatives or close family friends, gets its own official recognition this month as Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock has issued a proclamation designating September as Kinship Care Month.
CO: There’s one thing that’s plentiful in Humboldt County foster care: Excuses (Opinion)
Eureka Times-Standard – September 02, 2017
The good news: This means there is no evidence that Humboldt County is a cesspool of depravity with vastly more child abuse than the rest of the state. The bad news: Humboldt County probably is far more likely than other communities to mislabel poverty as “neglect” – and then claim a high rate of “child abuse.” So Humboldt County winds up needlessly destroying families with a take-the-child-and-run approach to child welfare that has been discredited across the country. Study after study has shown that simply providing a little extra income can dramatically reduce so-called neglect. One study, released just this month, found that just increasing the minimum wage by $1 an hour reduces “neglect” by 10 percent. At least three other studies have found that 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if parents just had decent housing.
FL: M-Power program transforms homeless kids into successful adults
Pensacola News Journal – September 04, 2017
There are thousands of local students with nowhere stable to call home. They spend their nights sleeping in cars, crashing on friends’ couches or struggling to provide for themselves with minimum wage jobs. “They’re not part of the child welfare system, they’re not part of the juvenile justice system,” said Lindsey Cannon, executive director of Children’s Home Society of Florida Western Division. “These are fine kids who are truly invisible and just trying to survive on the street.”
FL: New foster-care boss gets a laundry list of what needs fixing
Miami Herald – September 03, 2017
A comprehensive examination – called a peer review – of Our Kids’ practices just conducted by the Department of Children & Families (DCF) lists a litany of ills. “I can’t rewrite the past, or people’s perception of the past, but what I can do is control what we do moving forward,” said George Sheldon, Our Kids’ CEO and president, whose previous job was managing the tumultuous child welfare system in Illinois.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article171112887.html
FL: While 50,000 Kids Adopted In Fla. Can Be Considered Success, DCF Head Has Mixed View (Includes audio)
WUSF – September 01, 2017
Over the past 15 years, about 50,000 Florida kids have been adopted so far. But, the head of the state’s child welfare system has mixed feelings on that number.
HI: Raising human trafficking awareness in Hawaii: Sept. 18 Honokaa event aims to shed light on the crime
West Hawaii Today – September 05, 2017
Human trafficking – both slave labor and the sex trade – is on the rise across the nation and Hawaii is not immune. By some measures, Hawaii is considered a hub for this heinous crime. Sex trafficking, or more specifically the selling of underage children for sexual acts, can exist in many forms. Under federal law, anyone under 18 years of age induced into commercial sex is a victim of sex trafficking regardless of whether the trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion. According to Jessica Munoz, founder of an anti-trafficking organization in Hawaii called Ho’ola Na Pua, there is no particular profile for a child sex slave. Victims can be male or female and can be very young when recruited.
IA: Extra work and no pay: How Iowa ended overtime for thousands of state workers
Des Moines Register – September 02, 2017
In all,167 job classifications, including nurses, public defenders and social workers, can now be required to work more than 40 hours a week without additional pay or comp time.
IN: The rise of ‘grandfamilies’: Opioid crisis requires more Hoosier grandparents to raise children
Kokomo Tribune – September 03, 2017
As more children are removed from their parents’ homes, more kinship placement situations arise. And grandparents or other relatives often serve as the first choice for DCS officials. In fact, over 110,000 Hoosier children under 18 live in homes where the householders are grandparents, according to 2017 statistics provided by the AARP, Children’s Defense Fund, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law and others. That constitutes 7 percent of the state’s children.
Also: Grandparents as parents: Drug epidemic has made challenging family set-up much more common: http://www.flyergroup.com/news/grandparents-as-parents/article_a2c9c1af-135c-5ffd-9b43-be72de2d8617.html
Also: FAMILIAR FACES: State child welfare organizations work to keep children with relatives: http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/familiar-faces-indiana-child-welfare-organizations-work-to-keep-more/article_dfcd29fc-8f6d-11e7-85e1-a3788103b438.html
http://www.pharostribune.com/indiana/news/article_520cbc64-59a7-5f81-950e-ff479cd0a0de.html
MA: GUEST COLUMN: We must all work to end child abuse and abortion (Opinion)
Sentinel and Enterprise – September 05, 2017
How can it be that a nation as great as ours can have an ever increasing number of child abuse cases? Some cases can be considered torture! The people who are inflicting such pain on the children are, most often, the child’s parent or other family member. This is a truth our society can no longer ignore. We, the citizens, must act to make life better for abused children just as the citizens did in 1874.
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_31275297/guest-column-we-must-all-work-end-child
MI: Column: Reverse regs on owning gun, foster care (Opinion)
Detroit News – September 03, 2017
This debate is taking center stage in Michigan where a ban on firearms in foster homes by the state Department of Health and Human Services is rightfully being challenged in court.
MO: New Moms Need Daily Addiction Help To Stay In Recovery … And Stay With Their Kids (Includes audio)
St. Louis Public Radio – September 06, 2017
For thousands of moms with opioid addiction, this is their struggle: keeping their disease under control during and after pregnancy, in order to keep their kids. If a baby is born with traces of illicit drugs in its system, Child Protective Services will likely start an investigation. That could eventually lead mothers to lose custody, if they are not receiving consistent treatment. But finding that treatment is hard. And many mothers are wary when it comes to asking for help, for fear child protective service will take their kids.
MT: New court aims to keep Native American foster kids connected to family, culture
Billings Gazette – September 05, 2017
Officials involved in Montana’s foster care system lament the shortage of homes like Littlesun’s, where Native American kids who have been removed from their parents can still grow up with family and their cultural identity intact. And they’re hoping a new specialty court in Yellowstone County will improve outcomes for all Native American kids experiencing abuse or neglect.
MT: DPHHS cuts needn’t be so painful (Opinion)
Missoulian – September 03, 2017
Identifying budget reductions is no easy task for any state agency, but when it comes to the Department of Public Health and Human Services, cuts can be especially painful. This is the agency charged with ensuring that Montana’s most vulnerable residents, and their communities, are able to live safe and healthy lives. They do this by supporting foster care, senior assistance, mental health care, addiction treatment and many other critical programs throughout the state.
NM: Foster mother sues CYFD claiming they failed to warn her about boy’s violent past
KRQE – September 05, 2017
A foster mother is suing CYFD saying they should have warned her the boy she was taking in was violent. The lawsuit claims the Children Youth and Families Department had investigated the boy several times before placing him in the woman’s home and that he had faced domestic violence charges in the past.
OH: By AG Mike Dewine
Register-Herald – September 05, 2017
Too many children in our state who are displaced by their parents’ opioid addiction “need a safe place to be.” They’re caught in the child welfare crisis that’s driven largely by Ohio’s opiate epidemic.
Also: Raising Hope: A family’s fight to do what’s best for a growing toddler amid heroin crisis: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/colerain-township/raising-hope-a-familys-fight-to-do-whats-best-for-a-growing-toddler-amid-heroin-crisis
http://www.registerherald.com/features/announcements/birthdays/14805/by-ag-mike-dewine
OH: Former foster parents plan to renovate Civil War-era orphanage into place of stability (Includes video)
Fox 19 – September 04, 2017
With more than 15,000 children in foster care in Ohio according to state officials, a Hamilton couple is working to make a difference by opening a home and community resource for foster families. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has said that about half of the children who are currently in foster care in Ohio are there because one — or both — of their parents are drug addicts. Knowing the statistics, Roxann and Daryl Gunnarson, who run a local non-profit called “New Oaks Community,” are nearing the end of their first project.
Also: Hamilton’s foster care facility ready to become county resource network: http://www.journal-news.com/news/hamilton-foster-care-facility-ready-become-county-resource-network/X3nfYZxISAMaC6hM4IbWjL/
OH: Miami Valley foster families call attention to system shortage (Includes video)
WKEF/WRGT – September 04, 2017
Half of all the kids in Ohio’s foster care system are there because one or both parents are drug addicts, according to the state, and in some counties, 100 percent of cases are drug-related.
http://abc22now.com/news/local/miami-valley-foster-families-call-attention-to-system-shortage
OH: New options coming for helping people get off public assistance
Journal-News – September 04, 2017
County Administrator Charlie Young acknowledged that the whole social services realm here needed improvement and the agency kicked it off with a complete overhaul of Children Services in 2014. The agency held a series of meetings with stakeholders and ended up making a series of changes that have resulted in fewer children being taken into custody.
OR: Union pushed hard to improve foster care (Opinion)
Register-Guard – September 04, 2017
I’ve worked at the state Department of Human Services long enough to remember when we once provided child care assistance to foster parents. I also remember watching a significant number of our best parents drop out of the system as we slowly took those funds away through a mix of budgetary and cost-cutting processes. So when our union, Service Employees International Union, joined together before the legislative session to discuss options for improving our workplace, funding to support foster parents was at the top of our list.
http://registerguard.com/rg/opinion/35902305-78/union-pushed-hardto-improve-foster-care.html.csp
PA: Budget set for Children and Youth in Carbon
Standard Speaker – September 05, 2017
Carbon County commissioners approved a $4.59 million Children and Youth needs-based plan and budget for 2018-2019 on Thursday.
http://standardspeaker.com/news/budget-set-for-children-and-youth-in-carbon-1.2238672
SC: Trump’s DACA decision leaves thousands of young South Carolina immigrants in limbo, fearful of deportation (Includes video)
Post and Courier – September 05, 2017
President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday to end DACA leaves the fate of some 787,000 undocumented youth, including about 6,400 in South Carolina, in limbo. The Trump administration will stop accepting new applications for the program and has tasked Congress with coming up with a legislative solution before the government stops renewing permits in six months. In response to the news, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson dropped his threat to sue the administration, calling the decision to rescind DACA a “victory for the rule of law and the Constitution.”
TX: Beyond Faith: How One Community Raised 70 Kids from the Texas Foster Care System
Chronicle of Social Change – September 05, 2017
Researchers say the adoptions’ successes come from the community’s deep-rooted faith, caseworkers’ hard work, and the commitment of Martin and her husband, the pastor of Bennett Chapel, W.C. Martin.
VA: The unseen victims of the opioid crisis
Northern Virginia Daily – September 04, 2017
As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage the Shenandoah Valley, the effects have trickled down to area children whose parents have fallen victim to substance abuse.
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/local-news/2017/09/the-unseen-victims-of-the-opioid-crisis/
WA: Beth Bitler: It’s time to treat drug addiction of mothers and their babies (Opinion)
Morning Call – September 05, 2017
Recently, state Rep. Kathy Watson, a Republican from Bucks County’s 144th District, introduced a bill that would help ensure that babies who are born dependent on controlled substances are safely cared for and receive critical medical and developmental services. The legislation would reverse a 2015 amendment to the state’s Child Protective Services Law that exempted health care providers from reporting infants born exposed to drugs when mothers were legally prescribed addictive narcotics during pregnancy. Clearly, the protection of the newborn is the most crucial of concerns, but that’s not where the concern ends.
http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-drug-addiction-infants-bitler-yv-0906-20170905-story.html
US: Fact Checker: The Trump administration’s claim that DACA ‘helped spur’ the 2014 surge of minors crossing the border (Includes video)
Washington Post – September 06, 2017
What is the evidence for the claim that DACA led to the surge of unaccompanied minors? Note the DACA rules above, which included arriving before Obama’s June 15, 2012, announcement, arriving with a parent and living continuously in the United States for five years. “These young people would not have qualified,” said Doris M. Meissner, who was commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service during the Bill Clinton administration and now directs the immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute.
US: Sentenced to Lose: A message from a Young Incarcerated Father (Opinion)
Huffington Post – September 05, 2017
This blog is part of a series documenting fatherhood and incarceration via Daniel Loera’s story. In many ways Daniel’s story can be seen as a success story of our juvenile justice system’s ability to support our youth. But, unfortunately his story doesn’t end with his success in overcoming mental health challenges, his own relationship to his trauma, or his ability to establish a relationship with his daughter from prison. In addition to success, he has experienced the injustice of harsh juvenile sentencing and the inability of alternative sentencing and/or clemency to provide him and his family a “safety valve” out of prison.
Information Gateway resource: Supporting Children and Families of Prisoners: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/supporting/support-services/prisoners/
INTERNATIONAL
Australia: Victoria Police launches new podcast to tackle sexual crime
ABC News Australia – September 04, 2017
Victoria Police has launched a new podcast about sexual violence, aiming to convince more victims to report their assault. The six-part series, called Unspeakable: Understanding Sexual Crime, is part of National Child Protection Week and tells true stories, featuring interviews with investigators, victims and their families.
Canada: ‘Positive step forward’: McGill pilots new bursary program for students coming from foster care
CBC News – September 04, 2017
Khan went on to help the university develop a new pilot project called the “Youth in Care Bursary,” which offers a minimum $5,000 bursary to students coming from the child welfare system for up to four years. “Anyone in Canada can apply,” she explained. “I think this is a really positive step forward.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/mcgill-foster-care-bursary-new-1.4274502
Canada: ‘Our society is broken’: what can stop Canada’s First Nations suicide epidemic? (Opinion)
Guardian (UK) – August 30, 2017
Many regard the suicide epidemic as a symptom of a much bigger and deeper-rooted issue: Canada’s systemic, long-standing neglect of its indigenous people. This is encapsulated in the ongoing impact of the country’s residential school system, which saw more than 150,000 indigenous children taken from their homes in an attempt to forcibly assimilate them into Canadian society.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Education of girls in Ituri against the weight of tradition (opinion)
Ponabana – September 04, 2017
In the Ituri province, every territory has its own reality. In this territory, many children are exploited in the fields and particularly in coffee bean plantations. The majority of girls start their studies, but after getting their Primary School Certificate, it is rare for them to go to secondary school and obtain their State Diploma. They face the phenomenon of child marriage.
http://ponabana.com/en/girls-education-ituri-tradition/
Sweden: First same-sex overseas adoption takes place in Sweden
Local Sweden – September 05, 2017
Sweden changed its legislation to allow for same-sex adoption 14 years ago, but international adoptions have long been as good as impossible because of many other countries’ more restrictive rules. But one couple have now adopted a child in Colombia, which recently changed its own rules. The two fathers were approved a year ago, and the whole process has now been carried out, reports SVT.
https://www.thelocal.se/20170905/first-international-same-sex-adoption-takes-place-in-sweden
United Kingdom: Child neglect ‘plaguing’ North Somerset as NSPCC reports ‘worrying’ rise
Weston Mercury – September 04, 2017
New figures released by the NSPCC show the children’s charity has had to deal with more cases than ever before in North Somerset, with at least one report emanating from the district every week. The charity refers five cases of child neglect to police and social services in the area every month, with 59 cases reported in the past year. This represents a five-percent increase on last-year.
AK: Agency launches abuse hotline
Alaska Dispatch News – September 02, 2017
Alaska’s child protective service agency is launching a new statewide phone hotline to deal with an ever-growing tide of reports of child abuse and neglect.
http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1735agency_launches_abuse_hotline
AK: State: More than 500 may have had info stolen in OCS data breach
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – September 01, 2017
More than 500 people may have had personal information stolen through a computer virus on two Alaska Office of Children’s Services computers, the Department of Health and Social Services reported Friday evening.
Also: Confidential Children’s Services case files may have been accessed in security breach: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2017/09/01/confidential-childrens-services-case-files-may-have-been-accessed-in-security-breach/
CA: Ben Romo: For DA Joyce Dudley, the Most Successful Crime-Fighting Programs Start at the Beginning
Noozhawk – September 04, 2017
Joyce Dudley: There’s no doubt in my mind. If you want to make a difference, if you want to reduce crime in Santa Barbara County, the most efficient and effective way to do that is to have high-quality preschool and early education programs. To me, investing in support for children 0-5 and their families is a critical part of my work, because such a network will increase our community’s collective health and safety. It’s at the core of our oath – to do the right thing for the right reason.
CA: Dear johns: Sacramento DA touts operation targeting sex trafficking financiers, but only charges one black woman
Sacramento News and Review – August 31, 2017
The Children’s Law Center, or CLC, is one of 30 organizations belonging to the Sacramento Together coalition that formed two years ago to combat human trafficking. Dabney, firm director of the CLC’s Child Welfare Law Specialists office, said the center had been discussing the need to “crack down on johns, not just victims” with county officials for months. She didn’t know about the countywide operation until she saw it reported in the news, and said that “many of us were applauding” law enforcement’s shifted focus. But when SN&R informed Dabney of the current status of the people arrested and Durenberger’s explanation, she was taken aback. “That is shocking,” she said. “And when I tell the others, I know they’ll be disheartened, too.”
https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/dear-johns-sacramento-da-touts/content?oid=24934081
CA: New tattoo remover means new clients: Human trafficking survivors (Includes video)
Mercury News – August 31, 2017
“Victims of human trafficking are literally tattooed or branded with the name of the person who has enslaved them,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez. “Not only do we need to help these people transform through new kinds of programs, we also need to help them transform physically as well.”
Also: San Jose tattoo removal program expands to include ‘branded’ victims of human trafficking (Includes video): http://www.sfgate.com/local/article/San-Jose-tattoo-removal-program-expands-to-12165630.php
CO: Advisory panel hopes to advance foster care
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel – September 04, 2017
The consultant, Public Consulting Group, wrote in its March 2016 report that a lack of communication, understanding and transparency contributed to the poor relationship the county has with foster care and kinship providers. The findings indicated foster parents in Mesa County were frustrated with the lack of communication with those who work in the system and felt they had little input in the decision-making process.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/advisory-panel-hopes-to-advance-foster-care
CO: Former Foster Youth Talk With The Lt. Governor (Includes video)
CBS 4 – September 01, 2017
As the conversation continued, the Lt. Governor addressed concerns about cuts in funding for kids in foster care. “Governor Hickenlooper has been pretty clear that whatever happens in Washington, we’re going to preserve healthcare benefits for all the people in Colorado who were covered by what we call the Affordable Care Act Expansion. So it would include people who are on Medicaid and certainly what we call CHIP, which is the children’s health program,” Lynne said.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/09/01/former-foster-lt-governor/
CT: Some lawyers say child welfare system violates parents’ rights (Opinion)
Day – September 02, 2017
For years, the state Department of Children and Families under Commissioner Joette Katz has worked to change the way it does business, removing fewer children from their homes and placing those it must take with relatives or other people they know. But advocates and lawyers say those changes don’t address a Juvenile Court system that is stacked against parents trying to keep their children. They’d like to see open court proceedings and improved legal representation for parents, among other changes.
CT: Housing For Homeless Young Adults Proposed In Manchester
Hartford Courant – September 01, 2017
Some of the homeless were living in shelters; others were on the street. Typically, these young people do not have substance abuse problems, CHR President Heather Gates said in an interview Friday. Instead, many have had troubled childhoods, either in foster care or with parents they are now estranged from, Gates said. For many reasons, they cannot make the transition into adulthood.
FL: M-Power program transforms homeless kids into successful adults
Pensacola News Journal – September 04, 2017
“They’re not part of the child welfare system, they’re not part of the juvenile justice system,” said Lindsey Cannon, executive director of Children’s Home Society of Florida Western Division. “These are fine kids who are truly invisible and just trying to survive on the street.” Too often, children like these can slip through the cracks, but CHS is working to provide these kids a safety net and help them attain stability, safety and self-sufficiency through its M-Power program.
FL: DCF Officials Review Fla. Child Welfare System, Look Ahead To Future Legislative Help (Includes audio)
WFSU – September 01, 2017
“Despite all the dedication of the folks in the room, there are those who are going to criticize the system and sometimes rightfully so,” said Carroll, at the time. “We are a system that struggles to get it right every time. But, to say, ‘we haven’t improved at all in the last 20 years,’ it’s just not right! You know? I’ve heard that lately mostly from the press, ‘how has your system changed in 20 years? How has it gotten better? In many ways, you’re worse. Well, I think that’s the farthest thing from the truth.”
FL: First Star Academy at UM supports foster care youth
Miami’s Community Newspapers – September 01, 2017
Trust comes painstakingly slow for many foster care youth. Those who spend their childhoods tossed from family to family as they tumble through “the system,” often are left wondering where “home” will be tomorrow. Yet for the 20 rising ninth-graders in foster care that comprise the first cohort of the First Star Academy of the University of Miami, “home” was the University’s Coral Gables campus for five weeks this summer. And trust – together with math, language arts, science and life skills – was the focus of their learning as part of this national model that provides a pathway to college for foster care youth.
http://communitynewspapers.com/coralgables/first-star-academy-at-um-supports-foster-care-youth/
IA: 30th Safe Haven Baby Now Awaiting Adoption
WHOTV – September 01, 2017
For the 30th time in the last 16 years an Iowa baby has been given up under the state’s Safe Haven Law.
http://whotv.com/2017/09/01/30th-safe-haven-baby-now-awaiting-adoption/
IA: Group Works to Promote Adoption as Positive Parenting Option (Includes video)
WHO-TV – August 31, 2017
A group called Iowans for Adoption promotes adoption as a positive parenting option.Executive Director Diana Baltimore said, “With the recent issues involving foster care, foster to adopt in Iowa, we’ve been working with individuals across the state to hopefully figure out ways we can help.”
http://whotv.com/2017/08/31/group-works-to-promote-adoption-as-positive-parenting-option/
IN: Grandparents as parents
Kokomo Tribune – September 02, 2017
Indiana drug epidemic has made challenging family set-up much more common.
IN: ‘The system failed us’: Noblesville mom sues after 1-year-old found dead in car seat (Includes video)
Indianapolis Star – August 31, 2017
Major’s mother, Amanda Tanner, recently filed a lawsuit against the driver and Lifeline Youth and Family Services, the DCS contractor that transported the child from his mother to his father. The suit claims the driver was “grossly negligent” when she placed Major in a car seat and failed to monitor him and ensure his safety during the drive from Noblesville to Indianapolis. The lawsuit also accuses Lifeline of failing to properly train and supervise the driver.
KS: Kobach outlines plan to downsize state government through attrition
Lawrence Journal-World – September 03, 2017
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has outlined a plan to dramatically reduce the size of government through attrition by not replacing baby-boom generation workers who retire, an idea that his critics say could endanger critical services for children and the elderly. Outside of higher education, though, Choromanski said there are a number of state agencies and programs that are already suffering from critical staff shortages. Among those, he said, is the Department for Children and Families, whose employees respond to reports of abuse and neglect against children and the elderly, and who oversee children in the state’s foster care system.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/sep/03/kobach-outlines-plan-downsize-state-government-thr/
MD: For county’s homeless students, start of school brings mix of benefits and challenges
Frederick News-Post – September 02, 2017
The family spent their nights on temporary cots in Beth Sholom Congregation’s Sunday School building, the host site for this week’s family shelter residents. During the day, they juggled trips to other service agencies with school enrollment requirements, resting in between appointments at the daytime resource center on West All Saints Street.
MN: Former Cook County human services director charged with child abuse
Duluth News Tribune – September 01, 2017
Former public health and human services director Joshua David Beck, 40, was charged last month in State District Court with multiple felony and gross misdemeanor charges stemming from allegations of abuse toward two children.
MN: Rosenblum: Minnesotans who ‘age out’ of foster care can still find help with life skills
Star Tribune – September 01, 2017
They come to her short on trust for most adults. A few have grown up in more than a dozen foster homes (one was in 30), sometimes forced to move their worldly possessions in a matter of hours. Some have suffered abuse and neglect, struggled with chemical dependency, lashed out, lost faith in themselves.
MN: An opportunity to help foster care kids (Opinion)
Minn Post – August 31, 2017
After a child is adopted, states and corresponding agencies are no longer held accountable for that child, and no data is recorded for former foster care recipients. The state does not know if they made a good choice with my adoption. They do not know that I graduated high school, that I went to college and became a teacher. They also do not know that, as with many foster care alumni, my brother’s outcomes were far less positive. We now have an opportunity to correct these failings by making good on the potential of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2017/08/minnesota-has-opportunity-help-foster-care-kids
MO: Opioid crisis strains KC foster care system (Includes video)
KSHB – September 04, 2017
Kristy Blagg sees the increasing effects of the opioid crisis on the foster care system. “At times it’s almost criminal what they’re going through,” she said. “They’re getting moved and aren’t getting their essential needs met. And that’s why they’re getting removed in the first place. So that’s why it’s such a huge problem and why we need people to foster.”
http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/opioid-crisis-sending-more-kids-into-foster-care-each-year-in-kc
MO: State Supreme Court to consider how losing parental rights in the past should impact the future (Includes audio)
St. Louis Public Radio – September 04, 2017
The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on whether the state can determine that a mother is unfit because a court has previously terminated her right to parent other children.
MO: $25-Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Killing of 7-Year-Old Adrian Jones, Who Was Tortured and Fed to Pigs
KTLA – September 01, 2017
Family members of Adrian Jones, a 7-year-old boy who was fed to pigs after being killed by his father and stepmother, have filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against social service workers in Kansas and Missouri, KTLA sister station WDAF in Kansas City reported Friday.
Also: Lawsuit: Kansas DCF failed to protect 7-year-old who was fed to pigs: http://cjonline.com/news/crime-courts/state-government/2017-08-31/lawsuit-kansas-dcf-failed-protect-7-year-old-who-was
Also: Relatives of abused Kansas boy sue social workers in two states: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/relatives-of-abused-kansas-boy-sue-social-workers-in-two-states/
Also: Family of Adrian Jones sues Missouri social workers: http://www.kwch.com/content/news/KC-man-admits-to-killing-son-417846773.html
NH: New children’s services commission behind schedule, but first meeting now set for Sept. 14
WMUR – September 01, 2017
Although it is behind schedule, a new oversight commission to guide the state’s reorganization of child protective services has been almost fully established and its first meeting has been scheduled for mid-September.
NM: Second sect leader accused of child abuse
Associated Press – September 01, 2017
Another leader of a New Mexico paramilitary religious sect rocked by child sexual abuse allegations was arrested Wednesday, making him the ninth member facing charges in connection with a widespread investigation.
NY: Avella and Hevesi Bill Expanding Protections for New York’s Foster Children Passes Legislature (Press release)
Epoch Times – September 04, 2017
As the New York State Legislature’s 2017 Legislative Session came to an end in June, a piece of legislation (S4833-A/A7554-A) introduced by Senator Tony Avella (S.D. 11) and Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi (A.D. 28) to amend the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGAP) to expand the definition of “relative guardian” to include additional adults with close relationships to the foster child unanimously passed both the Senate and Assembly.
Also: Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi rips Gov. Cuomo for ‘disingenuous’ spending cap that he says is ‘shortsighted’ and hurts the poor: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/hevesi-rips-cuomo-2-cap-spending-hurts-poor-article-1.3468352
NY: Drug overdose deaths accelerated in 2016
New York Times – September 02, 2017
Drug overdoses killed roughly 64,000 people in the United States last year, according to the first governmental account of nationwide drug deaths to cover all of 2016. Communities say their budgets are being strained by the additional needs – for increased police and medical care, for widespread naloxone distribution, and for a stronger foster care system that can handle the swelling number of neglected or orphaned children.
NY: Fostering has benefits for parents and children
Daily News – September 02, 2017
If “foster care” has a bad reputation, it’s not because of the kids. If anything, it’s because there aren’t enough good foster homes to care for the innocents caught up in family crisis.
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn06/fostering-has-benefits-for-parents-and-children-20170902
OH: Foster care crisis due to opioid epidemic
News-Herald – September 04, 2017
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is urging Ohioans to consider becoming foster parents. DeWine expressed the need for foster families has dramatically increased because of the opioid epidemic, according to an Aug. 24 news release from his office.
http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20170904/ohio-in-foster-care-crisis-due-to-opioid-epidemic
OH: Hancock County commissioners allocate additional funds
Findlay Courier – September 01, 2017
The opioid epidemic in Hancock County continues to stretch the county budget. The commissioners on Thursday approved about $190,500 in additional appropriations to cover attorney fees for indigent individuals ($80,000), Job and Family Services for foster care ($100,000), and Children’s Services ($10,500).
http://thecourier.com/local-news/2017/09/01/additional-funding-allocated/
OH: I-Team: Local hospitals detect hundreds of opiate-dependent newborns each year
WCPO – August 31, 2017
Hopkins and her daughter were tested as part of a universal drug screening program for newborns. Nearly a dozen hospitals use the program. Since 2013, the program has identified hundreds of opiate-dependent babies.
OK: Understanding trauma and dysfunction to break abuse cycle
Muskogee Phoenix – September 02, 2017
All organizations that serve youth need to be trauma informed, said Hillary McQueen, executive director of Kids’ Space. “We’re taking an innovative approach in our advocacy for the child that’s been in trauma and dysfunction by helping the parents to understand the importance of breaking the cycle of dysfunction, abuse and neglect,” McQueen said.
OR: State pays $7 million after preschoolers starved by foster parents
Oregonian – September 03, 2017
The settlement is among Oregon’s largest for wrongdoing by a state agency but short of the record, a $15 million settlement by the Department of Human Services in 2015. That lawsuit was filed on behalf of nine infants and toddlers abused by a Salem foster father.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/oregon_agrees_to_pay_7_million.html
PA: Recovery Town: Washington’s opioid epidemic
Observer-Reporter – September 03, 2017
In August 2015, Washington County gained widespread attention when 25 people overdosed in two days. Like the rest of the country, Washington continues to deal with the effects of the opioid epidemic – among them, an increasing need for foster care for the children of addicts, crime and death.
http://www.observer-reporter.com/20170903/recovery_town_washingtonx2019s_opioid_epidemic
PA: Group Aims to Put up Homeless Families in Churches
Associated Press – September 02, 2017
The group is the core of Family Promise of Lehigh County, a fledgling chapter of a national organization that unites denominations in an ecumenical charge against what is known as conditional homelessness – the kind that afflicts people who find themselves out of work and broke, living an unhappy nomadic existence in cars or bouncing among the cheapest and seediest motels.
TN: & VA: Officials consider current laws inadequate to curb opioid crisis (Includes video)
Bristol Herald Courier – September 05, 2017
In Tennessee, a law that did allow mothers to be charged was in effect for two years until lawmakers allowed it to sunset in July 2016. Prosecutors had the option of charging a woman with assault if she used narcotics illegally while she was pregnant, resulting in harm to her baby. The other option was to complete a drug treatment program. Medical providers argued that the law discouraged pregnant women who were addicted to drugs from receiving prenatal care. Some investigators who had arrest warrants in hand had to drop them when the law sunset.
Also: New Tennessee law needed to protect abused children (Opinion): http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/columnists/2017/09/01/new-tennessee-law-needed-protect-abused-children/620066001/
TN: Adults in State must report sexual abuse: No ifs, ands or buts (Opinion) (Includes video)
Tennessean – August 31, 2017
If sexual assaults in schools are not being reported, regardless of how many or how few, that is a problem that must be solved now. By law all Tennessee adults are mandatory reporters of known or suspected child sex abuse.
TX: Boys Ranch Offering Helping Hand to Child Victims of Hurricane Harvey (Includes video) (Press release)
My High Plains – September 01, 2017
Boys Ranch is offering a helping-hand to child victims of Hurricane Harvey. Cal Farley’s has reached out to Child Protective Services to offer temporary homes to displaced children.
TX: Influential (and Wonky) Texas Laws Going into Effect September 1 (Opinion)
San Antonio Current – September 01, 2017
It’s no secret Texas has underserved foster children in the state’s care, and that issue took priority when lawmakers crafted House Bill 4, a Child Protective Services reform bill that provided extra funding to relatives or caregivers fostering children based on their family income. But the legislature also passed a law allowing privately owned child welfare providers to deny services based on religious beliefs – under House Bill 3859, private foster organizations are allowed to refuse to place children with people who don’t align with the organization’s religious beliefs.
Also: New law day in Texas: Nearly 700 bills take effect Friday: http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/New-law-day-in-Texas-More-than-700-bills-take-12165720.php
TX: San Antonio ramps efforts to raise funds for displaced foster children and families
San Antonio Express-News – August 31, 2017
Though the city doesn’t know how many foster children and families will come to San Antonio yet, they’re raising funds and asking for donations of toiletries, school supplies, bed sheets, blankets and other items. “No donation is too small. We are ready to serve those children from coastal areas that need help. We can’t even anticipate some of the issues that come up, but we stand ready,” said Patricia Camacho with the Bexar County Child Welfare Board.
UT: Op-ed: Fix Utah law to protect ‘free-range’ parenting
Deseret News – August 30, 2017
n July 2013, Natasha Felix let her kids – then ages 11, 9 and 5 – play at the park adjacent to her apartment building, peering at them every 10 minutes from her window to ensure things were OK. A passer-by saw them playing without apparent parental supervision and called a government hotline. Soon a caseworker was at Natasha’s door, informing her she was under investigation for child abuse and neglect. She was cited for child neglect based on “inadequate supervision,” a charge that landed her on the Illinois Child Abuse Registry.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865687827/Op-ed-Fix-Utah-law-to-protect-free-range-parenting.html
US: Indian Country Today Media Network To Cease Active Operations
Indian Country Today Media Network – September 04, 2017
As of today, September 4, 2017, Indian Country Today Media Network, publisher of Indian Country magazine and IndianCountryMediaNetwork.com, is taking a hiatus to consider alternative business models. Over the last few years, ICTMN has aggressively covered the critical issues facing Indian Country-and has done so in ways that have empowered Natives to tell our unique stories from our perspective. We reported extensively on challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act with a series of stories spanning several high-profile cases; produced human-interest stories and analysis of the latest studies regarding Intergenerational Trauma …
US: How Changes In Country Policy Affect International Adoption
Adoption.com – September 02, 2017
A look at the top 5 intercountry adoption nations from 2004-2016.
https://adoption.com/how-changes-in-country-policy-affect-international-adoption
US: Medicaid crucial in lives of adopted kids with disabilities
Island Packet – September 02, 2017
The life the Betzers have built would be impossible without Medicaid. “It allows them to go to school, because Medicaid pays for the supports they have at school, special technicians who get them through the day,” Tina said. “It pays for their therapies. It helps pay for surgeries, and we have a lot of surgeries.” Medicaid also pays for a job coach, which allows Breann to work.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/health-care/article170468607.html
US: This Is What The Foster Care System Is Like For Muslims
BuzzFeed News – September 02, 2017
His grandmother had been a practicing Muslim, although his mother hadn’t, but none of the three foster families that he was placed with were Muslim, so he had no Muslim friends and his background seemed alien to him as he grew up. “It was what I was exposed to. I didn’t know any Muslims personally, none of my friends were Muslims, none of the people I was close to was Muslim.” “The only interaction I had with Muslims was watching the news or reading what was in the newspaper,” says Zekeria.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/aishagani/muslim-foster-groups-discrimination
US: Adoption through foster care on the rise: ‘Every child deserves a childhood’
Yahoo News – September 01, 2017
As of 2015, about 450,000 children were living in foster care in the United States, and more than 110,000 others were waiting to be placed in foster care, according to a report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). About 20,000 will age out by 21 (plus others in states where the age is 18) and leave the foster care system without being adopted, putting them at about a 50 percent greater risk of homelessness and a 25 percent greater risk of addiction when compared with children who grew up in stable homes. Men are also at a 40 percent greater risk of incarceration when they’ve aged out of the foster care system, according to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/adoption-foster-care-rise-u-s-124148502.html
US: Trump’s MS-13 crackdown: Going after suspected gang members for immigration violations
Washington Post – August 31, 2017
Over the past four years, more than 170,000 of these children have been detained at the border and reunited with family members in the United States by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Since Trump took office, ICE has begun administratively rearresting some of these unaccompanied minors, often shortly after they turn 18, or “age out” of the ORR program. In many cases, ICE claims they have joined MS-13.
INTERNATIONAL
Afghanistan: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Violence and Harmful Practices Against Children in Afghanistan: A baseline study
Save the Children (SCI) – September 01, 2017
Since 2012, Save the Children (SCI) has been working with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) on a Holistic Child Protection Programme in Afghanistan. A key component of the program has focused on child protection systems strengthening, in coordination with the Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD). The overall objective of the present initiative is to strengthen child protection prevention initiatives and quality access to child protection response services to reduce instances of violence, exploitation, and neglect of children.
Australia: ‘How can this happen?’: Kids living in squalor despite supervision of SA child protection
ABC News Australia – September 04, 2017
An Adelaide magistrate has questioned how children under the supervision of South Australia’s Department for Child Protection were left to live in squalor with their father. The father was sentenced in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court over the “rancid” and “putrid” living conditions at his Housing Trust home where his children stayed.
Australia: Survey finds adults are unaware of child abuse signs or how to report it
Bendigo Advertiser – September 03, 2017
A study has found one third of Australians surveyed would not immediately tell someone if they thought a child was being abused or neglected.
Australia: Editorial: Adoption ban on overweight parents discriminatory
Courier-Mail – September 02, 2017
Our story today on how some Australians are being denied the opportunity to adopt children because they are too fat is not only disturbing but discriminatory. There’s even a case study of a 25-year-old woman who was told she could not adopt because her BMI was too high, despite having run three triathlons in the year prior and regularly attending the gym.
Canada: More supports for women needed to combat human trafficking
Regina Leader-Post – August 31, 2017
The consensus reached at this month’s Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting is that more resources are needed to help women and underage girls who are the victims of human trafficking in Regina and across the province. With the introduction of Bill C-36 in 2015, Regina police have shifted their efforts to targeting the men seeking the services of sex workers, rather than the women themselves.
http://leaderpost.com/storyline/more-supports-for-women-needed-to-combat-human-trafficking
India: SC directs disaster management body to constitute child protection cell
Business Standard – September 05, 2017
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to constitute a ‘child protection cell’ for the child disaster victims.
CA: State Looks to Help Out-of-County Foster Youth
Chronicle of Social Change – August 31, 2017
After the state passed two laws last year addressing the needs of “out-of-county” foster youth, California has rolled out new rules to support them, including better access to mental health services.
https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/news-2/california-looks-help-county-foster-youth/27993
IN: Caseworkers Looking for Relief Won’t Get It From Indiana’s Supreme Court (Opinion)
Governing – August 31, 2017
The Indiana Supreme Court said it cannot force the Indiana Department of Child Services to comply with caseload limits – even though those limits are required by law. The decision stems from a suit brought by a DCS family case manager, who argued she and other workers were handling heavy workloads that put children at risk.
KS: UG Commission sends youth home proposal back to Planning Commission after neighbors protest
Wyandotte Daily – September 01, 2017
A special use permit for a youth home at 63rd and Leavenworth Road was sent back to the Planning Commission for more work on a unanimous vote after neighbors protested at the UG Commission meeting Thursday night. Several neighbors and the Leavenworth Road Association appeared in opposition to the youth home, called Avery’s Village, and they filed a valid protest petition.
KS: & MO: Lawsuit: Department for Children and Families failed to protect Adrian Jones
Topeka Capital-Journal – August 31, 2017
The family of Adrian Jones – the 7-year-old boy who suffered brutal abuse and whose remains were found in a pigsty in 2015 – has filed a lawsuit against several defendants, including the Kansas Department for Children and Families. “Unlike many other abused and neglected children whose abuse occurs under a veil of darkness and secrecy, A.J.’s mistreatment was the repeated subject of a seemingly endless series of reports and hotline calls to social workers and social service agencies in both Kansas and Missouri,” the lawsuit reads.
Also: Kansas boy’s relatives sue Kansas, Missouri social workers: http://www.therepublic.com/2017/08/31/us-boy-killed-abuse/
KS: Christie Appelhanz: Task force must focus on abuse and neglect prevention
Topeka Capital-Journal – August 31, 2017
Legislation establishing Kansas’ new child welfare task force missed a critical piece of the puzzle. We urge task force members to widen their focus to include child abuse and neglect prevention.
MI: Turn Around Café helps teens improve their lives
Michigan Chronicale – August 31, 2017
Cynthia Smith, CEO of Assured Family Services selects individuals for various jobs based on referrals from Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice and the Wayne County Jail. The young people participate in 10 days of intense training which includes instruction on work relationships, team building, communication, hygiene, and timeliness. There are also sessions about money management, budgeting, and opening a savings account so that they can have their own bank debit cards.
https://michronicleonline.com/2017/08/31/turn-around-cafe-helps-teens-improve-their-lives/
MN: State has an opportunity to help foster care kids (Opinion)
MinnPost – August 31, 2017
After a child is adopted, states and corresponding agencies are no longer held accountable for that child, and no data is recorded for former foster care recipients. The state does not know if they made a good choice with my adoption. They do not know that I graduated high school, that I went to college and became a teacher. They also do not know that, as with many foster care alumni, my brother’s outcomes were far less positive. We now have an opportunity to correct these failings by making good on the potential of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2017/08/minnesota-has-opportunity-help-foster-care-kids
MS: David Ishee appointed to Mississippi Supreme Court
Mississippi Business Journal – August 31, 2017
Gov. Phil Bryant announced today that he has appointed Judge David M. Ishee to the Mississippi Supreme Court. At the age of 29, in 1993, he was appointed municipal court judge for the city of Pascagoula, making him the youngest municipal court judge in Mississippi. He was re-appointed for a second term in 1996. During this time, he also served one year as interim municipal court judge for the city of Ocean Springs, and was judge pro tem for the Jackson County Youth Court, where he presided over numerous child custody hearings as well as hearings involving abused and delinquent children.
http://msbusiness.com/2017/08/david-ishee-appointed-mississippi-supreme-court/
NE: What schools are doing about rising truancy numbers (Includes video)
KMTV – August 31, 2017
Community organizations, county groups, and schools across the metro are coming together to combat increasing numbers of truancy cases. In Douglas County alone, truancy numbers are up consistently over the past three years. From 961 cases during 2014-2015; 1243 cases from 2015-2016; and 1436 cases from 2016-2017.
http://www.3newsnow.com/news/education/what-schools-are-doing-about-rising-truancy-numbers
OH: Greene County in need of additional foster families
Xenia Daily Gazette – August 31, 2017
Greene County Children’s Services has seen a 22 percent increase in new children services cases from 2015 through 2016 in addition to a 65 percent increase in children being placed – but only 51 licensed foster homes.
http://www.xeniagazette.com/news/20868/greene-county-in-need-of-additional-foster-families
OR: Volunteers sought for foster care Citizen Review Board
Blue Mountain Eagle – August 31, 2017
Volunteers are needed to serve on the Citizen Review Board to review the cases of children who are in foster care. Citizen Review Board volunteers are court-appointed, trained and meet on a Tuesday every other month to provide case review and a citizen voice to the cases of children/families in foster care.
TX: After Harvey: Displaced Foster Care Populations Find Friends in SA
Rivard Report – August 31, 2017
Children in foster care in the greater Houston area are again finding themselves displaced as flood waters have wiped out around 50,000 homes and continue to devastate residences, businesses, and organizations. As evacuation efforts continue, the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) remains responsible for children in residential and congregate care facilities, those in foster homes or with relative caregivers, and those who are still in the custody of their parents.
Also: San Antonio ramps efforts to raise funds for displaced foster children and families: http://www.lmtonline.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-ramps-efforts-to-raise-funds-for-12165797.php?ipid=hptexas
https://therivardreport.com/after-harvey-displaced-foster-care-populations-find-friends-in-sa/
WA: Legislators Work Out, And Work Together, To Get Bills Passed
Indian Country Today – August 31, 2017
House Bill 1661 created the Department of Children, Youth and Families. The new department takes over responsibility for early learning from the Department of Early Learning, and child welfare programs and juvenile justice programs from the Department of Social and Health Services.
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/politics/legislators-work-work-together-get-bills-passed/
WV: Foster Parents Are Rescuing Children
Intelligencer – September 01, 2017
Amid the devastation wrought by the substance abuse epidemic that has swept across Appalachia, truly innocent victims -children – are adrift in a world where parents are being arrested, or dying, and other family members are often unable to take them in because addiction has poisoned the entire family.
http://www.theintelligencer.net/opinion/editorials/2017/09/foster-parents-are-rescuing-children/
WV: Arrival of KVC Health Systems is recognized
Fayette Tribune – August 31, 2017
Through a 25-year lease-purchase agreement, KVC took possession of WVU Tech in July 2017. Recent and ongoing improvements to the Montgomery campus have sparked positive conversations in the community, officials said. Based on research and its own experience as a foster care provider and mental health organization, KVC recognized the need of this particular segment of young adults to have a new opportunity for a transition to successful, fulfilling lives.
US: ABA opposes legislation that could endanger unaccompanied immigrant children (Opinion)
ABA Journal – September 01, 2017
The ABA is opposing federal legislation that it maintains would strip critical legal and other protections from unaccompanied immigrant children at the U.S. border and undermine the fairness and integrity of the nation’s immigration system. Contrary to the bill’s title, the Protection of Children Act of 2017 would “eviscerate” the current protections that “recognize the particular vulnerability and needs of these children,” Thomas M. Susman, the ABA Governmental Affairs Office director, wrote to the House Judiciary Committee in June.
Information Gateway resource: Working With Youth who are Immigrants and Refugees: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/diverse-populations/immigration/youth/
US: What It Takes to Be a Leader: Advice From People at the Top
Chronicle of Philanthropy – August 31, 2017
Though Sixto Cancel (July) is only 25 years old, he is wielding enormous influence as head of Think of Us, a nonprofit using technology to help young people as they age out of the foster system. “He’s like the Mark Zuckerberg of child welfare,” says Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez, director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative and a Think of Us board member.
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/What-It-Takes-to-Be-a-Leader/241059
INTERNATIONAL
Bangladesh: UNICEF scaling up its emergency response in Bangladesh (Press release)
UNICEF – August 31, 2017
UNICEF with partners are scaling up the emergency response in the flood-affected northern and central parts of Bangladesh. UNICEF is also providing urgent support in Cox’s Bazar district with the recent influx of Rohingya children and their families. Children are the hardest hit and require the support to survive and outlive the physical and mental trauma of flood and displacement.
https://www.unicef.org/media/media_100718.html
United Kingdom: Health prospects of children in care look worse than for anyone else
Medical Xpress – August 31, 2017
Nearly 95,000 British youngsters live in such arrangements, which is not far off one in 100. We know that their life chances are not as good as they should be. In the words of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children: “As a result of their experiences both before and during care, looked after children are at greater risk than their peers.”
Also: Study: Inequalities in the dental health needs and access to dental services among looked after children in Scotland: a population data linkage study: http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2017/08/18/archdischild-2016-312389
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-health-prospects-children-worse.html