Child Welfare News Archive

The following links to selected national new stories were obtained through a Google News search using key terms such as "child welfare" and "child abuse and neglect." The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement assumes no responsibility for the content of the posted news links. If you find inaccuracies in the news articles, we recommend that you contact the author or the local news sources.

Note: After a given period of time, some of the links may no longer work as the news story becomes outdated or may require you to subscribe to the given news source in order to read an article.

National Child Welfare News Clippings (9/26/2008 - 10/3/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Beebe Revisits Support of Foster Care Plan
MyFox Memphis, TN – Oct 3, 2008
The Child Welfare Licensing Agency Review Board, which sets minimum licensing standards for placement agencies, also has a requirement that "in a two-parent ...

Older Children Abandoned Under Law for Babies
BlueRidgeNow.com, NC - Oct 3, 2008
Mark Courtney, an expert on child welfare at the University of Washington , said that what happened in Nebraska “would happen in any state. ...

Extended families Hard times complicate recruiting of foster parents
Worcester Telegram, MA - Oct 3, 2008
A veteran of 15 years in child welfare, Penny Esser has never weathered a tougher climate for the work to which she’s so devoted — recruiting foster parents ...

Vouchers benefit foster children
Washington Times, DC - Oct 1, 2008
Child-welfare professionals recognize that, even when they extricate children from deeply troubled home situations and place them in protective, ...

Sheldon named head of Florida child welfare agency
Florida Times-Union, FL - Sep 30, 2008
Child welfare Secretary George Sheldon can take the interim out of his title. Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday that Sheldon will lead the Department of ...

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Improve California ...
Imperial Valley News, CA - Sep 29, 2008
... to the alternative foster care programs for youth in need of additional support, and provides for the continuation of federal child welfare funding. ...

Custody hearings begin for girls removed from religious compound
KTBS ,  LA  - Sep 26, 2008
State child welfare workers said they have working to verify the identities of each girls and their parents. AP contributed to this report.

Governor seeks safe homes, education, health care for children
Wisconsin Dells Events, WI - Sep 26, 2008
Some of the topics covered were Indian child welfare issues, the disproportion number of children of color in the state's child welfare system and effective ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (9/19/2008 - 9/26/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Foster care settlement will improve system, experts say
MLive.com, MI - Sep 26, 2008
Ahmed, the department director, said, "There have been tremendous changes in the child welfare system over the past 10 months. All steps are being taken in ...

Ohio DJFS To Cut Jobs
Wheeling News Register, WV - Sep 25, 2008
CLAIRSVILLE - Money for adoption, Medicaid and child welfare programs is on the chopping block as the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services seeks to ...

Custody hearings to be held for girls removed from church compound
KTBS, LA - Sep 25, 2008
Hearings will be held Friday and Monday on whether Arkansas child-welfare officials will retain temporary custody of six girls taken from the Tony Alamo ...

Former foster children helping Fla. learn lessons
Bradenton Herald,  United States  - Sep 25, 2008
I wanted nothing to do with the child welfare system. Once I got out of it, I'm out of it.' But we're finding a little different attitude now, which is good ...

CFK PolicyWatch: What Adults Who Care About Kids are Cheering—and ...
Connect For Kids, DC - Sep 24, 2008
Also worth cheering: On September 22, Congress passed the most significant reform to the national child welfare and foster care system in more than a decade ...

CPS program brings together birth and foster parents
Prescott Daily Courier, AZ - Sep 22, 2008
CPS District III Program Manager Gary Arnold said Family to Family lets parents, foster parents and other child welfare representatives get involved ...

Western Michigan University helps ex-foster kids with college
Detroit Free Press,  United States  - Sep 22, 2008
But more important for a group of young men and women who have spent much of their lives herded by an impersonal child welfare system, there is a ready-made ...

Transitional Home Will Help Those Leaving Foster Care
MyMotherLode.com, CA - Sep 20, 2008
Child Welfare Services Program Manager Linda Downey says this type of home is needed, due to some unfortunate statistics. “In Tuolumne County , approximately ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (9/12/2008 - 9/19/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Nixzmary Brown's last words open mother's murder trial
New York Daily News, NY – Sep 19, 2008
Her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, was found guilty last year of manslaughter in a case that led to massive reform at the city's child-welfare agency. ...

Would-be Parents Frustrated by DC's Adoption System
WJLA ,  DC  – Sep 18, 2008
Child welfare advocates demanded the court intervene, saying the system is broken. They point to the statistics, indicating the number of adoptions in the ...

DHS Loses Files; Citizen Finds Them
KSBI 52, OK - Sep 18, 2008
"The materials that were in her personal files were a lot of training materials that we use in our child welfare academy. We use real documents with ...

BREAKING NEWS: CPS reports mother violated court restrictions
San Angelo Standard-Times, TX - Sep 18, 2008
By Paul A. Anthony (Contact) The polygamous-sect matriarch whose husband led the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County has been uncooperative with child-welfare ...

Foster care in Erie making strides
GoErie.com, PA - Sep 17, 2008
Benso also recommended that child-welfare agencies address underlying problems that cause children to end up in foster care. Substance abuse is a major ...

CWLA Hails House Passage of Historic Child Welfare Bill
MarketWatch - Sep 17, 2008
ARLINGTON , Va. , Sept 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Today the House of Representatives passed historic child welfare reform legislation ...

Panel to focus on state's foster care system
Arkansas News, AR - Sep 15, 2008
John Zalenski, an expert on child welfare, also was hired as an assistant division director. Rep. Donna Hutchinson, R-Bella Vista, said last week she hopes ...

Work increases for foster agency
The Olympian, WA - Sep 15, 2008
"In terms of the support the Legislature and the governor's office has given us in improving child welfare, they really have provided the resources," she ...

Expanded programs benefit kids in foster care
Times-Standard, CA - Sep 14, 2008
Ten more mental health case managers and three clinicians are being hired to work with Child Welfare Services social workers and public health nurses. ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (9/5/2008 - 9/12/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Crist: Sheldon has earned top child welfare job
MiamiHerald.com, FL – Sep 11, 2008
AP Gov. Charlie Crist said George Sheldon, interim secretary at the Department of Children and Families, is in line to take the job permanently. ...

Report finds too many Pa. children remain too long in foster care
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - Sep 10, 2008
Joan Benso, president and chief executive officer of the partnership, said the statewide findings indicate that child welfare agencies must work harder to ...

US Sen. Grassley: Wins committee passage of bill to help foster ...
IowaPolitics.com (press release), IA - Sep 10, 2008
... the Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now campaign sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Foster Care ...

Buckner named acting commissioner of state DHR
Daily Home Online,  AL  - Sep 9, 2008
In addition to her long tenure in Talladega County , at various times Buckner has also served as interim director of Calhoun County DHR and child welfare ...

For foster teens, self-sufficiency is tough lesson
Allentown Morning Call, PA - Sep 8, 2008
The youths, who are referred to the program by child welfare caseworkers, live in homes that are subsidized or rented by Valley Youth House, an agency that ...

CPS revises FLDS numbers — again
Deseret News, UT - Sep 5, 2008
The child welfare investigation and a criminal probe into abuse allegations surrounding the FLDS Church are ongoing. During a court hearing here on Thursday ...

Survey of WA foster care teens finds most happy
Seattle Times,  United States  - Sep 5, 2008
The survey also showed the disproportion of minority children in the child welfare system. Seven percent of the teens surveyed identified themselves as ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (8/29/2008 - 9/5/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Arbitrator: DC Social Workers Should Be Rehired
NBC 4.com, DC - Sep 5, 2008
WASHINGTON -- An arbitrator has ruled that three DC child welfare workers were improperly fired for failing to help four young girls found dead in a ...

Grant to help social work program address needs of aging population
Bethel College News, KS - Sep 5, 2008
“For example, in the field of child welfare, social workers frequently are working with the extended support systems including grandparents who step in to ...

Lawsuit will change state's child welfare system
ABC12.com, MI - Sep 4, 2008
By Josh DeVine LANSING (WJRT) -- (09/03/08)--A single class-action lawsuit will soon spark changes in the state's child welfare system. ...

Dangers of social work gain attention
Huntington Herald Dispatch, WV - Sep 3, 2008
A study by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees found that 70 percent of front-line child welfare workers had been victims of ...

Children’s deaths stir agency shifts
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR - Aug 31, 2008
Selig said a few new assistant division directors have been hired, including national child-welfare expert John Zalenski. Also, the Department of Human ...

Investigation of Foster Deaths Ongoing
KATV ,  AR  - Aug 29, 2008
The agency also has created a team of experts from outside its staff to provide suggestions on how it can improve child-welfare operations, and has hired ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (8/22/2008 - 8/29/2008)

Child Welfare News:

DCFS takes hit, parks and historic sites to close under ...
Chicago Tribune, United States - Aug 28, 2008
But child welfare experts said that already burdened caseworkers will be forced to pick up some of the slack and children might not get the services they ...

Child welfare agency must get court orders before removing ...
KBMT ABC 12, TX - Aug 28, 2008
AUSTIN (AP) - A federal appeals court ruling will force the state's child welfare agency to obtain court orders or parental consent prior to removing ...

Public responds to state report on racial disparity in youth services
News Sentinel, IN - Aug 28, 2008
Black youth are over-represented or under-represented in four key areas: juvenile justice, child welfare, education and mental health. ...

Perdue plans to realign system
Augusta Chronicle, GA - Aug 26, 2008
DHR oversees a vast array of services, from child welfare to anti-smoking campaigns. The Department of Community Health would assume DHR 's public health and ...

State agency honored for use of technology
2TheAdvocate, LA - Aug 26, 2008
DSS ’s Office of Community Services, which oversees the state’s foster care and adoption program, is the first child welfare system in the nation to use GIS ...

Danieal Kelly lawsuit against DHS is filed
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Aug 26, 2008
The suit, filed in US District Court in Philadelphia, further alleges that the city's child-welfare system "is in a crisis, and as a result, ...

Guardian watches over every foster child in state
Chicago Tribune,  United States  - Aug 26, 2008
Child welfare systems across the nation allocate such important authority to a judge or committee, experts say. But in Illinois , since 1996, ...

Restraining of mentally ill foster kids questioned
MiamiHerald.com, FL - Aug 25, 2008
''It was very disturbing,'' said Frusciante, who oversees child welfare cases in Broward. He said he wasn't disturbed enough to outright ban the practice at ...

DHR collects school supplies for children; still needs school uniforms
The Birmingham News - al.com, AL - Aug 25, 2008
... but county foster children and children of low-income families still need school uniforms, said Kim Mashego, assistant director of child welfare. ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (8/15/2008 - 8/22/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Video helps tribal leaders educate about sex abuse
Billings Gazette,  USA  - Aug 22, 2008
It was shown Friday during the Bureau of Indian Affairs Second National Conference on Child Protection and Child Welfare in Indian Country at the Holiday ...

Judge: State hasn’t found homes for enough foster kids
Atlanta Journal Constitution,  USA - Aug 21, 2008
Sonny Perdue and other defendants in a child welfare case 20 days to show why they should not be held in contempt and punished for failing to live up to a ...

Camp fosters unity
SunJournal.com, ME - Aug 21, 2008
Swift is child welfare adoption program manager for the Department of Health and Human Services in Augusta . The children participate in typical camp ...

Judge Orders Girl in Sect to Foster Care
New York Times, United States - Aug 19, 2008
Her 11-year-old brother, whom Texas child welfare authorities also wanted put in foster care, will be allowed to stay with his mother but will have to ...

Commission studying racial disparities in youth services ...
Evening News and Tribune, IN - Aug 19, 2008
... representation and treatment of children of minority races or ethnicities in juvenile justice, child welfare, education and mental-health services. ...

New Report Reveals Surprising Facts About Adoption
HealthNews, CA - Aug 18, 2008
Finally, two pieces of legislation; The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, legislation requiring reasonable efforts be made to preserve and ...

Blue-ribbon panel urges reform of California foster care system
Ventura County Star, CA - Aug 16, 2008
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care was composed of 42 child welfare experts, legislators, court officials and foster youths. ...

Fla. Gov. Crist names interim child welfare secretary
Bradenton Herald,  United States  - Aug 15, 2008
AP The Department of Children and Families' assistant secretary for operations prepared to take over the agency on Friday as Bob Butterworth served his last ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (8/08/2008 - 8/15/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Butterworth steps down; Crist names interim child welfare secretary
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL – Aug 15, 2008
AP and Tribune reports TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist said good-bye to Bob Butterworth today -- and named George Sheldon "interim secretary" of the ...

SF: STATE COMMISSION TO RECOMMEND FOSTER CARE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS
CBS 5, CA - Aug 14, 2008
Others are for changes in laws or better collaboration between courts and child welfare agencies. The commission is expected to ask the Judicial Council on ...

Number of children in foster care plunges to 15-year low
Molokai Times, HI - Aug 14, 2008
By Amy Tsark There are two remarkable trends occurring in Hawaii ’s child welfare system. Namely, the number of keiki in foster care has dropped dramatically ...

Children Left Alone at Home, Worriedly
New York Times ,  United States  - Aug 14, 2008
Child-welfare experts say that many low-income parents have few choices but to leave children unattended while working. But for middle-class and wealthy New ...

Ward Home teaches teens skills they need to graduate
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - Aug 13, 2008
The Child Welfare League of America estimates that 20000 children turn 18 each year with no viable family support system. In Allegheny County , as many as ...

Official: More cases likely against Texas sect
The Associated Press - Aug 12, 2008
Child-welfare officials continue to investigate and have asked that eight of the children be returned to foster care. In July, a Schleicher County grand ...

Poor economy is affecting foster homes
Press-Enterprise, CA - Aug 11, 2008
By JANET ZIMMERMAN Soaring gas and food prices have foster parents scrambling to make ends meet, and child welfare advocates warn that the faltering economy ...

Keeping kids with family
Columbus Dispatch, OH - Aug 11, 2008
The pendulum keeps swinging on the highest-stakes question in child welfare: Are children better off when they stay with their families, or when they leave? ...

The girl in the window
Columbus Dispatch, OH - Aug 10, 2008
"In my entire career with the child-welfare system, I don't ever remember a child like Danielle," said Luanne Panacek, executive director of the Children's ...

Foster-care system still struggling
Seattle Times, United States - Aug 10, 2008
Child-welfare experts say the agency's struggles have to do with headstrong officials and overwhelmed staff; leaders say the agency is on track and steadily ...

Judge: Nev. Foster Child Agency Must Share Records
KOLO ,  NV  - Aug 8, 2008
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A federal judge is ordering Las Vegas-based child welfare authorities to turn over the results of investigations of abuse against foster ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (8/01/2008 - 8/08/2008)

Child Welfare News:

FLDS custody hearings moved up a month
Deseret News, UT – Aug 8, 2008
Hundreds of children from the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch were removed in an April raid when child welfare workers and law enforcement responded to the ...

State Senator Wants Juvenile Prison Shut Down
The Morning News, AR - Aug 8, 2008
She called the juvenile prison in southwest Pulaski County a "grim" place while discussing child welfare issues during a meeting of the Arkansas Kids Count ...

Two DHS workers in child death case are fired
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Aug 8, 2008
By John Sullivan Two child-welfare workers criminally charged in the starvation death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly were fired yesterday after an internal ...

Department of Human Services: New Strategies in Child Welfare ...
Hawaii Reporter, HI - Aug 7, 2008
Implemented in 2005, this Web-based system assists child welfare social workers in determining the least intrusive and most effective response that ensures ...

DHS wants curtailed discovery process
Edmond Sun, OK - Aug 7, 2008
... of Human Services Wednesday to curtail the pretrial discovery process in a lawsuit that seeks top-to-bottom reform of the state's child welfare system. ...

National study finds child abuse under-reported
Medill Reports, IL - Aug 7, 2008
Vice president of public policy and communication at the Virginia-based Child Welfare League of America, Linda Spears, finds it interesting that clinicians ...

Life After Foster Care
In These Times, IL - Aug 6, 2008
“We’re really badly in need of foster homes,” says Marissa Allen, vice president of child welfare services at OCH. “But it’s difficult because nobody wants ...

Texas wants 8 kids from sect back in state care
The Associated Press - Aug 6, 2008
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Texas child welfare authorities asked a judge on Tuesday to place eight children from a Texas polygamist sect's ranch back into foster ...

Camp reunites foster siblings
Washington Times, DC - Aug 5, 2008
... according to Casey Family Programs, a Seattle-based national foundation that promotes improvements in child welfare practices and policies. ...

Social worker slaying has W.Va. pondering safety
Kentucky.com, KY - Aug 5, 2008
... advocates struggling to find ways to better protect those who work daily on potentially volatile issues of child welfare and family crisis management. ...

Giving Foster Teens a Place to Call Home
Gotham Gazette, NY - Aug 3, 2008
(This article is adapted from Child Welfare Watch Vol. 16, "Home Away From Home: Foster Parents for a New Generation." Reporting by Ann Farmer, ...

Homeless shelter focuses on youths
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Aug 3, 2008
“There is a huge child welfare system that is supposed to be looking out for the welfare of children.” Roman’s agency estimates that more than 1 million ...

Human services making changes in wake of childrens' deaths
Denver Post, CO - Aug 3, 2008
The new Child Welfare Action Committee held its first meeting Thursday. • Counties have begun receiving training on how to access a new data platform. ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (7/25/2008 - 8/01/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Ex-Official Pleads Guilty in Fraud at Welfare Agency
New York Times, United States - Aug 1, 2008
By BENJAMIN WEISER A former official of New York City’s child welfare agency pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges including embezzlement, fraud and money ...

Policy could push kids out of CHIP
Deseret News, UT - Aug 1, 2008
... and more precarious private market," said Karen Crompton, executive director of the child welfare research and advocacy group Voices for Utah Children. ...

FLDS classes to focus on 'core strengths'
Deseret News, UT - Jul 30, 2008
Once on the ranch, child welfare authorities and law enforcement said they witnessed what they believed to be other signs of abuse, leading a judge to order ...

Stark proposes law helping immigrant foster kids get green cards
Oakland Tribune, CA - Jul 30, 2008
Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, would not change federal immigration law, but would force states and local child welfare agencies to pay more attention to an ...

Two State Child Welfare Officials Resign
Youth Today, DC - Jul 30, 2008
by Nancy Lewis The top child welfare officials in Florida and Alabama, both of whom are credited with improving foster care and other children's services in ...

Encouraging Employment Of Foster Youth
Hudson Valley Press, NY - Jul 30, 2008
These young adults leave the child welfare system with few resources for self-sufficiency. Though many of these youth have characteristics that make them ...

Study finds state child abuse hotline has improved
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com, NJ - Jul 30, 2008
by Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger A study released today by the federal court monitor overseeing reform of the state child welfare system found many of the ...

Program gives skills to foster children
The Register-Guard, OR - Jul 30, 2008
According to the state Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare Program, there was an average of 6020 children in foster care on any given day in May. ...

Gov. Bill Ritter appoints new Child Welfare Action Committee
Greeley Tribune,  Colorado  - Jul 29, 2008
Bill Ritter announced the creation of a Child Welfare Action Committee today. The committee, composed of 23 Coloradans, is designed to recommend ...

State's DHR commissioner resigning
Montgomery Advertiser, AL - Jul 29, 2008
Walley, according to the release, said officials with Casey Family Programs were impressed enough with Alabama’s child welfare work and community ...

Former Police Officers Aid Child Welfare Caseworkers
New York Times ,  United States  - Jul 28, 2008
And they serve as a bridge to active law enforcement when child welfare and crime overlap. In addition to having special access to databases like domestic ...

Program encourages becoming foster parents for special-needs kids
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Jul 27, 2008
... a profound impact on children who are in need of safe and loving homes," said Denise Revels Robinson, director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare. ...

Foster child hearings rules change
Ventura County Star, CA - Jul 26, 2008
If a child is absent from a hearing where decisions are being made about the child's welfare, Cody requires social workers to report the reason, ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (7/18/2008 - 7/25/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Washington, DC, Reinstitutes Home-Schooling Rules
RedOrbit, TX – Jul 25, 2008
"We would like to see the superintendent enforce regulations the same way all other child welfare regulations are enforced -- only with probable cause," Mr. ...

Foster Transplant Case Sparks DCF Policy Revamp
RedOrbit ,  TX  – Jul 24, 2008
He had caseworkers and doctors and a high-ranking administrator from Florida 's child welfare agency all working on his behalf. Days after Jackson Memorial ...

Hearing set for child welfare settlement
Detroit Free Press, United States - Jul 24, 2008
A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for preliminary approval of a court settlement that would mean sweeping changes in Michigan's child welfare system. ...

Audit: CPS lax in tracking, responding to complaints
Arizona Republic, AZ - Jul 22, 2008
The review by the Office of the Auditor General found that the child-welfare agency provides easy access for members of the public to file complaints and ...

Polygamist Is Indicted in Assault of a Child
New York Times, United States - Jul 22, 2008
The indictments came seven weeks after the Texas Supreme Court ordered child welfare officials to return to their parents 460 children removed from the ...

Chronic child neglect summit looks at causes of and solutions to ...
NRToday.com, OR - Jul 22, 2008
As a result of a chronic child neglect summit held Monday, the child welfare office and ADAPT, a drug and alcohol treatment program, are seeking former ...

Reports of domestic violence rise
Tahlequah Daily Press, OK - Jul 22, 2008
... but it is still grossly underreported,” said Sandie Edgmon, program member for investigation with Cherokee Nation Indian Child Welfare. ...

Problems persist for child welfare: Review finds Texas caseworker ...
TMCnet - Jul 20, 2008
The latest Child and Family Services Review also faulted Texas for having too many children in long-term foster care and placing children on waiting lists ...

Bloomberg says blame ACS mess on me
New York Daily News, NY - Jul 19, 2008
BY KATHLEEN LUCADAMO Mayor Bloomberg took the blame Friday for three child welfare workers accused of embezzling millions in city funds meant for needy ...

Child Welfare Agency On "Emergency Basis"
WJZ, MD - Jul 18, 2008
The Child and Family Services Agency will "act on an emergency basis" by getting social workers from other District offices and hiring more staff, ...

Child abuse reporting rules called unclear
The Patriot-News - PennLive.com, PA - Jul 17, 2008
The mandatory reporting laws can save lives, Levi said, but there can be danger in being too quick to report: Child welfare agencies could be overwhelmed ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (7/11/2008 - 7/18/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Public Speaks Out On Foster Care System
Evening Bulletin, PA – Jul 18, 2008

The 2007 Child Welfare Review Panel Report disclosed that several children had died after DHS failed to them from their homes despite having been alerted to ...

Child Welfare Agency On 'Emergency Basis'
NBC 4.com, DC – Jul 18, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The Child and Family Services Agency will "act on an emergency basis" by getting social workers from other District offices and hiring more ...

Judge approves DCF improvement plan
Newsday ,  NY  – Jul 17, 2008
The state's child welfare agency and a national advocacy group have reached an agreement on a new proposal to improve programs for abused and neglected ...

DC Child and Family Services Director Resigns
Washington Post,  United States  - Jul 16, 2008
... personally thank her for her dedication to public service and for working to turn our troubled child welfare agency around," Fenty said in a statement. ...

4 Are Charged With Child Welfare Fraud
New York Times, United States - Jul 16, 2008
By Benjamin Weiser The United States attorney’s office in Manhattan is announcing today the arrests of two officials of the Administration for Children’s ...

James Bell Associates Awarded Key OFA Contract to Provide ...
PR Web (press release), WA - Jul 16, 2008
... assistance (TA) for its federally mandated Healthy Marriage, Promoting Responsible Fatherhood, and Tribal/TANF Child Welfare Grantees programs. ...

Judge Hints at Harsh Sentence in Adoption Fraud Case
New York Times, United States - Jul 15, 2008
When she pleaded guilty in May to the fraud scheme in New York, she admitted that she lied to child welfare officials about the number of children she ...

Swamped By Calls, DCF Wants Better Screening
Tampa Tribune, FL - Jul 13, 2008
... by DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth, who said the change is necessary to keep from overwhelming child welfare workers already dealing with heavy caseloads. ...

Oregon improves oversight of foster children
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com, OR - Jul 11, 2008
The family's future depends on what Santilli-Day, a state child welfare caseworker, sees on her visits. Face-to-face time with children and their parents is ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (6/27/2008 - 7/11/2008)

Child Welfare News:

County frets over ‘foster freeze’
Signal, CA – Jul 11, 2008
Statewide, child welfare services and foster care programs would see a $320 million reduction. The budget would cut the payment rate for foster care ...

More Nebraska children escaping welfare system
Omaha World-Herald (subscription), NE - Jul 10, 2008
BY MARTHA STODDARD LINCOLN — More Nebraska children left the state's child welfare system than entered it during the two years since Gov. ...

FLDS member's restraining order request granted
The Associated Press - Jul 9, 2008
He denied the allegations Wednesday and said the order is retaliation for his role in a Texas child welfare case that involved a daughter of jailed FLDS ...

Child Protective Services Need Police Training
KTRE ,  TX  - Jul 9, 2008
Mike Claude investigates less known child welfare cases for the Nacogdches County Sheriff's Department. He notes that there's always been a good working ...

Woodard takes reins at DSS
Warren Record, NC - Jul 9, 2008
Woodard began working with Wake County Human Services as a child welfare social worker and, later, a family support/childcare subsidy manager. ...

Fired DC Social Worker's Caseload Had Ballooned
Washington Post,  United States  - Jul 8, 2008
... had a workload that jumped from four cases to 50 as reports of neglect and abuse flowed into the child welfare system after the death of four sisters. ...

Half of Children in Welfare System Have History of Special Health ...
Newswise (press release) - Jul 7, 2008
Newswise — Half of the children in the nation's child welfare system have a history of special health care needs, according to a new study by researchers at ...

Video conference pilot program set for Children's Court
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - Jul 7, 2008
The use of videoconferencing in child protection and custody matters will move Allegheny County and its child welfare system to the forefront of best ...

Police may escort child welfare workers on cases
Today's MGT, GA - Jul 6, 2008
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard is proposing a plan that would send police escorts out with child welfare workers responding to reports of ...

Michigan settles suit, agrees to reform foster care
Muskegon Chronicle - MLive.com, MI - Jul 4, 2008
Jennifer Granholm said her administration will embrace the reforms, which she said will continue child welfare improvements made in recent years. ...

Cuyahoga County gets extra time before joining Statewide Automated ...
The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH - Jul 4, 2008
With county child welfare officials in open rebellion, state bureaucrats relented, pushing back the date for implementing the Statewide Automated Child ...

DCFS assigns assessment team to work with Youth Campus
Park Ridge Herald Advocate, IL - Jul 3, 2008
... currently operates as a residential treatment center for girls between the ages of 12 and 18 who are wards of DCFS, the state's child welfare agency. ...

DHS Faces Questions In Aftermath Of Foster Care Deaths
KOCO ,  OK  - Jul 1, 2008
"(We have) 11500 children, 1000 people doing the work of the entire child welfare system in the state. You do the math," Johnson said. ...

State's child welfare agency gets temporary funding reprieve
WBIR-TV ,  TN  - Jul 1, 2008
... well as several departments within the state government. Meantime, Tennessee is committed to finding a longterm solution to public child welfare financing."

DCFS Nurses Help Advise Child Welfare
Nurse.com, VA - Jun 30, 2008
If DCFS is contacted regarding the suspicion of abuse or neglect of a child, a child welfare specialist nurse teams up with a case worker to begin the ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (6/20/2008 - 6/27/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Waits Plague Transfers of Children to Relatives’ Care
New York Times, United States – Jun 27, 2008
By ERIK ECKHOLM HYATTSVILLE, Md. — When child welfare officials in Washington removed five young children from their parents’ home in May, relatives in this ...

No Indictments From Texas Sect Grand Jury Inquiry
CBS 42, TX - Jun 26, 2008
Grand jury proceedings are supposed to be secret, but court filings in the related child welfare case disclosed the start of the grand jury's work and the ...

Disparities found in child welfare
Seattle Times,  United States  - Jun 26, 2008
Whether children of color are overrepresented in the child-welfare system is a topic that's long been discussed in certain circles. ...

Interim leader of child welfare is chosen
Statesman Journal, OR - Jun 25, 2008
Johnston took on the job, which put him squarely in the middle of child-welfare controversies, after the retirement of Ramona Foley in 2007. ...

Performance audit of DHS slated for July
Tulsa World, OK - Jun 24, 2008
The lawsuit seeks a complete overhaul of the state's child welfare system and alleges DHS has not provided for the basic safety of foster children in ways ...

Senate panel approves new chief for children 's services
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com, NJ - Jun 23, 2008
The commissioner oversees the child welfare system, the Division of Youth and Family Services, as well as the agency that manages mental health care and ...

Dying man’s gift helps foster youth pursue education
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Jun 21, 2008
Thanks to a newly created college scholarship fund that is tailored to youth who age out of Milwaukee County 's foster child welfare system, Ford's education ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (6/13/2008 - 6/20/2008)

Child Welfare News:

After a Little Boy’s Death, Grief and Regret at Missed Clues
New York Times, United States - Jun 19, 2008
The sad, abbreviated life of Kyle Smith was, in fact, filled with a number of disconnects and what-if’s that neighbors, relatives, child-welfare advocates ...

DCF probes internal leaks on Internet blogs
MiamiHerald.com, FL - Jun 18, 2008
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER Florida child welfare administrators have had little tolerance for investigators and caseworkers who air the agency's dirty laundry ...

CPS actions in polygamist sect puzzle some child welfare experts
Dallas Morning News, TX - Jun 17, 2008
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – Some lawyers and child welfare experts say they're puzzled that the Texas child protection system ...

Congress Examines the Urban-Rural Link in Reforming Child Welfare
Business Wire (press release), CA - Jun 17, 2008
Through a patchwork of agencies and approaches, the need for a broad federal policy to child welfare issues is clear. This will be the focus for the “Urban ...

A World Away, New Rules Put an Adoption on Hold
New York Times, United States - Jun 17, 2008
“My entire working career in child welfare really has revolved around immigrant issues and immigrants having to deal with bureaucracies and families getting ...

Recent foster child death shakes up Santa Barbara County child ...
KSBY ,  CA  - Jun 16, 2008
The recent death of a foster child has some people questioning the Santa Barbara County child welfare system. The county said the tragedy does not reflect ...

Trans-racial adoption isn’t helping Black children
FinalCall.com, IL - Jun 15, 2008
New York City experiences problems with recruitment, but not trans-racial adoptions because the majority of adopted children come from the child welfare ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (6/6/2008 - 6/13/2008)

Child Abuse & Neglect News:

Coalition aims to improve kids' care
Green Bay Press Gazette, WI - Jun 13, 2008
Long-term goals include reducing child abuse and neglect, reducing the teen pregnancy rate in the Green Bay area and improving school readiness, ...

‘The Link’ Between Pet Abuse and Human Violence
Dog Channel, CA - Jun 12, 2008
A survey of pet-owning families with substantiated child abuse and neglect found that animals were abused in 88 percent of homes where child physical abuse ...

Chicago, Illinois teaming up on early-education push for state wards
Chicago Tribune,  United States  - Jun 11, 2008
DCFS said it would train Head Start staff on how to prevent child abuse and neglect. "We protect children when we support families," Erwin McEwen, ...

Missouri reviews child-care regulations
Lake Expo, MO - Jun 11, 2008
The state now requires that applicants for child-care jobs be screened for past criminal or child-abuse and -neglect offenses in Missouri only. ...

Prosecutor to seek funds for at-risk parents
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - Jun 10, 2008
... Attorney Laura Ditka will testify before a congressional committee in Washington , DC , today, advocating for funding to prevent child abuse and neglect. ...

Concerns arise over SRS files' validity
Kansas.com, KS - Jun 7, 2008
The social workers lay out results of their child abuse and neglect investigations. Prosecutors then cite the documents in petitions recommending that ...

Number of South Texas children in foster care growing
Brownsville Herald, TX United States - Jun 7, 2008
... say they can't explain the exact reason for the bump, but they believe it may be due to increased public awareness about child abuse and neglect. ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (5/30/2008 - 6/6/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Improved Foster Care Reduces Risk Of Adult Mental And Physical ...
Science Daily (press release) – Jun 6, 2008
"These children enter the child welfare system through no fault of their own because of traumatic family circumstances. We have a responsibility as a nation ...

Children's guardians get tough new warning
Boston Globe, United States - Jun 3, 2008
"The governor appointed Commissioner McClain to lead the Department of Social Services because of his experience and vision for improving child welfare ...

Nutter names new head of widely criticized Department of Human ...
Philadelphia Daily News, PA - Jun 3, 2008
Ambrose is currently a child welfare and juvenile justice administrator in the state Welfare Department. She was a DHS deputy commissioner from 2001 to 2005 ...

DC Social Workers Remove More Kids
Washington Post,  United States  - Jun 2, 2008
The increase is straining the overburdened foster care system and sapping the strength of a child welfare agency that is still mending after years of reform ...

DELAWARE: Children's department head resigns
Bethany Beach Wave, DE - Jun 2, 2008
... Service founder Jim Casey, Casey Family Programs is a foundation that has served children, youth, and families in the child welfare system since 1966.

National Child Welfare News Clippings (5/23/2008 - 5/30/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Texas takes DNA from sect leader
Houston Chronicle, United States – May 30, 2008
The criminal investigation into possible abuse is separate from the massive custody case in which the Texas Supreme Court ruled that child welfare workers ...

Questions linger in death of foster child
Indianapolis Star,  United States  - May 30, 2008
... the family is frustrated by many of the issues state officials have spent the past four years trying to fix within Indiana 's child welfare system. ...

Families Coping with Incarcerated Parents
NPR - May 29, 2008
So if a parent in prison has to rely on the public welfare system, or the child welfare system to care for their child, they have a distinct risk of losing ...

Court Rules Sect Children Should Go Home
New York Times ,  United States  - May 29, 2008
By JOHN SULLIVAN The Texas State Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the removal of children from a polygamist religious group’s ranch by child welfare ...

Talks stall in suit against Mich. foster care system
WOOD-TV ,  MI  - May 28, 2008
She said the department will accelerate changes already under way _ hiring more child welfare workers, licensing foster parents who are relatives of abused ...

South Carolina Takes Aim at Reducing Number of Children in Foster Care
ReadMedia (Press Release), NY - May 28, 2008
“We look forward to working with national and state experts to improve outcomes for children and youth who come to the attention of the child welfare system ...

Study Urging Adoption Changes Applauded
The Ledger, FL - May 28, 2008
But under current law, child-welfare agencies that receive federal funds are prohibited from considering any race-related issues in adoption or foster-care ...

De-emphasis on Race in Adoption Is Criticized
New York Times, United States - May 27, 2008
Several child welfare organizations — including the Child Welfare League of America, the Adoption Exchange Association, the National Association of Black ...

It's a heartfelt search for parents
TheReporter.com, CA - May 23, 2008
... Web site that profile children in Solano County who are looking for families, said Linda Orrante, director of Child Welfare Services for Solano County . ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (5/9/2008 - 5/23/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Texas officials plan to ask court block ruling in sect case
The Associated Press – May 23, 2008
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — Texas child welfare authorities plan Friday to appeal a stinging ruling that found they had no right to seize more than 440 ...

Tribal court eyes haircut
Alamogordo Daily News, NM – May 23, 2008
Last December, the New Mexico Court of Appeals ruled the federal Indian Child Welfare Act does not apply in custody cases when children remain with either ...

DCF Files Falsified, State Says
Tampa Tribune, FL – May 22, 2008
By HOWARD ALTMAN and MIKE WELLS TAMPA - Two former child welfare workers were arrested Thursday and accused of lying in official state records about having ...

Study finds no link between home ownership, child welfare
Radio Iowa, IA - May 21, 2008
By O.Kay Henderson A new study by a University of Iowa researcher debunks the idea that children raised in a house that their parents own do better in life ...

Foster Mother’s Pain Patch Is Believed Responsible in 6-Year-Old ...
New York Times, United States - May 21, 2008
Children are generally placed in foster care after a determination is made by the child welfare agency, and confirmed by a family court judge, ...

Abuse registry weighed
Henderson Gleaner, KY - May 20, 2008
Galbraith has called for sweeping change in the child welfare system and is seeking input for other ways the system could improve. A previous suggestion was ...

Some DCFS inquiries too slow, report says
Chicago Tribune,  United States  - May 20, 2008
A fraction of child welfare investigations did not conclude within the 60-day deadline required by Illinois law and others failed to begin, ...

Appeals court upholds ruling on search of children
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - May 19, 2008
In 2005, the parents of the children, step-siblings who were 8 and 9 at the time, sued Dana Gresbach, the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare worker who ...

Clock ticks as Alabama Department of Human Resources pushes to ...
al.com, AL - May 18, 2008
Tucker has argued that Alabama's child welfare system still needs the federal oversight that was established by a 1991 class-action lawsuit settlement known ...

Nevada rule protects inmates' babies
Tri Valley Herald, CA - May 16, 2008
The girl's disappearance sparked widespread searches, a review of the child welfare system in southern Nevada , and a federal lawsuit by the girl's birth ...

Study: SD child abuse laws hinder oversight
Sioux Falls Argus Leader, SD - May 16, 2008
It goes on to say the Child Welfare Policy Manual "explicitly emphasizes that the 'state does not have discretion in whether to allow the public access to ...

Child Welfare Tightens Law on Removal
New York Times, United States - May 15, 2008
Child welfare workers had been in frequent contact with Ms. Paez since the first baby was placed in foster care because of violence in the home, ...

Study ranks Vermont first in well-being
Bennington Banner, VT - May 13, 2008
"Currently, the US ranks 20th of the 20 richest democracies in terms of child welfare," Petit said. Petit said that this is the first time his organization ...

Bill seeks to lift liability for child protective services workers
Macomb Daily, MI - May 12, 2008
"In the more than 30 years that I've followed child welfare, I've never seen a worker fired, demoted, suspended or even slapped on the wrist for taking away ...

Children go to jail, for lack of options
Boston Globe,  United States  - May 11, 2008
There were no readily available placements in either the Commonwealth's child welfare or mental health systems. Maria's case is extreme, but she is hardly ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (5/2/2008 - 5/9/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Sorting Through the Texas Polygamist Custody Case
NPR – May 9, 2008
"This influx is straining the already overburdened foster care system," she says, adding that the state child welfare system is "struggling with high ...

Program helps families remain intact
The South Florida Times, FL – May 9, 2008
The nation’s child welfare system began with a singular focus to protect children from abusive parents. The first set of federal laws governing child ...

Prisons help inmates' babies
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - May 8, 2008
The Nevada Department of Corrections wants to start working with state and county child welfare agencies to ensure infants born to women inmates don't end ...

State high court takes on unique custodial question
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN - May 7, 2008
The state's highest court opted to step in and take on the chore of crafting the relational benchmark for holding someone accountable for a child's welfare. ...

Polygamist sect work takes toll on social workers
Austin American-Statesman, TX - May 7, 2008
At one point, more than 700 state child welfare workers were assigned to the case. That doesn't include the scores of lawyers, therapists and social workers ...

State closes "flawed" office to help black children in welfare system
Seattle Times,  United States  - May 7, 2008
The idea behind OAACS (pronounced "oasis") came from decades of concern about African-American kids in the child-welfare system, according to Germaine ...

Utah's teen birth rate increases for first time in 10 years
Deseret News, UT - May 6, 2008
Some public health and child welfare advocates in Utah believe the statistics are another reminder that the greater and more accurate the sources of ...

The Faces of Foster Care: Improving Outcomes for Children of Color
Compton Bulletin, CA - May 6, 2008
Child welfare issues arise in families of every race, ethnicity, culture and age group. Although research shows that there is no difference in the incidence ...

The Brooklyn Young Mother’s Collective Counters Stereotypes About ...
Brooklyn Rail, NY - May 6, 2008
People are subject to child welfare investigations when things go wrong, for example if they lose their housing or their lives are disrupted when a ...

Bills seek to help Michigan foster care system
Chicago Tribune,  United States  - May 6, 2008
Last month, the state Department of Human Services announced a 60-member task force aimed at improving Michigan child welfare systems.

Partial Federal Takeover Of DCF Urged
Hartford Courant, United States - May 6, 2008
By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER | Courant Staff Writer Nearly 6000 Connecticut children live in the state child welfare system, and for many of them, ...

Child welfare changes its rules By Karen Mahabir
Washington Times, DC - May 4, 2008
By Karen Mahabir AP The District has made changes to its troubled child-welfare agency since four girls were found dead in a row house in January, ...

Report: More than 3000 get names taken off child abuse list
Chicago Tribune,  United States  - May 4, 2008
Supporters of the child welfare system say in cases where child abuse is suspected, caseworkers must always put protecting children first. ...

'Cultural guide' helps Texans understand FLDS children
Deseret News, UT - May 2, 2008
Information for the guide was collected from law enforcement and child welfare agencies in Utah and Arizona as well as former FLDS members, said Patrick ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (4/25/2008 - 5/1/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Feds are stymied in probes of FLDS
Deseret News, UT – May 2, 2008
When Texas child welfare workers responded to the ranch, authorities said they found evidence of other abuse, including teenage mothers. ...

Teens Taken From NM Doomsday Church
ABC News - May 1, 2008
Child welfare officials will work with the district attorney in Union County, NM, as the criminal investigation continues. "We're conducting a thorough ...

New Adoption Subsidies May Fall To Cost Cuts
Tampa Tribune, FL - Apr 30, 2008
"The major goal for our child welfare system is to get these children adopted into loving homes," said state. Sen. Nan Rich, D-Sunrise, who sits on the ...

State too secret on children, groups say
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Apr 30, 2008
But some in the community believe the law has been used to hide the actions or inactions of others working in the child welfare system. ...

Litigation ends in child welfare case
News Courier,  AL  - Apr 30, 2008
(AP) — Litigation has ended in a long-running child welfare case that placed the Alabama Department of Human Resources under federal oversight from 1991 to ...

Nevada credited for abuse policies
Nevada Appeal, NV - Apr 29, 2008
High-profile child deaths rocked public confidence in child welfare, especially in the Las Vegas area where audits found serious problems with ...

Caretakers get hints on handling children seized in Texas
The Associated Press - Apr 26, 2008
A judge awarded custody of the children to the state after child-welfare officials argued they could be in danger in Eldorado, where officials say young ...

National Child Welfare News Clippings (4/18/2008 - 4/25/2008)

Child Welfare News:

Mothers from polygamous sect separated from young children
The Associated Press - Apr 25, 2008
Child welfare officials removed the children on suspicion of physical and sexual abuse after a family violence center received calls from a female saying ...

Police investigate abuse claim regarding 12-year-old mother
Altoona Mirror, PA&