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Note: After a given period of time, some of the links may no longer work as the news story becomes outdated or may require you to subscribe to the given news source in order to read an article.

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. ...

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

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.

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 ...

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 . ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 – Apr 25, 2008
Before becoming director of the county’s child welfare service, Burger was a nurse in California . She once tended to a 10-year-old mother. ...

Court to Hear Challenge on Sect Children
New York Times, United States – Apr 24, 2008
... are representing 48 mothers in the tangled child welfare case that each family be permitted to respond to abuse accusations before their children were ...

Caring for their own flesh and blood
Warren Times Gazette, RI - Apr 24, 2008
"We're not seeing increases in the number of kids in the child welfare system," said Lisa Guillette, executive director of the Rhode Island Foster Parents ...

Partnership credited for helping foster kids
News-Leader.com, MO - Apr 24, 2008
Marilyn Nolan, president of Alternative Opportunities Inc., a Springfield group that manages child welfare cases, said foster parents are great recruiters. ...

Detective works with agency to investigate child abuse cases
Statesman Journal, OR - Apr 23, 2008
... department arrive in myriad ways — some through standard telephone reports, but the majority from the Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Welfare. ...

Remedy sought for lack of foster homes in area
Bloomington Pantagraph, USA - Apr 19, 2008
De Los Santos, now 25, was one of seven children in a family that lived in a station wagon before child welfare workers placed him with a family on a farm ...

Investigator says girls pregnant in polygamist sect
The Associated Press – Apr 18, 2008
Child welfare officials claim the children were abused or in imminent danger of abuse because the sect encourages girls younger than 18 to marry and have ...

Foster parents' names public - for now
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - Apr 18, 2008
"The problem with child welfare is that it is too secretive and it is too closed," said Fox. Under different leadership, Butler County Children Services had ...

Sex Offenders Living In Houses Used For Child Care
KGTV, 10News.com, CA - Apr 17, 2008
Mary Harris of County Child Welfare Services said, "It's very alarming. We want our children to be safe." Harris said there are safeguards in place but ...

Report finds trends in child deaths
Union Democrat, CA - Apr 17, 2008
The Child Death Review Team, made up of officials from the Sheriff's Office, the Sonora Police Department, the Public Health Department, Child Welfare ...

Monitor says child welfare system still improving
Asbury Park Press, NJ - Apr 17, 2008
By Michael Rispoli • GANNETT STATE BUREAU • April 17, 2008 TRENTON — New Jersey's child welfare system continues to improve, but the departure of two top ...

Single men are filling the parenting void
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, United States - Apr 16, 2008
"The child welfare system is predominantly female," she said. "So many of these young men and young boys need that father figure in their lives desperately. ...

Dispute on Treatment of Children After Raid
New York Times , United States - Apr 16, 2008
Texas child welfare officials and parents of many of the more than 400 children seized in a raid on a polygamist religious compound in West Texas differ ...

Gov. Ritter Signs Order to Recommend Child Welfare Changes
My Fox Colorado.com, CO - Apr 16, 2008
Bill Ritter signed an executive order Wednesday creating a committee to recommend changes in the child welfare system, calling the deaths of 13 children ...

New Data Show Child Sexual Abuse Down 5 Percent Nationally
Newswise (press release) - Apr 16, 2008
... by providing high-quality research and statistics to the public, policy makers, law enforcement personnel, and other child welfare practitioners. ...

Hillsboro couple asks DHS to leave grandchild in US
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com, OR - Apr 15, 2008
"One of the goals of child welfare is permanency," Parker said. "Siblings with a lifetime bond represent that permanency." In December 2007, a committee ...

Bleak Stories Follow a Lawsuit on Oklahoma Foster Care
New York Times , United States - Apr 15, 2008
Last year, 14 years of court monitoring ended after the state quadrupled its spending on child welfare and cut caseloads to 18 from 50. ...

Take Children's Anger Seriously, Experts Say
Hartford Courant, United States - Apr 13, 2008
... worries about a test grade or fight with a friend, added Andy Reitz, a child consultant with the Child Welfare League of America in Boston. ...

Colorado City CPS call resembles one made in Texas
Arizona Republic, AZ – Apr 11, 2008
Arizona child-welfare officials are investigating a call from a 16-year-old girl alleging sexual abuse in the polygamist stronghold of Colorado City - a ...

State Agencies More Able to Protect MO Children
KSPR , MO - Apr 10, 2008
... child welfare agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools as well as state and local educational agencies. ...

Crow Agency's child advocacy center seen as model for tribes
Billings Gazette, USA - Apr 10, 2008
The Care Center and its multidisciplinary team approach was singled out during a session of the second annual Indian Child Welfare Conference in Billings. ...

Jailing young offenders poses dilemma
The Virginian-Pilot, VA - Apr 8, 2008
Betty Wade Coyle, a child welfare advocate who is also a member of an advisory council to the juvenile court, said she is concerned that services don’t ...

Child care advocates endorse Infant Protection Act at conference
Rockford Register Star, IL - Apr 8, 2008
Those 24 babies are the reason medical and child welfare advocates held press conferences in 14 Illinois cities Tuesday to ask the public to spread the word ...

County accepts foster youth academic performance grant
San Diego Union Tribune, United States - Apr 8, 2008
... six counselors to assist the approximately 3200 school-age children in foster homes, said Mary Harris, the county's director of child welfare services. ...

Early Neglect Predicts Aggressive Behavior In Children, Study Shows
Science Daily (press release) - Apr 7, 2008
"The lack of attention devoted to the problem of neglect -- the so-called 'neglect of neglect' -- is a long-standing concern in the child welfare field," ...

System divides cases according to their peril
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI - Apr 7, 2008
Under the new system, child maltreatment reports fall into four categories ranging from no response to a Child Welfare Services investigation. ...

Critics find flaws with new DHS abuse rules
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - Apr 6, 2008
DHS workers, a judge and other child-welfare professionals agreed in January 2008 that Antwuan and Tiara Williams were safe to parent again. ...

Stipends for foster kids among proposed budget cuts
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Apr 4, 2008
... care and adoption services in Volusia and Flagler counties, said cuts would hit child welfare, along with substance-abuse and mental-health programs. ...

Scaling the Summit Institute
Register NOW to explore with national experts the latest information and practical strategies for Recruiting, Selecting and Retaining Child Welfare staff at the Scaling the Summit Institute August 5- 6th in Denver Colorado.

Committee Clears Evans Bill to Protect Foster Youth
California Chronicle, CA – Apr 4, 2008
Requires the child welfare agency to report in all subsequent reports to the juvenile court on the effectiveness, any side effects and the child's ...

Legislators rush to find replacement funds for child welfare
Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA – Apr 3, 2008
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER With time running out, state lawmakers are scrambling to fill a $13 million hole in child welfare funding, raising fears that jobs could ...

Indianapolis to Host Foster Care Program
Inside INdiana Business (press release), IN - Apr 3, 2008
Indianapolis, Ind. -- The 2416 local children and youth who are in the child welfare system can expect more community support as they transition to ...

Home-school ruling centers on protection
Washington Times, DC - Apr 2, 2008
Lost amid the ensuing culture-war debates over parental control versus public schools is the specific child-welfare case heard by the California Court of ...

State improves screening in cases of alleged child abuse
Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT - Apr 2, 2008
By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER – Sweeping changes in the state's child welfare system will soon alter the way Vermont handles ...

State marks hiring of 800-plus new child welfare workers
The Rensselaer Republican, IN - Apr 1, 2008
By MIKE SMITH, AP Political Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The state on Monday marked the hiring of more than 800 additional child welfare caseworkers since ...

Idaho reports longer stays in foster care
Trading Markets (press release), CA - Mar 30, 2008
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved 18 new positions for child welfare workers, 12 social workers and six technicians who help social ...

DCF Comes Up Short In Own Review
Tampa Tribune, FL - Mar 28, 2008
More than 40000 children receive child welfare services funded by DCF, according to the report, completed this month. Al Zimmerman, a former DCF spokesman, ...

Child welfare veteran named to head NJ child welfare agency
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA – Mar 27, 2008
AP The Division of Youth and Family Services is the state's leading child protection and welfare agency. Mozes will oversee a work force of 4000. ...

DSS will hire more social workers
Boston Globe, United States - Mar 26, 2008
The Child Welfare League of America recommends that a social worker handle no more than 12 to 15 cases at a time. "This year, lowering the caseloads was our ...

Bill creates office to reduce blacks in child welfare
Louisville Courier-Journal, KY - Mar 26, 2008
... passed a bill that would create a separate state office to work on reducing the disproportionate number of blacks in Kentucky 's child-welfare system. ...

Former foster children guaranteed CSUSM slots
North County Times, CA - Mar 25, 2008
... for youth who lack the support given to many of their peers when it comes time to consider college, said Margo Fudge, a county child welfare official. ...

Improved Services Benefit Children and Their Families
ReadMedia (Press Release), NY - Mar 25, 2008
It outlines eight broad areas where the two systems can work together to improve substance abuse, juvenile justice and child welfare issues. ...

Lives rebuilt, a page at a time
Chicago Tribune, United States - Mar 24, 2008
Now, child welfare professionals have figured out a way to preserve personal histories for this transient group: a powerful new tool called a Lifebook. ...

Courts lose some say on kids in state's care
Indianapolis Star, United States - Mar 23, 2008
James W. Payne, who heads the Department of Child Services, called the legislation "a unique opportunity to move forward" with child welfare reforms ...

Hawaii Supreme Court upholds $1.1M abuse lawsuit
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI - Mar 21, 2008
... then suffered life-threatening internal organ injuries two months later while the department's Child Welfare Services Branch was still investigating the ...

Amber: Her first name became a household word linked to alert
The Huntsville Times - al.com, AL - Mar 20, 2008
Simpson told the audience of child welfare and safety advocates who came to the conference to learn how to better work their caseloads that he would share ...

Report: Connecticut has critical shortage of foster parents
Stamford Advocate, CT - Mar 20, 2008
However, a report by a federal official monitoring state child welfare services shows that some have been stuck there for nearly a year because they have no ...

House approves CPS bills
Arizona Republic , AZ - Mar 19, 2008
Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, said he believes public scrutiny will help make meaningful reforms at the child-welfare agency. "Our whole principle of government ...

New Program To Take Early Action to Help Those Failing
Washington Post, United States - Mar 18, 2008
Fenty fired six child welfare workers and criticized the city for failing to follow up after the girls stopped going to their public charter schools. ...

A Day In The Life Of A DCF Case Worker
CBS 4, FL - Mar 18, 2008
MIAMI (CBS4) ― More than 45000 children are a part of Florida 's child welfare system and hundreds of thousands of families deal with health, homelessness, ...

Guilty Verdict in Nixzmary Brown Case
New York Times, United States - Mar 18, 2008
... first trial in one of the most horrific child deaths in the city’s recent history, one that triggered an overhaul of the city’s child welfare system. ...

Use of foster care down across state
Allentown Morning Call, PA - Mar 16, 2008
Giosyra's family, which includes Johnson's year-old twin boys, Jazyr and Jalyr McKoy, illustrates the efforts of child welfare workers to keep children in ...

Foster care bias program shuffled
Kentucky.com, KY - Mar 15, 2008
Manson said she has continued to conduct the workshops called Race, Community and the Child Welfare System in areas with the biggest problems. ...

House panel OKs child-welfare office
Louisville Courier-Journal, KY – Mar 14, 2008
The national foundation is willing to provide up to $3 million over the next four years for child welfare work in Kentucky , including efforts to address ...

Child welfare veteran tapped to take over families agency
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com, NJ - Mar 12, 2008
BY SUSAN K. LIVIO A 33-year veteran of the child welfare system will lead its parent agency, the state Department of Children and Families, while a search ...

Senate committee wants to require "cross-reporting"
WJBC News, IL - Mar 11, 2008
By Melissa Hahn and Erick Stock A state Senate committee wants to require animal welfare investigators to report child abuse, and child welfare ...

State's Web Site Dedicated to Locating Missing Foster Children
KHNL-TV/KHBC/KOGG, HI - Mar 11, 2008
... missing children and we need to do whatever we can to bring them back to care," said Peggy Hilton, East Hawaii Child Welfare Services Section Administrator.

License Plate Promotes Adoption Awareness
Kentucky Post, KY - Mar 10, 2008
... issues surrounding adoption," said Patricia R. Wilson, commissioner of the Department for Community Based Services, the state’s child welfare agency. ...

WELFARE CHIEF PUSHES FOSTER-KID GREEN CARDS
New York Post, NY - Mar 10, 2008
... children in their custody to prevent them from "aging out" before getting green cards, according to a new edict from the state's child-welfare czar. ...

Report finds holes in city's child-protection safety net
Rocky Mountain News, CO - Mar 8, 2008
But even then, White said, "We will never be able to fill all of the gaps in child welfare. Human services isn't our top priority as a country. ...

Hearing puts focus on child welfare
Sturgis Journal , MI - Mar 7, 2008
Pearce and Emmons agreed it was heartening to see so many people interested in child welfare. Rep. Law added, "We will continue to show light on what is ...

Mohegans Honored For Helping Kids
TheDay, CT – Mar 7, 2008
By Heather Allen , Standing before a ballroom full of child welfare workers and specialists, the Mohegan Tribe was recognized for its state and national ...

State faults county agency for infant’s death
Wilkes Barre Citizen's Voice, PA - Mar 6, 2008
BY MICHAEL P. BUFFER The state should closely monitor Luzerne County’s child-welfare agency for six months, according to a state ruling faulting the county ...

More Kids Kept Out Of Foster Care
Tampa Tribune, FL - Mar 5, 2008
Robert Wexler, executive director of the coalition, gives credit to Hillsborough Kids Inc., the nonprofit agency that handles child welfare here, ...

Parents in Crisis Have Many Options for Giving Babies Haven ...
New York Times, United States - Mar 5, 2008
Though the safe haven law that the livery cab driver was trying to use generally applies only to newborns less than a week old, child welfare experts said ...

Firings Of Child Welfare Workers Appealed
NBC 4.com, DC - Mar 5, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Three DC child welfare workers who were fired for failing to help four young girls found dead in a rowhouse last month are continuing to fight ...

State Needs Greater Effort To Place Foster Children
Springdale Morning News, AR - Mar 4, 2008
"If you can't find homes, then the child welfare system needs to help them find adults that can serve as mentors to them, to provide advice and guidance ...

House passes child welfare bill
Honolulu Advertiser, HI - Mar 4, 2008
The Department of Human Services could conduct unannounced child welfare visits to homes in which a household member had been convicted or stood trial for ...

Finding a family takes a long time for some
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ - Mar 4, 2008
That was far more than the 1400 adoptions it was required to complete, following the settlement of a child welfare lawsuit. The number of children in its ...

Child Welfare Chief Resigns After 2½ Years
News4Jax.com, FL - Mar 4, 2008
Some child advocates expressed concern about instability in the DFCS. "It's terrible for the system," Normer Adams, head of the Georgia Association of Homes ...

Former foster child now a caseworker for children
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Mar 3, 2008
At 23, the single mother is barely out of the child-welfare system herself. She is one of two former foster children who have come back to work for the ...

To Recruit Caseworkers, a Dose of Reality
New York Times , United States - Mar 3, 2008
As in other child welfare agencies across the country, the retention of qualified workers is a perennial problem for children’s services. ...

Kin will be able to take in abused kids
Deseret News, UT - Mar 2, 2008
Kinship placement was prohibited, state child welfare officials said, because under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, all potential adoptive ...

Adoption decisions questioned
Akron Beacon Journal, OH - Feb 27, 2008
... Rhode Island , Guam and Puerto Rico require the consent of the minor's parents in an adoption, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, ...

Senate OKs child advocate
The Republican - MassLive.com, MA - Feb 27, 2008
Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said the bill revamps the state's child welfare programs. "There are still gaps in the system," he said after the vote. ...

Mental health bill focuses on programs for children
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - Feb 26, 2008
One desired outcome would be to divert young people with mental illness from unnecessary involvement with law enforcement, corrections and child welfare ...

Leech Lake provides Welfare Program
Bemidji Pioneer, MN - Feb 25, 2008
11, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe has assumed responsibility for responding to child maltreatment reports and providing child welfare services on the Leech ...

Court project works to improve well-being of children
Greeley Tribune, CO - Feb 25, 2008
In Weld County, we recognize that our community must meet and deal with the emotions that children and parents naturally experience when a child-welfare ...

Report: Some DCF cases wrongly closed
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Feb 23, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - Child-welfare caseworkers in Miami wrongly closed some cases, but there was no evidence that it was done simply to manipulate the workers' ...

Failure to report child abuse would be a crime in Maryland
Examiner.com - Feb 23, 2008
The bill is designed to encourage teachers, health care and social workers to notify child-welfare workers in local departments of social services, ...

Child Welfare News:

Florida to be first state to use GPS devices for child welfare ...
Ocala.com, FL – Feb 22, 2008
BY JENNIFER KAY AP MIAMI — Florida's child welfare workers will soon be carrying handheld GPS devices, similar to ones carried by UPS employees to track ...

Lawmakers approve measure ordering audit of DHS division
KSWO , OK – Feb 21, 2008
... go-ahead for an independent performance audit of services provided by the state's child welfare agency to children who have been abused or neglected. ...

Kids lose out to paperwork
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com, OR - Feb 21, 2008
SALEM -- Oregon child welfare caseworkers spend about 75 minutes each day with the children or families in their care. Much of their time is chewed up with ...

County OKs memorandum with Leech Lake
Bemidji Pioneer, MN - Feb 20, 2008
The memorandum of understanding approved Tuesday by commissioners allows the county to turn over certain child welfare cases to Leech Lake ’s new Leech Lake ...

Alabama DHR has made progress, but concerns about permanent ...
The Birmingham News - al.com, AL - Feb 20, 2008
A state-created commission of child welfare experts has found that the Alabama Department of Human Resources continues to improve and be a model for the ...

Program offers an enlightening taste of poverty
Chicago Tribune, United States - Feb 20, 2008
As a state child welfare worker, Vicky Darley sees people every day who cannot pay their bills and struggle to hold their families together. ...

Deaths of kids raise oversight questions
Indianapolis Star, United States - Feb 17, 2008
KELLY WILKINSON / The Star In 33 states, the death of a youth who was or should have been involved with the child welfare system would be investigated by an ...

Lawsuit may force reforms to Michigan foster care system
MLive.com, MI - Feb 17, 2008
... Maureen Sorbet said in a written statement. She said the department's primary focus continues to be fundamental reform of child welfare services.

Iowa high court says tribe can determine custody
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - Feb 15, 2008
... they are considered children of the tribal community and therefore may be considered an Indian child under the Iowa Indian Child Welfare Act. The state ...

Child Welfare News:

Foster children need dental care
Pasadena Star-News, CA – Feb 15, 2008
At the " Child Welfare Dental Summit" at the Arboretum of Los Angeles County in Arcadia , dental and medical professionals and county officials came together ...

Group seeks to improve foster care in Utah
Daily Herald, UT - Feb 14, 2008
Utah 's is the only child welfare system in the country that is so cumbersome, and the children pay the price, Hart said. Hart is one of a dozen members of ...

Panel Pitches Early Intervention Plan
Hartford Courant, United States - Feb 14, 2008
Board members, who included lawmakers, child welfare experts, educators and court personnel, were surprised to see little or no funding for these ...

Foster children keep voice in DCF system
Bradenton Herald, United States - Feb 13, 2008
Charlie Crist to take over the troubled child welfare agency after a series of high-profile cases including the 2002 disappearance of 4-year-old Rilya ...

Termination of parental rights is the last resort
Lock Haven Express, PA - Feb 13, 2008
Under Pennsylvania law, involuntary termination is used as a child welfare tool in only the most exceptional circumstances. There might have been a parent ...

Senate study calls for improvements to DCYF services
Providence Journal, RI - Feb 12, 2008
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee’s report notes that steps are being taken to improve the state’s child-welfare system, but that it continues ...

Mich. lawmakers frustrated with progress on DHS computer system
MLive.com, MI - Feb 12, 2008
(AP) — Frustrated state lawmakers are asking questions about delays in a new computer system for the state department that oversees child welfare and other ...

State child welfare budget criticized
Baltimore Sun, United States - Feb 12, 2008
Also, the state does not meet recommended standards for caseload ratios that were established by the Child Welfare League of America. ...

For immigrants, child-welfare solutions murky
Columbus Dispatch, OH - Feb 11, 2008
As the US immigrant population has grown, so too has its contact with the child-welfare system. Advice and direction for social workers hasn't always ...

CASE STUDY: Kinship care, a cousin
Lock Haven Express, PA - Feb 8, 2008
Child welfare agencies increasingly are turning to kinship care for children in need of out-of-home placements. Kinship care is also increasing outside the ...

Child Welfare News:

County DHS ramps up oversight of foster care
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO – Feb 8, 2008
The head of child-welfare investigations for El Paso County DHS is reviewing all reported incidences of injury or medical treatment — no matter how minor ...

Reaction to Negative Foster Care Report
WLNS, MI - Feb 7, 2008
There's reaction to the latest report claiming Michigan’s child welfare system is failing. The new report says case workers aren't checking in on foster ...

FAMILY SERVICES: Agency's practices criticized
Las Vegas Review - Journal, NV - Feb 7, 2008
Its content angered child welfare advocates who have been pressing Clark County to reform its faulty system of care for abused and neglected juveniles. ...