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Kidjacked | Jacked Up
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Are foster children legitimately prescribed psychotropic drugs more commonly because they have so many needs? Or are the drugs used as a convenient way to straitjacket troublesome behavior? California CPS News Archive
California News Coverage
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Colusa County departments begin layoffs
by Susan Meeker
As the need for food and shelter continues to grow in a troubled economy, the ability to provide those services is going to get tougher by the day, county officials predict.
Although an overall decrease in the county coffers is anticipated in every department due to a statewide economic downturn, Colusa County Health and Human Services and the Department of Behavioral Health anticipate being hit the hardest. On Wednesday, the Colusa County Board of Supervisors declared a fiscal emergency and authorized layoffs in both departments.
Colusa County Sun Herald
February 12, 2009
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County to sue for welfare funds
by Natasha Lindstrom
SAN BERNARDINO -- The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to sue the state for withholding as much as $204 million owed to the county, a delay that could leave 93,000 people on county welfare empty handed for seven months.
The county's lawsuit responds to California Controller John Chiang's announcement that the state will defer February county payments for 30 days. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed withholding those payments until September.
Victorville Daily Press
February 10, 2009
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Aanestad seeks major health-care reform for state
by Larry Mitchell
SACRAMENTO -- State Sen. Sam Aanestad has put together a bill he says would make major reforms in California's health-care system/
Aanestad intends to address four health-care issues: affordability, access, choice and patient safety. The measure, Senate Bill 92, is to be heard first in the Senate Health Committee, said Linda Halderman, a senior policy adviser to the senator.
Chico Enterprise Record
February 7, 2009
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Health care groups give $250K to those helping needy
St. Joseph's Medical Center and Health Plan of San Joaquin issued grants totaling more than $250,000 this week to agencies in San Joaquin County that provide direct services to needy residents.
St. Joseph's awarded $144,484 through its Community Grants program to seven community-benefit organizations that provide critical health and human services. The grants range from $11,000 to $25,000 and were distributed to: Mary Graham Children's Shelter Foundation: $15,000 to provide support to foster youth as they transition out of the foster care system...
The Stockton Record
February 2, 2009
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Contempt ruling the latest blow against veteran lawyer
by Victoria Kim
He's studied international law in at least three countries, prosecuted antitrust cases for the U.S. Department of Justice and acted as special counsel hired to investigate a Los Angeles mayor in the 1970s.
Now, at the twilight of his career, attorney Richard Fine finds himself without a law license, at odds with county and appellate judges, and facing a third contempt-of-court case that may land him behind bars -- for a second time.
Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2009
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Nonprofit Hollywood school offers path forward through the arts
by Seema Mehta
Free classes, a safe setting and most of all a sense of family are offered by Hollywood Media + Art.
Many nonprofits are focused on at-risk youth, such as gang members. But Kendall saw an unmet need among a less visible group of young adults, whom she dubbed the "family-less."
Los Angeles Times
January 19, 2009
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Police: Couple sexually harmed infant
Woodland police arrested two 18-year-olds on Thursday on suspicions they sexually abused their 7-month-old infant daughter.
Richard Schirnhofer III and Jessica Brook Carpenter have been charged with committing sexual acts with a child under the age of ten, willful injury to a child, inflicting great bodily injury to a child and corporal injury to a child.
Daily Democrat
January 17, 2009
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Opinion: Aging Out
by Jim Beall
No caring parent would banish their son or daughter from their home and cut off all relations just because that child became 18 years old. But for many youths who "age out" of California's foster care system that's exactly what happens.
I have introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 12, to make California's foster care system eligible for those federal dollars by extending state foster care benefits to 21, beginning Oct. 1, 2010. I am not alone on this issue. Speaker Karen Bass and 11 more legislators have signed onto AB 12.
San Jose Mercury News
January 6, 2009
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More Than $30K Raised For Shackled Teen
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Donations from as far away as Great Britain, Hawaii and New York have been pouring in for a Tracy teen who was allegedly chained and abused by his caretakers. Monday, January 5, 2009.
Police say for more than a year, Michael Schumacher, 34, and Kelly Layne Lau, 30, held the boy against his will and, along with the teen's one-time guardian, Caren Ramirez, 43, beat him, denied him food and sometimes kept him chained to the fireplace or a heavy table inside a Tracy home.
KCRA 3 News
January 5, 2009
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Budget cuts lead to foster care workers laid-off
by Laura Anthony
There was frustration and concern over job cuts that took effect on January 1, 2009 in Contra Costa County.
Supervisors in Contra Costa County will be considering how they're going to cut another $10 million by February to close a projected budget deficit of $28 million. [Video News Report]
East Bay 7 News
January 1, 2009
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The War on the Disabled Through Our Courts
by Janet Phelan
Nancy Golin took a walk. It was a chilly November evening in 2001, and she walked all night. A lovely breeze had come up, and the moon hung low in the sky. When she returned the next morning, her life had changed.
When she returned on her own the next morning, the police chose to tell her parents that they were taking her to the hospital-merely for a "welfare check." In fact, they locked her up in a Stanford psychiatric hospital, where she was severely abused and injured, and suffering medical malpractice.
Indy Bay
December 26, 2008
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Prosecutors face challenge as foster children's advocates in dependency court
by Karen de Sa
For two decades, prosecutors have represented Santa Clara County children in foster care - an unusual arrangement praised for providing robust resources, but criticized for fitting poorly with a system designed to be more problem-solving than punitive.
In the wake of intense scrutiny, including a Mercury News series earlier this year, state and local officials are setting new standards of representation in the system that determines the fate of families following allegations of child abuse or neglect.
The Mercury News
December 13, 2008
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Hamilton City woman arrested for alleged child abuse
HAMILTON CITY -- A 26-year-old mother of two was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of felony child abuse and being under the influence of illegal drugs.
The Glenn County Sheriff's Office said Kathleen Virginia Crowder is accused of leaving her young children unattended on numerous occasions at a Main Street apartment.
Contra Costa Times
December 4, 2008
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YC woman busted in early-morning raid
A Yuba City woman was arrested early Monday for selling heroin from her home, and her 15-year-old son, who's associated with a white supremacist gang, was turned over to Child Protective Services, a drug enforcement official said.
Tamara Elaine Null, 49, was arrested shortly after 7 a.m. at her home in the 1500 block of Anneka Lane after an investigation that began several weeks ago, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, or NET-5.
Appeal-Democrat
December 1, 2008
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Police: Kids Taken From Roach-Infested Home
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Five children were found in a Sacramento apartment over the weekend with little food, no bedding and an infestation of roaches.
Sacramento Child Protective Services took the children from the 3800 block of Martin Luther King Blvd. The children are 13, 12, 9 and 7 years old, and one is 6 months old.
KCRA 3 News
November 11, 2008
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Foster care children to attend conference
Foster care youths will gather Saturday in Oxnard for a conference aimed at improving the state system providing care to abused, neglected and abandoned children.
The event is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Rooms LA 6 and LS 10 at Oxnard College, 4000 S. Rose Ave. The keynote speaker is Derek Clark, a former foster child who is a songwriter, singer and author.
Ventura County Star
October 21, 2008
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Death row realism
by Jeanne Woodford
As the warden of San Quentin, I presided over four executions. After each one, someone on the staff would ask, "Is the world safer because of what we did tonight?"
As I presided over Massie's execution, I thought about the abuse and neglect he endured as a child in the foster care system. We failed to keep him safe, and our failure contributed to who he was as an adult. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to kill him, what if we spent that money on other foster children so that we stop producing men like Massie in the first place?
Los Angeles Times
October 2, 2008
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Foster parents must learn anti-harassment laws
by Adam Foxman
A bill introduced after the killing of Oxnard eighth-grader Larry King has been signed into law, requiring training about school anti-harassment laws for people who care for foster children.
Introduced by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, after King was fatally shot Feb. 12 at E.O. Green School, AB 3015 requires foster parents or staff members of group homes that care for foster children to receive training about laws meant to protect students from bias and bullying on campus.
Ventura County Star
October 1, 2008
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Stockton Father Accused of Child Abuse
STOCKTON, CA - A Stockton baby girl is in critical condition and her father is behind bars on suspicion of child abuse.
Stockton police say Javier Gonzalez, 35, was arrested Monday for allegedly inflicting multiple serious injuries on the 3-month-old infant.
ABC News 10
September 23, 2008
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CPS official confirms dead boy's file altered, denies cover-up
by Marjie Lundstrom
A top manager with Sacramento County's Child Protective Services admitted in an internal document that a dead child's file had been altered before it was publicly released -- a felony in some states.
The admission by CPS Division Manager Kim Pearson came in a series of e-mails regarding the beating death of 4-year-old Jahmaurae Allen, released to The Bee under the state's Public Records Act. CPS has been under fire for its handling of Jahmaurae's case and others involving children who died in recent months after their families had contact with the agency.
Individual
September 18, 2008
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Northeast Parent & Child hires new chief operating officer
The Northeast Parent & Child Society, a Schenectady nonprofit, named Hector Luis Ramirez chief operating officer and executive vice president of programs and services.
In his new position, Ramirez is responsible for Northeast's educational, residential, career development, community-based prevention, mental health and foster care programs.
The Business Review (Albany)
September 18, 2008
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Foster Care: Making a difference in the life of a child
by Bill Cirone
Right now, in Santa Barbara County 400 children are separated from their families as a result of physical and mental illness, incarceration, abuse, neglect, or abandonment, according to Rena Smith, a social worker with Family Care Network, Inc.
Family Care Network currently serves more than 100 children and youth per month in northern Santa Barbara County through Therapeutic Foster Care, Emergency Shelter Care, and Transitional Housing services. With support from the Santa Barbara County Education Office, Family Care Network also provides academic tutoring and support for the students and families they serve.
Santa Ynez Valley Journal
September 18, 2008
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Homeschooling gets green light from court
by Bob Unruh
An appeals court in California has ruled that state law does permit homeschooling as a species of private school education but that statutory permission for parents to teach their own children could be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child.
The long-awaited case resolves many of the questions that had developed in homeschooling circles across the nation when the same court earlier found that parents had no such rights - statutorily or constitutionally - in California.
World Net Daily (CA)
August 8, 2008
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Gardeners: Are you in the quarantine zone? - San Jose Mercury News
by Holly Hayes
Summer gardens are heading into their peak producing weeks, and it's a time-honored rite of the season to share and swap the bounty with neighbors, friends, family and co-workers.
But before you load up that basket of fresh-picked tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, and before you cut a bouquet of flowers to take to your mom, check out the latest version of the county's light brown apple moth quarantine map. Lines have recently been redrawn to include even more of Santa Clara County in an effort to curb the spread of this relatively new and voracious pest.
The Mercury News (CA)
August 1, 2008
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