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Kidjacked | Jacked Up
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From 2000 to 2004 - 256,000 children were adopted and another 624,000 languish in foster care waiting. National CPS News Archive
National News Coverage
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Young lives blighted forever
by Kim Dungey
When Dunedin man Clem Wright died a virtual recluse, his stepbrother Vince claimed he was one of many former foster children whose lives had been ruined by abuse.
Mr. Wright was raised by loving foster parents but Clem Wright lived in 14 homes in 14 years, suffered from rickets and was attacked by his foster parents with a stock whip. Convinced that situation was not unusual in New Zealand in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. Wright sought stories of others in the area who had been fostered.
Otago Daily Times (NZ)
November 7, 2008
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Child Neglect at Hospital
by Gary Smollen
Omaha Police cited a Heartland woman for misdemeanor child neglect, after she allegedly left her daughter in the car during her shift at Methodist Hospital.
The six year old girl told one of the case managers at Child Protective Services that her mother left her in the car while she went to work at the hospital. When police approached 35-year old Natina Bass about her daughter's story, Bass asked for a lawyer.
WOWT
November 7, 2008
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Right-to-life girl dies amid legal battle over her care
by Richard Savill
A terminally ill six-year-old girl has died as her parents faced a "right-to-life" legal battle with a hospital over her care.
Amber Hartland suffered from a rare brain disorder, called Infantile Tay-Sachs, which left her almost totally paralysed, unable to speak and severely epileptic.
Telegraph (UK)
November 4, 2008
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TheStar.com | ParentCentral | Foster home shortage now critical, says CAS
by Noor Javed
Toronto's children's aid societies are facing a critical shortage of foster parents - and there is growing concern a recession could make the situation even worse.
During the last recession in the early '90s, the agencies saw the number of children coming into care rise, leading to increased demand for foster families. But even in times of prosperity, Toronto has had the second-lowest number of children living in foster homes in the province - only 49 per cent of children live in a family setting.
The Toronto Star
October 31, 2008
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Dept places over 490 000 vulnerable children in foster care
by Nthambeleni Gabara
Pretoria -- The Department of Social Development has placed over 490 000 children in foster care and has provided over eight million children with Child Support Grants.
Addressing the media on Monday on the department's progress in assisting orphans and vulnerable children, Social Development Minister, Zola Skweyiya said the country has done incredibly well to provide a social safety net for the poor, especially children.
BuaNews (South Africa)
October 27, 2008
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SAPD, CPS Investigating Child's Sudden Death
SAN ANTONIO -- Cyleste Gonzales was not breathing when she was taken to Children's Methodist Hospital on Sunday afternoon, said SAPD Sgt. Gabe Trevino.
A caregiver's three biological children have been placed with family members as Child Protective Services and San Antonio police investigate the death of a 2-year-old girl.
KSAT San Antonio
October 27, 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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Children at risk as foster care crisis escalates
Children in the care of the Ministry of Social Services in Regina are at risk as an emergency situation in the foster care system escalates.
Children, from infants to 16-year-olds, are being housed in overflow facilities, such as hotel rooms, a situation that social services staff say is not appropriate or safe. The increase in the number of children coming into care can be traced back to government decisions to eliminate preventative programs that support vulnerable families.
National Union (Canada)
October 20, 2008
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Hearing on State's Child Welfare Agency
by Annie Rourke
Hartford (WTNH) -- State leaders called for major changes, to the State's Child Welfare Agency, in a hearing Monday. Among the topics was the death of a baby in DCF care.
Testifying before the Select Committee on Children was DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton. She admitted the system failed when it gave 7-month-old baby Michael Brown to 42-year-old Suzanne Listro -- a DCF employee and foster mother. There were two prior investigations of Listro for abuse.
News Channel 8
October 20, 2008
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Woman pleads not guilty due to insanity
by Will Bublitz
A Grand Lake woman has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of a foster child last January.
Michelle Baber is accused in the Jan. 9 death of 3-year-old Daisai Derzon, a foster child in her care who died of head injuries.
Summit Daily News (CO)
October 11, 2008
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Housing sought for kids too old for foster care
by Heidi Atkin
The Salt Lake County Youth Government Commission intends to minimize homelessness by creating housing options for foster-care children too old to remain in state custody, according to Marianne Brough, Youth EmployAbility Services.
She says that as many as 65 percent of youth who become too old for foster care land on the street within two years. As a ward of Utah's foster-care system, Michelle Connelley will lose her right to live with a foster-care family when she turns 18 next year. She is unsure where she will go or how she will afford her new independence; she says she feels anxious and naive.
The Salt Lake Tribune
October 11, 2008
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Report shows Hall County has fewer children in foster care
by Stephen Gurr
Hall County's social service officials pull fewer at-risk children away from their families and keep them in foster care for less time than most large counties in Georgia, according to statistics presented at a Thursday seminar.
Officials with the Hall County office of Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services joined judges, attorneys, school social workers, clergy members, child advocates and law enforcement officials for Thursday's Hall County Justice for Children Summit. They heard statistics that portrayed Hall County as ahead of the curve when it came to keeping endangered children with relatives and out of foster homes.
The Gainesville Times (GA)
October 11, 2008
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A crusade for NYC's foster kids
by Matt Hampton
After spending 21 years in New York City's child welfare system, one young man has decided to stand up and fight for a cause he believes has fallen by the wayside during the last two decades in New York City.
Among the changes that Robinson wants to make are the appointment of an independent advisory committee, a tracking system whereby citizens who have aged out can be monitored, and life skills workshops. Robinson also believes that foster parents need to undergo more thorough background checks.
Queens Chronicle
October 9, 2008
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WI couple learns their baby died in foster home crib
MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee couple is still waiting for answers after their baby boy died in foster care last week -- two days after being removed with three other children from their home.
"A week before he was taken from the home we had taken him to the doctor and he was as healthy as can be," the boy's father, Robert Whitman, said Tuesday night. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office reported Oct. 2 that 2-month-old Robert R. Whitman was found dead earlier that day in the crib where he was sleeping at a foster home.
KARE 11 News
October 8, 2008
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Disgusted with the system: New York City Family Court is over burderned
After 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was discovered emaciated and beaten to death despite warning signs of her abuse, sweeping reforms were made to New York's child welfare agency.
Millions were invested, caseworkers were added and police presence beefed up. But the legal system that deals with troubled families remains stagnant in the two years since Nixzmary's death, choked with a backlog of hundreds of cases that forces children around the state to languish in foster care.
Disgusted with the System
October 4, 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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Vouchers benefit foster children
by Stuart Butler
More than a half-million children are in foster care. By definition, they've had it tough.
Child-welfare professionals recognize that, even when they extricate children from deeply troubled home situations and place them in protective, supportive foster homes, the change takes a toll on the children. It tears the little ones away from all that is familiar - neighborhoods, friends and entire social networks - at a critical time in their development.
The Washington Times
October 2, 2008
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As Governor, Andy Horning Will Eliminate DCS
DCS is an unconstitutional bureaucracy and I would end it.
No one would ever again lose a child without due process, probable cause, a high standard of evidence, and conviction of a crime.
Honk for Kids
October 2, 2008
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Woman charged with neglecting children
by Shawn McGrath
An Anderson woman faces a felony charge for allegedly neglecting her 4- and 6-year-old daughters while she visited a plasma center Tuesday.
Hornaday arrived at the apartment shortly before 2:30 p.m. She said she was at the blood plasma center, International Bio Resources, 19 W. Ninth St., but didn't say how long she was gone. An employee at the plasma center said Hornaday was at the center from about 8:20 a.m. until after 2 p.m.
The Herald Bulletin
October 1, 2008
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Child Protective Services With Too Much Autonomy
by Stan Williams, Ph.D.
I've been on the fringe of a Gestapo-styled Child Protective Services (CPS) case for the past year, and I've been told by someone who should know that my name is probably listed on a "Child Abuse" list somewhere.
What concerns me more (than my name being on the SS's list) is the rampant abuse that CPS inflicts on families under the color of law, without a court hearing. And when there are hearings the judge usually only hears from the CPS workers, who's job appears to be the prosecution of easy marks -- poor persons and the uneducated.
Crossing Nineveh
September 28, 2008
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Don't Overreact
by Richard Wexler
Why even try to help parents living in indescribable squalor? Why not just take away the child and be done with it? The answer has nothing to do with the rights of parents and everything to do with the needs of children.
For starters, filthy conditions may tell you that parents are clueless or mentally ill. It does not tell you they are evil or that someone may rape and murder a child. Indeed, all over the country, children have been victims of "fatal neatness" - they die in cases where child protective services was warned, but suspected nothing precisely because the home was spotless.
Syracuse
September 25, 2008
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Caseload Crisis
by Simon Moon and Matt Driscoll
When it comes to protecting kids in Washington state from abuse and neglect, the state Department of Social and Health Service, or DSHS, Children's Administration has it rough. Complaints pour in on a daily basis.
It's a fact that DSHS Children's Administration is a complex and massive operation with an annual budget close to $600 million and roughly 2,900 employees. The Children's Administration receives an average of 80,000 complaints a year stemming from alleged child abuse. A recent state audit, in turn, expressed concern about 60 percent - 12 out of 20 - of child abuse referrals reviewed.
The Weekly Volcano
September 25, 2008
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Study supports gay adoptions
by Ofelia Casillas and Bonnie Miller Rubin
While Clay Aiken may be on the cover of People cradling his infant and Rosie O'Donnell has long shared stories of her brood, the highly charged issue of gay parenthood continues to rally those who say such homes are not in the best interest of a child.
"The pool of potential adoptive parents must be expanded to keep pace with the growing number of kids in foster care who are legally free for adoption," stated the report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, which is based in New York.
Chicago Tribune (IN)
September 25, 2008
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Push is on to establish CASA in Phillips County
by Michele Page
Helena -- While Gov. Mike Beebe is addressing the high rate of child abuse incidents in the Arkansas's foster care system, a push to establish a local Court Appointed Special Advocates program in Phillips County is in the works.
Since 1992, the state's child welfare system has been under close scrutiny and legislative oversight but state trends show that child neglect and abuse incidents are increasing. According to a study complied by Arkansas Advocates For Children and Families, the state welfare system has continually failed to meet set goals related to family preservation or reunification.
Helena Daily World (AR)
September 24, 2008
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YouTube: Pedophile Playground
The world became a smaller place with the advent of online social networking. MySpace pages are simple to construct and navigate - so simple, even a child can design one.
While MySpace was being conceived and constructed, another idea was taking root - a place of social networking that was centered around the concept of sharing video files. Ostensibly, the videos were supposed to be ones owned and created by the YouTube user, but anyone could see the opportunity for the distribution of copyrighted material, and soon duplicated versions of television shows were making the circuit, being uploaded almost as quickly as YouTube could take them down.
Therjcarter's Weblog
September 24, 2008
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