National CPS News Archive

Father of 4-month-old charged with attempted murder

TROY, N.Y. -- A Troy man is charged with attempted murder after his 4-month-old son suffered life-threatening head injuries.

Rensselaer County Child Protective Services contacted Troy police on Sunday regarding 4-month-old Matthew Thomas who was being treated at Albany Medical Center for significant brain damage caused by trauma to the head.

Capital News 9

September 23, 2008

Man: DFCS is 'responsible' for baby's death | ajc.com

by Craig Schneider

On Dec. 3, 2007, Jessica Scovil was born at St. Mary's Hospital in Athens, weighing 6 pounds and 10 ounces. The couple were delighted, and nervous. Their life as parents, though, would last less than a year.

The state removed Jessica from her home and placed her with a foster family. The couple were devastated but determined to bring their daughter home, and they earnestly began working to fulfill the state's demands in order to get Jessica back. The happy reunion never arrived. Jessica died while in the care of a state-appointed foster mother.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)

September 20, 2008

Sister became foster parent

by Kelly Crawford

Sarah Blackwell, originally from Aundeck Omni Kaning, is committed to offering continuous support to her entire family.

Blackwell has taken care of two of her sisters while raising her own family. She was the legal guardian to one sister and fostered the other. It doesn't matter that I am her sister; we have a parent-child relationship. That was and continues to be the most challenging thing to parent her. I am not her sister; I am her parent."

The North Bay Nugget - Ontario, Canada

September 20, 2008

Finally something to take my mind off Palin--Weekly update from Children's Monitor Online

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to pick up where it left off in late July when it meets September 10 to mark up a major child welfare bill, the Improvements in Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act (S. 3038).

The Senate Finance Committee bill represents a bipartisan agreement between Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). That Chairman's mark or substitute bill evolved out of discussions on S. 3038, which Grassley introduced in May.

Prin's Links for Social Work Students

September 20, 2008

Brawling foster carers go to court

A DISPUTE between factions in the normally sedate community of foster carers spilled into the courts yesterday, the latest of an increasingly bizarre series of events at the nation's largest support group for foster carers.

The Foster Care Association of NSW has been torn apart by allegations of thefts of money and membership lists from its headquarters, bullying and intimidation. Police and security guards have been called to board meetings, some of which have gone on for more than six hours.

The Australian

September 19, 2008

No Charges Filed After Alleged Day Care Assault

WEEPING WATER, Neb. -- The Cass County attorney decides not to file charges after a 5-year-old boy accuses a teenager of sexually assaulting him at a home-based child care in Weeping Water.

The boy told his dad, and later the Cass County sheriff, that he had been molested by a 13-year-old during a game of Truth or Dare at his day care. The Callahans turned the case over to the Cass County sheriff and Nebraska's Child Protective Services offices.

KETV Omaha

September 19, 2008

'I do not remove a child unless it is the right thing to do'

by Frances Gibb

The Afro-Caribbean father cut a lonely figure in his open-necked shirt as he faced the judge in the echoing court. He had not seen his children for two years. There were no lawyers and the mother could not attend.

The setting was one of the grandest of the Victorian Gothic courtrooms at the Royal Courts of Justice - scene of many a highly publicised battle. But today the oak benches and public gallery were empty. It was a family court - where justice is dispensed behind closed doors.

Times Online (UK)

September 18, 2008

State asked to keep FLDS girl in custody

by Brooke Adams

Child welfare officials plan to ask a Texas judge to keep a 14-year-old FLDS girl in custody because her parents continue to be uncooperative.

Merril Jessop, the girl's father and bishop of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, remains in hiding, and Barbara Jessop, her mother, has circumvented visitation rules on several occasions. Barbara Jessop asked the state to let the girl's younger brother be allowed to join her in custody. She also asked that another daughter be allowed to trade places with the 14-year-old.

The Salt Lake Tribune

September 18, 2008

Family Violence Highly Toxic to Previously Abused Children

by Judith Groch

A child who is subject to harsh discipline or witnesses violence in the home is likely to have increased psychological and behavioral problems with further exposure to abuse, a study found.

The study found that previously abused children who subsequently witnessed home violence were more likely to have internalized symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. By contrast, previously abused children subjected to further harsh physical discipline externalized their symptoms, becoming more aggressive and prone to rule-breaking, the researchers reported.

Med Page Today

September 18, 2008

On day three, child rights takes centre stage at Executive Board session

by Roshni Karwal

The Convention on the Rights of the Child protects children by setting universal standards for them regarding health care, education, and legal, civil and social services.

Some 23,700 children have been registered as a result of a national birth-registration campaign. During the campaign, more than 300 birth registry stations were set up at clinics and hospitals in the public system. "Birth registration is critical because it helps provide children with access to the services and protection to which they are entitled."

UNICEF Executive Board

September 18, 2008

Hampton father speaks about leaving kids alone

by Kay Young

A Hampton father says "was an idiot" when he left his three children at home alone last week. "I was not thinking clearly and I left my kids." Hampton Police call his mistake, a felony.

The father of three said he and his wife Jennifer, who is also charged with three counts of Felony Child Neglect, left their home last Wednesday so he could run an errand for work. While they were gone, people saw their 3-year-old son, and 2-year-old twins - a boy and a girl - outside in the street alone.

WAVY

September 17, 2008

Abused children sent home in foster carer shortage

by Caroline Overington

ABUSED children are routinely returned to the homes where they were assaulted because the NSW Department of Community can no longer find foster carers willing to take them.

"It's a problem of their (DOCS) own making," said one foster mother, who has cared for neglected children, including a blind girl still in her custody, since 1993. "They treat foster parents with complete contempt, and they are leaving in droves."

The Australian

September 17, 2008