Each week, First Star features links to local, state and/or national
news coverage of child welfare-related issues — with a special
focus on improving system accountability, introducing best practices
and encouraging reform through public policy.
December 11, 2006
Cincinnati Enquirer — Enquirer presses for foster records
New York Times — After 7-Year-Old’s Death, Agency Monitors Cases More Aggressively
Las Vegas Review-Journal — Protections sought for children in government care; Legislators finalize agenda of bill drafts
December 4, 2006
Palm Beach Post — DCF adoption cases hurt by shortage of attorneys
Columbus Dispatch — Children's services agency reins in independent foster-care providers
November 27, 2006
Charlotte Observer — Change mires mental health;
Severely ill children languish in backlog after outsourcing
Chicago Tribune — DCFS walks fine line on child welfare;
Advocates see risks in the push to keep some families intact
New Haven Register — Kids at a legal disadvantage in protection cases
Detroit News — Overloaded system endangers foster kids
November 20, 2006
Dallas Morning News — More black children taken from their homes, staying longer in foster care
Cincinnati Enquirer — Fixes sought for foster care;
Tougher laws, oversight urged after child's death
November 13, 2006
New York Times — Response to Child Deaths Suggests a System Poised to Work
Philadelphia Inquirer — Poster children of the foster system
Providence (Rhode Island) Journal — High Caseloads Said to Endanger Children
Philadelphia Inquirer — DHS moves swiftly on review; The new leader said a probe in-house would review dozens of contractors being paid to monitor children
November 6, 2006
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette — Grant to help boost foster-children visits
Detroit Free Press — Survey aims to help foster youths’ futures
The Daily Times — Growing child numbers boost foster parent demand: Recruitment can be a challenge, officials say
October 16 , 2006
Greensboro News & Record — DSS keeps up the not-so-good fight
Dallas Morning News — Judge sees crisis in foster care; Her panel suggests group homes, more control for CPS workers
Salt Lake Tribune — Pay cut a new challenge for foster parents
October 9 , 2006
Boston Globe — Group says abused children need their own lawyers
US Newswire — Researchers Present Evidence to Combat Child Abuse, Poverty, Youth Violence
Indianapolis Star — Protecting Kids, Abusing Power? Indiana’s child protection system interferes too easily with Hoosier families, critics say
San Antonio Express-News — Families Fighting for Custody of Girl and for Her Culture
September 25, 2006
Cleveland Plain Dealer — Millions for Ohio's needy unspent;
Money reserved for foster care of children by relatives, family friends
San Jose Mercury News — Better future for foster kids seen as governor signs bills; Historic year included increased state funding
New York Times — As Time Stands Still in Court, Justice for a Broken Girl Waits
September 19, 2006
Sacramento Bee — Foster Child Deaths Tallied: Some 50 children died last year in the state’s protective care, say the advocates tracking numbers
Boston Globe — For-Profits to Compete in Child Placements: Measure was approved without public hearing
September 11, 2006
Hartford Courant — Foster Care Less Centralized;
Fewer Children In Large Residential Centers, Report Says
September 4, 2006
Las Vegas Review-Journal — Child welfare lawsuit filed; 'It is a system that helps to destroy them'
Dallas Morning News — Report mixed on CPS services; Caseloads fall slightly, but continued turnover a problem
Indianapolis Star — $98M sought for child services;
Agency's proposals to help abused and neglected kids soften criticism of state control
August 14 , 2006
St. Paul Pioneer Press — Researchers and protection workers say it's an emerging, troubling trend: Children abused, some fatally, by their mothers' boyfriends
August 7 , 2006
Washington Post — With child slayings, there may never be a why; but prosecutor June Jeffries makes sure there's a who
Detroit Free-Press — Child advocates to sue state over care
Group seeks to prod officials to find homes for foster kids
July 24 , 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Ruling gives judges, not agency, power of adoption for foster kids
New York Times Magazine — The case of Marie and her sons
*May require free registration
New York Times — Trying to keep child care in the family
*May require free registration
July 17 , 2006
Los Angeles Times — Long-separated father, daughter sue L.A. County foster care agency
*May require free registration
Los Angeles Times — Bipartisan accord hikes California's foster care funds by $83 million
Idaho Statesmen — Idaho works to unite kids with kin, but some say not hard enough
July 10 , 2006
Akron Beacon Journal — Foster adoption law brings success, challenges
Lincoln Journal-Star — Nebraska's governor pushes child welfare reform
July 3 , 2006
Sacramento Bee — Schools at group homes assailed;
Lawsuit contends California must improve the quality of education for some 18,000 foster children
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Policy dispute jeopardizes foster care program for children
June 26, 2006
Pasadena Weekly — Thousands of Los Angeles foster children leave county care for a dangerous and desperate life on the streets
Florida Sun-Sentinel — Foster children re-abuse rate is up; State audit says change occurred after welfare services privatized
San Diego Union-Tribune — Couple opens home as emergency shelter for neglected kids before placement in foster care
San Diego Union-Tribune — Program focues on big picture for foster kids
June 19, 2006
Charlotte Observer — N.C. taking foster kids' Social Security money to pay for their care
June 12, 2006
Sacramento Bee — Child welfare comes to a crossroads;
The foster care system, faulted in a federal review, faces the loss of tens of millions of dollars if it doesn't improve
*May require free registration
Rocky Mountain News — Staying close to home;
Community approach to foster children puts Denver at leading edge of reform movement
June 5, 2006
ABC News/Primetime features foster care in America
The Oregonian — As state aid drops, foster care increases
Los Angeles Times — Teens speak out about foster care;
Thirty youth gather to tell policymakers about problems they face and suggest some solutions
The Seattle Times—Abuse missed in children's deaths, report says
Los Angeles Times Magazine — Ready or Not?
Judge Michael Nash is challenging the notion that kids should leave foster care at age 18
May 29, 2006
Miami Herald — Moving on, moving up; A nonprofit group is creating homes in comfortable neighborhoods for young women who are 'aging out' of foster care
Time magazine — When foster teens find a home; More families are adopting older kids. But taking in an adolescent can create a new set of challenges for the parents and the child
Dallas Morning News — Units proposed for life after foster care; Apartments could aid homeless, but some see better land use
May 22, 2006
Hartford Courant — Children On The Run; Agency reports that nearly five dozen Connecticut youth are missing or unaccounted for
Seattle Times — Foster parents move toward forming a union
Chicago Tribune — Foster kids beat the odds;
Some former wards of the state find college diplomas are in reach - thanks to DCFS programs and supportive mentors
Stateline.org — States expand kinship care programs
May 8, 2006
Balitmore Sun — Tragedy prompts policy review;
Officials aim to help endangered kids
Time Magazine — When Parents Are the Threat;
Minnesota social workers are finding that the best way to fight child abuse is to stop it before it starts
May 1, 2006
Orlando Sentinel — Hurdles remain for ex-foster kids' health coverage; Dueling versions of bills in the House and Senate could complicate matters
San Diego Union-Tribune — Judge strikes down Missouri law restricting adoption subsidies
April 17 , 2006
Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Ledger— Foster child adoption push investigated; Report says state unjustly terminate parental righst for federal money
Miami Herald — Bill gives state say over disabled foster kids' care;
As judges and the state argue over the care of disabled foster children, lawmakers ponder a bill that would settle the dispute
April 10 , 2006
Boston Globe — BMC to go national with legal aid program;
Lawyers, doctors team up for health
*May require free registration
Washington Post — DeLays' private campaign for kids;
Rio Bend project is foster community unlike any other
Orlando Sentinel — Former foster kids may get options; Those who reach 18 without being adopted might get more state help
April 3 , 2006
MSNBC — Shortage of child psychiatrists taking big toll;
Average caseload of 750 disturbed youths per doctor, research indicates
San Francisco Chronicle — Foster-care funding: New flexibility hailed as asset to helping childern
Boston Globe — Lawmakers to unveil DSS overhaul plan;
Police, not social workers, would probe violent cases
March 27, 2006
The Kalamazoo Gazette — Michigan's child abuse-prevention efforts falter
*May require free registration
San Diego Union-Tribune — Caring for foster care;
New panel to take two-year look at state's sprawling system
March 20, 2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution — After $32 million, child welfare computer in limbo;
Legislators want to see progress in tracking children
*May require free registration
Seattle Times — Concerns may end unique foster-care program
Austin American-Statesman — For those in foster care, academic barriers arise early;
Foster children are twice as likely to drop out of high school and only 3 in 100 earn bachelor's degrees
March 13, 2006
Baltimore Sun — Most-troubled kids languish in youth jails; in Maryland, backlog of juveniles awaiting placement builds
San Francisco Chronicle — Mental health care ordered for foster kids;
Institutionalization cannot be only option, judge rules
February 27 , 2006
San Francisco Chronicle — Breakthrough in foster care; California legislators unite to prioritize child welfare
The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) — Success against all odds
February 20 , 2006
Kentucky Courier-Journal — Social worker debate expands;
House speaker opposes plan; agency stands firm
Boston Globe — DSS plans a shift in children's placement;
Critics fear move away from residential schools
*May require free registration
February 13 , 2006
New York Times — Welfare Agencies Seek Foster Children's Assets
*May require free registration
Omaha World-Herald — Nebraska doesn't give up on its former wards; Adult life can be tough for
ex-foster kids
*May require free registration
Atlanta Journal-Constitution—
Child welfare lawsuit settled; County must provide "adequate, effective and zealous" attorneys to represent abused and neglected children in the child welfare system
February 6 , 2006
Baltimore Sun — Group home reform proposed;
Leaders suggest better oversight, yearly reviews for foster facilities
*May require free registration
San Antonio Express News — Arrests shine light on child abuse
January 30, 2006
New York Times — Caseworkers Missed Chances to Save Nixzmary, Report Says
*May require free registration
Indianapolis Star — State taking baby steps along child welfare path
January 23, 2006
Christian Science Monitor — A push to focus on worst cases in child abuse
Los Angeles Times — Ending an awful irony; Until a new California law went into effect, the 'incest exception' allowed many child sex abusers to go free
New York Times — New York acts to coordinate child welfare
*May require free registration
January 16, 2006
USA Today — Underground network moves children from home to home
Louisville Courier-Journal — More funding sought to help abused children
Las Vegas Sun — State fails to provide representation for many abused, neglected children
New York Times — Child welfare workers suspended after girl's death
January 9, 2006
Baltimore Sun — Child welfare system assailed;
Audit finds state deficient in staffing, abuse probes
*May require registration/fee to search archive
Indianapolis Star — Children's issues on agenda;
Legislators propose boosting state share of child welfare costs, expediting court cases
January 2, 2006
Philadelphia Inquirer — Why DYFS health effort is lagging: Fewer than a third of new foster children have been checked; weak coordination and a shortage of exam centers are blamed
Cincinnati Post — New report says kids in state's care are subject to 'luck of the draw'
Hartford Courant — Foster Homes Declining In State;
DCF Struggling To Support Families, Recruit New Ones
*May require registration/fee to search archive
Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, S.D.) — Bill to help shield kids a complex proposal
