Preserving families but losing children
March 16, 2014
The Miami Herald investigates how 477 children died of abuse or neglect after falling through Florida's protective net.
The Foster Care System
March 3, 2014
If the phrase “fall through the cracks” applies to anyone, it is the children of the foster care system.
In 2012, 397,122 American children lived in foster care, which represents 0.5% of the under 18 population. Due to either child abuse, neglect, or a parent's death, they became wards of the state, placed in temporary homes or institutions by a foster care agency. State investigators, assisted by police officers, took some of these children away from parents that hit or pimped them. Others they removed because a doctor reported that a child was malnourished or a parent failed to administer a baby's medication. Parents sometimes leave their children at foster agencies themselves, using them like adoption facilities.
Bill Seeks Disclosure About Child Deaths
February 28, 2014
Tallahaseee, FL - A House Democrat filed a proposal (HB 1221) Friday that would require broad disclosure of information about children who die or nearly die because of abuse or neglect.
How Bones Can Reveal Child Abuse
February 18, 2014
By the time relatives found 19-month-old DeVarion Gross concealed inside an 18-gallon storage container in his mother's closet, his body was too decomposed for investigators to determine how he had died.
Seven Ways to Reform Foster Care
February 18, 2014
I spent my teenage years in foster care, bouncing around in 14 different placements in two separate counties. In that time, I've lived in almost every type of residency: emergency shelters, a homeless shelter, group homes, foster homes, and with kin
Editorial: Foster children need timely legal protection
February 18, 2014
WASHINGTON state is not doing what it should to protect the legal rights of the nearly 10,000 foster children in its care. First Star, a nonprofit advocating for abused and neglected children nationwide, gives the state an F and ranks it 48th in the nation in its latest report card. The rating is based partly on the fact that most counties do not require courts to appoint attorneys to represent children in dependency cases.
Lawmakers grapple with changing the culture at DCF
February 11, 2014
TALLAHASSEE -- Both chambers of the Legislature took up child-welfare reform Tuesday, hearing from a wide range of experts with research about staff turnover and caseloads.
Child deaths from abuse decrease in Texas, though not in Dallas County
February 11, 2014
Abuse-related deaths of Texas children decreased last year, though they increased significantly in Dallas County, the Department of Family and Protective Services reported Tuesday.
Abuse victim protections weakest in nation
February 2, 2014
All 50 states have law on their books to enable a victim of domestic abuse to be protected from the abuser by obtaining a civil protective order from a court. The protective order sets strict limits on an abuser's ability to physically communicate with the victim or approach the victim's home, school or workplace.
Sun Dancing on Snow: Shining a Bright Light on Social Justice
January 31, 2014
You fly in through Salt Lake City. You drive your rental car up and up and up to Park City. It's snow, Venti-sized drinks and premiere screenings day and night over the ten days of the 30th anniversary edition of the Sundance Film Festival.