Child Welfare in the News - March 10, 2011

FL: Relatives fight to adopt Fla. boy found in truckAssociated Press March 9, 2011Isidro and Ana Reyes, who are Victor's biological aunt and uncle, are now seeking custody of the boy. The couple sought to adopt the children after they were placed in foster care in 2004. A judge ultimately ruled that the twins should stay with their then-foster parents, the Barahonas, because they'd already bonded.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6018/0/

FL: Governor's budget slashes child welfareWTSP CBS4 March 9, 2011The governor wants to slash DCF's budget by $179 million. The cuts would eliminate 1,849 positions in the child welfare agency - a 14 percent reduction in its workforce.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6019/0/

FL: Agencies failed to share information about abused Barahona twinsSun Sentinel March 9, 2011There was one thing dozens of social workers, lawyers, family court judges, physicians, psychologists, volunteer guardians and state administrators failed to share: information. And it was abundantly available from school teachers who suspected as far back as 2005 that the twins were abused to the point of torture.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6020/0/

IA: Keep working to fix abusive state registryDes Moines Register March 8, 2011Instead of passing HF 191 out of committee, lawmakers added an amendment to another bill. It requires the Iowa Department of Human Services to work with other agencies and groups to address problems with the registry and report back in December.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6021/0/

MA: Middleborough police say state agency impeded child sex-abuse investigationWareham Courier March 9, 2011Middleborough police say the state Department of Children and Families impeded an investigation that led to the arrest this week of a man accused of sexually abusing three children repeatedly over a nine-year period.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6022/0/

NE: Moratorium proposed on child welfare privatization in three service areasLincoln Journal Star March 8, 2011Members of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee said Tuesday they would like to see a moratorium on a return to privatization of child welfare in western, central and northern areas of Nebraska.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6023/0/

OK: Last American Legion Children's Home will remain open, but under a new nameThe Oklahoman March 10, 2011An agreement filed Wednesday in Kay County District Court will allow the Ponca City, Oklahoma, home to change ownership and remain open as the Marland Children's Home.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6024/0/

OK: House passes child protection billKOCO March 9, 2011Under the bill, DHS would have to do a criminal background check on all people in the home the child was placed in.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6025/0/

TN: Oliver Spring couple files $50 million lawsuit over abuse charges, removal of childrenKnoxville News Sentinel March 10, 2011The lawsuit contends the children were uprooted from their home, coerced by children's advocacy groups and state Department of Children's Services employees and others, and placed in inappropriate foster homes.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6026/0/

UT: DCFS budget worries Utah’s social service advocatesThe Salt Lake Tribune March 8, 2011Utah’s social service advocates are doing some last-minute lobbying to eliminate a $5 million cut to the child welfare system that could mean a loss of 50 full-time caseworkers.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6027/0/

INTERNATIONAL
ARGENTINA: Where did I come from? Some stolen children don't want to knowNPR March 9, 2011Eight members of the military junta that ran Argentina in the 1970's are now sitting in a courtroom in Buenos Aires. They are accused of trafficking in stolen babies. Those babies are now around 35 years old. Many of them (but as you shall hear, not all) will soon be telling their stories in court.
http://listserve.icfi.com/t/342750/506004/6028/0/