Child Welfare in the News – March 3, 2011

AZ: Arizona bill giving married couples priority in adoptions gets preliminary approval
East Valley Tribune March 2, 2011
Married couples would get a leg-up over any single person in adopting a child under the terms of legislation given preliminary Senate approval on Wednesday.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/politics/article_bcdec16c-4546-11e0-85df-001cc4c03286.html

FL: Court keeps lid on some Nubia records
Miami Herald March 2, 2011
At an emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon, Circuit Judge Maria Sampedro-Iglesia ordered that transcripts detailing a teacher and principal’s concerns about the welfare of Nubia Barahona in her foster home be kept out of the public eye.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/02/2094530/court-keeps-lid-on-some-nubia.html

MN: Opening the books on adoption
Star Tribune March 2, 2011
Once firmly closed, adoption records are getting easier to access, drawn by the need for medical information and, sometimes, the hope of a reunion.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/family/116861188.html

MO: Bill to protect parents with disabilities' child custody rights
Missourian March 2, 2011
Lawmakers discussed a bill Wednesday that will prevent the state Department of Social Services from taking children from homes solely because a parent has a disability. It will also require the courts to prove a disability has a direct negative impact on a child before taking away the parent's custody rights.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/03/02/lawmakers-work-prevent-child-custody-loss-disabled-parents/

OK: Bill requires criminal background checks on parents by DHS
KTUL March 2, 2011
A committee will hear Speaker Kris Steele's House Bill 2136 which requires the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) to conduct criminal background checks on all adults living in a home before a foster child is reunited with a parent.
http://www.ktul.com/Global/story.asp?S=14174989

OR: Foster kids will get new haven
The Portland Tribune March 3, 2011
Bridge Meadows is a soon-to-open North Portland housing development serving families in the process of adopting foster children. The two-acre complex will have a mix of 27 affordable housing apartment units for “elders” – defacto grandparents who’ll help care for the youth – as well as nine homes for the adoptive families.
http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=129910331757637600

TX: Editorial: Kinship benefits to relatives better choice than foster care
Dallas Morning News March 2, 2011
The two-year budget now under construction in Austin gives lawmakers uncountable opportunities to demonstrate short-sightedness. They have little choice but to take the knife to most spending areas in state government, but we hope they spare those programs that cost money today but save taxpayers lots more over the long run. One such program provides payments to low-income relatives who care for children whose parents have lost custody.
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20110302-editorial-kinship-benefits-to-relatives-better-choice-than-foster-care.ece

US: The foster care ghetto and school reform
Dropout Nation March 2, 2011
The abysmal academic performance of kids in foster care all but ensures that most of them will end up in poverty or prison during their adulthood; based on the admittedly sparse data available, the unemployment rate for foster kids who had aged out two years earlier is around 51 percent.
http://dropoutnation.net/2011/03/02/dropout-nation-foster-care-ghetto-school-reform/

US: Landrieu introduces Foster Care Mentoring Act
KATC March 2, 2011
United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., introduced the Foster Care Mentoring Act of 2011 this week, which aims to connect foster youth with caring and supportive mentors. Joining Sen. Landrieu in sponsoring this bill are Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
http://www.katc.com/news/landrieu-introduces-foster-care-mentoring-act/

US: Reasons other than racism factor into disproportionality in child abuse reporting
Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom March 1, 2011
In a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, F. Brett Drake, PhD, professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, finds that much, if not most, of the overrepresentation of black children in maltreatment reporting is due to increased exposure to risk factors such as poverty.
http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21970.aspx

US: Even in sex abuse cases, families have rights
USA Today March 2, 2011
At issue in Camreta v. Greene is the extent to which we are willing to allow state officials, rather than parents, to make decisions affecting the health and well-being of our children. "S.G.," a 9-year-old girl, was taken from her class to be interviewed by a police officer and a caseworker because of vague allegations that her father had sexually abused her.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-03-03-column03_ST1_N.htm