Child Welfare in the News - March 8, 2011

AK: Tribes win adoption court caseFairbanks Daily News-Miner March 7, 2011
The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that tribes share jurisdiction with the state in most child custody issues, providing the second major victory for tribal sovereignty advocates in the past five months.
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/12213924/article-Tribes-win-adoption-court-case?instance=home_news_window_left_top_2

CA: California foster-care system: Secrecy that hurts kidsLos Angeles Times March 8, 2011
Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), one of the state's most conscientious legislators, has introduced a bill to open the state's dependency courts, where these cases are heard, to the public.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-newton-column-foster-care-20110308,0,654325.column?track=rss

FL: Strategy needed to thwart child-abuse deaths
Tbo.com March 8, 2011
Yet the scope of the problem attracts little attention on the part of our national leaders or even the national media. The question should not be "What will it take to end child abuse fatalities in Florida?", but rather, "What will it take to end child abuse fatalities in the United States?"
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/mar/08/PMEOPINO2-strategy-needed-to-thwart-child-abuse-de/

MN: Minn. bill to bring investors into social services
The Associated Press State & Local Wire March 7, 2011
A plan to revamp Minnesota government by getting investors to fund social service programs is drawing bipartisan support at the Capitol.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LQK9D00.htm

NV: State officials rebut Clark County complaints about proposed child welfare cuts
Las Vegas Review-Journal March 7, 2011
Department of Health and Human Services Director Mike Willden and senior policy adviser Dale Erquiaga said Clark County officials embellished the state's role in expected cuts to child welfare, saying state support has remained steady and county funding is falling behind.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/state-officials-rebut-clark-county-complaints-about-proposed-child-welfare-cuts-117558208.html?ref=208

NY: Foster care growing more responsive to youths' needs
Laconia Citizen March 6, 2011
Today, she participates in a regional Youth Advisory Board that meets monthly and includes children in foster care placement. The purpose is to get together, discuss situations and exchange ideas for improvement. "These are things that never happened when I was in care," Quigly said.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110306/GJNEWS02/303069996/-1/CITNEWS

OH: Lawsuit against Children Services might break new legal ground
Columbus Dispatch March 6, 2011
The civil lawsuit currently before a jury in U.S. District Court is a rare example of a complaint that survived the government-immunity and other legal hurdles that protect child-welfare agencies throughout the nation.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/03/06/lawsuit-against-childrens-services-might-break-new-ground.html?sid=101


WA: Jury in Olympia awards $600000 in DSHS civil suit
TheNewsTribune.com March 7, 2011
Olympia — A Thurston County jury has awarded $600000 to a former foster child at the center of an investigation into allegations of ritual sex abuse in Wenatchee in the mid-1990s. The jury on Monday found that the state Department of Social and Health ...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/07/1574634/jury-in-olympia-awards-600000.html

WI: Report finds room for improvement in licensing kinship foster parents
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel March 7, 2011
A new state law has increased licensing, training and payments for kinship foster parents, but the changes have not gone far enough, potentially leaving some children at risk, according to a report released Monday. Report available at: http://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads//2011/03/2011-03-07_ensuring_high_quality_kinship_care_for_wisconsin_children_final.pdf

US: Suffer the Children: Study of Head Trauma Abuse Spurs Questions
MyHealthNewsDaily March 7, 2011
A new study on child abuse — the first to look at the differences in head trauma perpetrated by men and women — may shed some light on this type of abuse, but raises even more questions about how many cases go undetected. The study looked at 48 cases ...
http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/child-abuse-head-trauma-male-female-abusers-1240/