It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Unfortunately, this week’s child welfare news is a bit depressing, so instead you might just want to click here and watch the Wheaton College 2022 Christmas concert. We went this past weekend (our son’s a sophomore there), and it was beautiful.
But if you’d rather face reality:
Maine’s Todd Landry has stepped down suddenly after five years as head of the state’s child welfare agency. His departure follows scrutiny from a legislative oversight committee and reports of a tragic child death. Landry himself was hired in 2019 after his predecessor was fired over a number of tragic child deaths. As a guy I know might say, in any state the child welfare director is often the State’s Most Disposable Leader.
Michigan’s Attorney General has filed charges in what is described as a conspiracy to adopt foster children for financial gain. The details here are pretty horrific.
I can’t believe that Vermont’s
onlineautomatedelectronic (?) child welfare data system was built before the Internet.Texas continues to struggle with its child welfare system, especially in caring for severely traumatized children whose behaviors make them difficult to help within a regular residential setting. The federal judge overseeing the system pursuant to a consent decree from a class action lawsuit will likely hold the State in contempt again, or even have the feds take over, but I’m not sure how that helps. The problem stems from a failed mental health system as much as anything else.
Minnesota’s child protection system, likewise, is alleged to be in serious trouble. “Minnesota's decentralized system suffers from `inconsistencies’ in services provided to families and `fragmented oversight’ of cases and law enforcement's child protection actions,” the legislative auditor told a legislative task force.
Faith-based providers are concerned that the Biden Administration’s new rules on “safe placements” for LGBTQI+ children in foster care may impact their religious free exercise rights. I’ve read the new regulation and guidance, and it specifically says that state child welfare agencies should not be placing faith-based providers in a position of choosing between their deeply held believes on sexuality and gender and their ability to serve. But some agencies will not respect religious rights. A bill in the US Senate would reinforce those rights.
NPR has a story on Joyce McMillan and her fight to change the child welfare system.
Will the “Take Care of Maya” case stop doctors from reporting suspected medical abuse?
Finally, no good deed goes unpunished? Embrace Families, the Florida child welfare “lead agency” for the Orlando area, suggests that its financial struggles stem at least in part from the fact that the agency has been successful in keeping children with their own families — as opposed to taking them into foster care, for which they would have been paid more.
Thanks for sticking with this week’s column through all the pain! As a reward for your labors, you can click here and listen to my late friend Pete’s favorite Christmas song by the Pogues (whose lead singer recently died).
Oh, and don’t forget to help Clark’s Christmas Kids give every child in Georgia’s foster care system a Merry Christmas!