In my child welfare news feeds, I often come across articles asking such questions as, “how old do my children have to be to stay at home unsupervised?” as well as articles about parents who have been charged criminally for failing to provide proper supervision. So I was intrigued when, via the ABA Journal, I came across an interesting new opinion from the Iowa Supreme Court reversing a mother’s conviction for leaving a number of her children, ages 5-12, home alone while she went to Walmart.
While the mother was out, a couple of the children — aged 9 and 10 — got in a spat that resulted in the nine-year old running off the immediate grounds of the family’s apartment complex and a call to 911. Police came, and the mother was charged with and convicted of child endangerment, which in Iowa requires a showing that the defendant “knowingly act[ed] in a manner that creates a substantial risk to a child or minor’s physical, mental or emotional health or safety.”
The mother appealed, and the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed her conviction. The Supreme Court reversed after finding there was insufficient evidence to justify a finding that the mother created a substantial risk of danger to the children. The Court held:
“Life is inherently risky. None of us can escape all risks. And no parent can shield a child from all risks. Rather, parents' best hope is simply to manage life's risks—including the very real risk that our efforts to avoid one risk will end up creating new and different risks.”
In most cases, the Court held, “parent-created risks are those risks that arise from parents' illegal or overtly abusive behavior” or at a minimum the facts demonstrate that the parent’s behavior “created an identifiable risk that fell clearly outside the risks of ordinary life.”
In sum, the Court found that life is full of risks that parents don’t “create,” and “[N]avigating life's endless stream of risks can be challenging for parents.” The case gives support to those who advocate for free-range parenting. The case is State v. Cole (Iowa 2024)
This article calls for the repeal of CAPTA (The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act), linking to a Children’s Rights website claiming the law’s mandated reporting requirements target minority families simply for being poor.
More news on baby boxes.
Thalia Gonzalez has sued the hospital in New York City where she gave birth to her sixth child because they reported her to child protective services when they learned three of her older children were in foster care. The linked article points out that Gonzalez was a victim of domestic violence and shouldn’t be “punished” for being a victim. But it also appears that it was NYC’s CPS agency, presumably backed by a court order, that resulted in the infant’s foster care placement. Wasn’t the hospital simply following its legal mandate to report?
Speaking of such mandates, there’s a new journal article out that questions whether mandated reporting is effective or, instead, clogs up the child welfare system and renders it less able to address serious abuse.
A longtime juvenile court judge has taken the helm of Louisiana’s child welfare agency.
Child abuse reports are up in Pennsylvania since the end of the pandemic.
Legislation in Kansas would make the State Child Advocate’s office independent of the Governor.
Child advocates and juvenile judges in Kentucky are expressing concerns over the child protection agency’s structured decisionmaking assessment used to determine how the agency should respond to a child maltreatment allegation. They’re saying it screens out children who need help.
In Texas, a 12-year old went straight to a TV station to inform them he had suffered years of abuse with no relief.
West Virginia is considering a law that would prevent parents suspected of child abuse from homeschooling their children.
Recognizing the need to assist youth aging out of foster care, a Vermont legislator has proposed requiring the state’s higher ed institutions to provide greater services, including tuition waivers, to homeless and former foster youth.
North Dakota has received approval for a Medicaid waiver to expand autism services for children and youth and their families. Every state should be pursuing these.
Naomi Schaefer Riley argues that the Children’s Bureau has lost its way.
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