Last post of the year

.... a little news going into NYE

Here’s the latest child welfare news for the end of December:

• ProPublica is out with another article in its series on the child welfare system. This one points out that parents in child protection (dependency and termination of parental rights) cases don’t have the same protections as do individuals charged with a crime even though losing your child permanently is a very serious matter. I do think the Supreme Court needs to revisit its Lassiter decision from 1981, in which the Court held that there is no blanket constitutional right to counsel for a parent involved in a termination of parental rights case.

• In light of some ongoing struggles with its child welfare agency, Louisiana advocates are pushing for a state child protection ombudsman.

• Good story here on Safe Haven laws, which allow a mother who does not feel capable of caring for her child to leave him or her at a safe place of refuge (such as a hospital or fire station), often anonymously and without legal consequence. The concept is not new: In 1198, Pope Innocent III ordered all churches in Italy to have a “foundling wheel” where a newborn could be placed anonymously and receive proper care.

• NPR has a piece that claims many states allow children to be permanently taken away from their parents for failure to pay a debt. While the article sounds like something out of a Dickens tale, it’s a bit less dramatic. Some states do charge parents for the costs of foster care, a practice that the federal government has now suggested should end. But in many states, one of the factors in determining whether a parent has abandoned a child — an action warranting termination of parental rights — is whether the parent has done anything to support the child in foster care. Examples could include sending gifts, visiting, paying child support, and taking any other action demonstrating a desire to care for and maintain a bond with the child.

• Arizona’s new Governor has appointed Matthew Stewart, a critic of the State’s child welfare system (“DCS”) to run that system. Prior to his appointment, Stewart recently told NBC News: “Generational poverty and the resulting trauma within families have been centuries in the making. . . . Are parents supposed to believe that after DCS takes custody of their children, “these things will be solved? I simply don’t think DCS is the agency to do this.”

• Texas Foster Care and Adoption Services, a significant placement contractor for Texas’ Department of Family Protection, is shutting down. Read the article and determine for yourself whether the issue is (1) lack of quality leadership, (2) overregulation by the State, or (3) both.

• Looks like Kansas is rebidding its foster care contracts.

Thanks for supporting this blog during its first full year of existence! Happy New Year!