● There’s nothing unusual about a child protective hotline
being used as a weapon of family destruction by those making malicious false
reports and by “mandated reporters” making CYA calls. It is
unusual when the child protective services agency admits this is a problem –
even when they won’t actually do anything about it. That’s what’s happing in New Mexico, as
revealed in an excellent story from Searchlight New Mexico.
And I have a blog post about what
could be done about the problem if agencies ever mustered up the courage to do
it.
● Still another abuse of families is state central registers
of alleged child abusers. They’re really easy to get on and really hard to get
off. WNYC
Public Radio has a story about how that hurts children and families.
● Did racial bias prompt Texas child welfare authorities to
needlessly tear a black child from his parents? Yes. Who says so? The
caseworker assigned to the case. The
Houston Chronicle has the story;
a story that also illustrates why the longtime flack for the state child
welfare agency needs to see an otolaryngologist. All that time defending the indefensible has
compromised his sense of smell.
● A
Forbes commentator writes about a
new study in JAMA Network Open, part of the Journal of the American Medical
Association network of medical journals. The study found that child neglect
decreased in states that chose to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care
Act. The story includes a link to the study.
In an
invited commentary in JAMA Network Open the author says the findings may
indicate “an unexpected benefit” of Medicaid expansion. But by now we should realize that nothing
is more predictable.
● Prof. Martin Guggenheim, co-director of the New York
University School of Law Family Defense Clinic (and President of NCCPR) and
Susan Jacobs, founding executive director of the Center for Family
Representation discuss
the implications of that landmark study demonstrating the success of
high-quality family defense in safely reducing foster care.
● And I
have a postscript to the brilliant Netflix series When They See Us. It’s about how the mother of one of the
Exonerated Five, Sharonne Salaam, went on to help reform child welfare in New
York City.
