● The first story this week actually was published eight
years ago. It’s a New York Times
story about families
investigated – or worse – by child protective services agencies because a
parent smokes marijuana. I’m linking to it now because the New York City
Council cited the story when it passed a
resolution last week that “calls upon the New York City Administration for
Children’s Services to implement a policy finding that a person’s mere
possession or use of marijuana does not by itself create an imminent risk of
harm to a child, warranting the child’s removal."
The Council passed another
resolution “calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the
Governor to sign, legislation requiring the New York State Department of Health
to create clear and fair regulations for hospitals on drug testing those who
are pregnant or giving birth, including informing patients of their rights
before any discussion of drug use or drug testing.”
● Another awful institution has had its license suspended, this
time in Montana. But it took an
investigative series by the Missoulian
and a change in state law to do it.
According to the Missoulian,
once the state health department finally was given the authority to do
something about it, the agency “received multiple reports of students being ‘hit,
kicked, body-slammed and spit on,’ DPHHS Deputy Director Laura Smith said
Tuesday, just hours after the children’s removal. Reports included assault by
staff members and “excessive discipline,” including 15- to 20-mile walks in
harsh weather conditions on remote roads with inappropriate shoes at night.
● I have a
follow up to last week’s post about the school district that threatened to
report children to child protective services – and put them at risk of foster
care – if their parents didn’t pay school lunch debts. This one focuses on how,
just as with family separations at the border, the child welfare establishment
is desperate to avoid tough questions about its own behavior.
