NCCPR news and commentary round-up, week ending July 22, 2025

● You know that puerile debate over whether so-called “neglect” cases are poverty “alone”?  Here’s a better way to define a poverty case: If the solution is money, the problem is poverty. That brings us to the study described in this story from The Imprint.   

● Honolulu Civil Beat reports on a victory for children victimized by an approach to child removal in Hawaii aptly described as “grab and go.” 

● After they turn off the cameras and blow out the candles on the cakes at those “Adoption Day” ceremonies, when no one is looking anymore, some of those adopted foster children wind up shipped out of state to be institutionalized – their new “forever family.” The Imprint reports that California has decided that, at least, if the adoptive parents are going to do that, the state will stop paying for it. 

California already bans this practice for foster children. One person who really needs to learn from this: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, who tried incredibly hard but, fortunately, failed to persuade her state’s legislature to make it easier to do this to foster children.

● In the Seattle Times, two actual experts on child welfare and addiction refute demagogic attacks on efforts to keep families together in Washington State from politicians who are neither. 

● “Growing up, I was told that the child welfare system was created to help protect children and to get them out of bad situations,” writes Danielle Robinson in The Imprint. “But that was not my experience. I feel like the child welfare system did the opposite for me.” 

In this week’s edition of The Horror Stories go In All Directions: 

● Capitol News Illinois has more on the torture and death of Mackenzi Felmlee, allegedly at the hands of her foster mother and foster grandmother.  We still don’t know why she was taken from her mother. But we do know this: 

Three years after DCFS took custody of the former honor roll student, Mackenzi was diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and depression.  She reportedly was under psychiatric care.  She was also incontinent; Williams made her wear diapers tied with plastic bags to her legs to keep the waste from leaking, prosecutors said. 

● From KLAS-TV, Las Vegas: 

An investigation by the 8 News Now Investigators has revealed major failures at several juvenile group homes in Las Vegas, including active warrants for two former employees, numerous calls for service to police for runaways and suicide attempts, and a state audit that describes abuse and neglect. 

● From the Sacramento Bee: 

More than a dozen former foster youths have sued Sacramento County, alleging employees “did nothing” to prevent drinking, drug use, violence, underage sex and sex trafficking at several facilities in which the county placed them earlier this decade. …

According to the lawsuit: 

 A teenage boy was forced to participate in “cage fights” that adults paid to watch, the suit alleged. He also alleged a county employee texted pictures of his genitals to another foster youth. When he reported the employee, the employee physically assaulted him, according to the lawsuit. 

▪ A county employee sexually assaulted a teenage boy, the lawsuit alleged. 

▪ A county employee sexually assaulted a teenage girl, the lawsuit alleged. 

▪ Eight teenage girls were routinely sex trafficked, “and abused by pimps operating openly outside and within the facilities,” the lawsuit alleged 

Upcoming event:

Healthy and Free Tennessee is hosting a conversation with Mary Anne Mendenhall, Porsha Sha'fon Venable, and Miriam Mack about the rise of and problems with child abuse pediatricians (CAPS) on Tuesday, July 29th at 12:30 pm CT / 1:30 pm ET. They will livestream the conversation to their Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/healthyfreetn/) and post it to our YouTube Channel the day after. 

And here’s a reminder of the kinds of problems they’ll probably be discussing.