● Another example of the journalism of child welfare at its best: From CT Mirror: A project that involved reporting over two years, revealing how the “child welfare” system fails on so many levels and leaves so much heartbreak in its wake. We’re pleased to have NCCPR’s perspective included.
● Having exposed the terrible harm done to children when they are torn from their parents because those families lack adequate housing (and how it’s clear the leadership in the family police agency in Missouri is just fine with that), The Nation turns now to places that are doing better: three counties in Wisconsin.
The story also cuts through the hype about the so-called Family First Act, pointing out that, particularly when it comes to providing families with the concrete help they really need, “Families First Act funding comes with so many strings attached it’s nearly impossible to use.”
● What’s the difference between “Driving While Black” and “Driving While a White Prominent Lobbyist and Former Campaign Policy Advisor to the Governor”? Based on a thoroughly reported story from The Imprint, I have a blog post that answers that question.
● Yes, again: Another lawsuit against child abuse pediatricians. This time, the IndyStar reports on a case from Indiana.
● While in Georgia, WXIA-TV reports on child abuse pediatricians resisting reform.
● And in Psychology Today, a pediatrician with decades of experience reviewing suspected child abuse cases says she has observed
a troubling pattern: many allegations arise not from actual abuse or neglect, but from misinterpreted childhood injuries or medical conditions. When these events are viewed through socioeconomic bias, parents can experience intense stress, fear, and trauma while navigating everyday challenges and worrying that ordinary accidents might be mistaken for abuse or neglect.
● In The Imprint, Jessica Castillo writes this about her experience in foster care:
I was placed in foster care right after turning 12. I was in five foster homes, adopted at 16, and kicked out at 17, resulting in a brief period of homelessness. During my time in foster care, I experienced abuse in all of my placements, the third being the worst. … I remember her telling me and my foster sisters, “You think your social workers will believe you? I’ve been a foster parent for over 20 years, and I’m very good friends with the supervisors at DCFS. If you have a problem with me, they’ll just move you somewhere else, and good riddance.” … There wasn’t a single day in foster care where I felt peace and safety.
● Massachusetts has a committee to nominate candidates to be the state’s next “Child Advocate.” I’ve posted my statement to the committee, which discusses not only the criteria for the person who should get the job but also the urgent need to restructure the entire office. (And it applies to almost every such office in the country.)
● There’s still another study out documenting the transformative power of cash in reducing child abuse and neglect, this time from Flint, Michigan.
● And finally,
here’s something I never thought I’d write: Check out the op-ed from the Trump
Administration’s highest-ranking child welfare official – in The Daily Signal.
And see also this research report
from the America First Policy Institute. (No, I don’t agree with all of either of these,
but a lot seems headed in the right direction.)
