Shame on Arizona Child Welfare/CPS. Excellent reporting from ProPublica about corruption in the system targeting low-income parents and needlessly harming children. Arizona spends a majority of its welfare budget on the Department of Child Safety. The agency then investigates many poor parents, sometimes removing their children for reasons stemming from their poverty. Read more here. … [Read more...]
Empty Home for the Holidays: Parents Who Lost Children to Family Court Say System in Need of Reform
The holidays are usually a time for family, but it's particularly painful for some parents who lost their children to the family court system. "I can't speak to my kids. I can't contact them. I can't tell them I love them. I've missed Thanksgiving. I've missed birthdays. I'm going to miss Christmas, and I'm going to miss New Year's, and there's no guarantee that I'll be able to see them come … [Read more...]
New York Teen Advocates On Behalf Of Late Toddler: Preventing Child Abuse in Custody Cases
14-year-old Shayna Blumenfeld of Port Washington, from home, appeared virtually in front of New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluators, expressing the importance of making child safety the top priority in custody cases. Shayna is a youth ambassador for Kyra’s Champions, an organization that works to pass laws to protect children in child custody cases … [Read more...]
Former Corrections Officer Shoots Dead His Son, 3, in Murder-Suicide Amid Divorce After Death Threats to Wife and Her Family
Derek Thebo, 32, told his wife Katie that he would kill her and her children, according to a Police Protection Order (PPO) filed this year with the Kent County Circuit Court in Michigan. 'He threatened to kill me, my children, and my family, and to commit suicide afterward,' she wrote in court documents. Just months later, investigators say the former Michigan corrections officer appears to … [Read more...]
SB 654 Youth Testimony Protections – “to amplify the voices of children in family court custody cases”
SB 654, Youth Testimony Protections - Senator Dave Min, 37th District California has taken steps in recent years to amplify the voices of children in family court custody cases – yet too often this is done in situations that can be traumatizing and dangerous for children. To ensure that children are protected from facing life-altering trauma in family court, SB 654 prevents a child’s testimony … [Read more...]