Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The Costs of Child Protection in the Context of Welfare Reform. | NCCIC
The Costs of Child Protection in the Context of Welfare Reform. | NCCIC: "Summary: Summarizes the status of public funding for child protection, contrasts expenditures for foster care versus family services, and traces the links between public assistance and child protection policies. The possibility that the 1996 federal welfare reform law may increase the need for child welfare services and drive up costs of child protection is explored."
Less Than Half of U.S. Teens in ‘Intact Families’
Less Than Half of U.S. Teens in ‘Intact Families’
http://news.newsmax.com/?Z6Iv.Nwa-IOj9QW8CsqKKvQmzXrkblUAZ
Only 45 percent of American teenagers have spent their childhood with an intact family, with both their birth mother and biological father legally married to each other since before or around the time of the teen’s birth, a new report discloses.
The other 55 percent live in single-parent families, stepfamilies, or with adoptive or foster parents, according to the report from the Family Research Council’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute.
“Increased rates of divorce and childbearing outside of marriage have turned growing up in a stable, two-parent family into an exception, rather than the rule, for young Americans,” states the report, titled “The U.S. Index of Belonging and Rejection.”
The report, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures, found a wide disparity in the percentage of intact families among different ethnic groups: 62 percent of Asian-American teens live with both married parents, as do 54 percent of white teens, 40 percent of Hispanic youth, 24 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Native teens, and just 17 percent of African-American youth.
In multiracial families, the figure is 41 percent.
There is also wide disparity in the states: 59 percent of teenagers in Utah live in married two-parent families, as do 58 percent in New Hampshire and 57 percent in Minnesota, compared to 32 percent in Mississippi and 34 percent in Louisiana. In the District of Columbia, the figure is 16 percent.
Dr. Pat Fagan, who produced the report, asserted that the “culture of rejection” affects the entire nation.
“Children in broken homes are more likely to be poor or welfare-dependent,” he said in a statement. “They enjoy less academic achievement and less social development, have more accidents and injuries, and have worse mental health and more behavioral problems.
“The culture of rejection burdens communities with higher levels of poverty, unemployment, welfare dependency, domestic abuse, child neglect, delinquency, crime and crime victimization, drug abuse, academic failure, and unmarried teen pregnancy and childbearing.”
As a result, he added, the United States “experiences increased costs in education, healthcare, mental health and the administration of justice.”
The report warns that America “will not be able to maintain its leadership role in the community of nations unless its parents take a leadership role in the communities they have built: their families.”
http://news.newsmax.com/?Z6Iv.Nwa-IOj9QW8CsqKKvQmzXrkblUAZ
Only 45 percent of American teenagers have spent their childhood with an intact family, with both their birth mother and biological father legally married to each other since before or around the time of the teen’s birth, a new report discloses.
The other 55 percent live in single-parent families, stepfamilies, or with adoptive or foster parents, according to the report from the Family Research Council’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute.
“Increased rates of divorce and childbearing outside of marriage have turned growing up in a stable, two-parent family into an exception, rather than the rule, for young Americans,” states the report, titled “The U.S. Index of Belonging and Rejection.”
The report, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures, found a wide disparity in the percentage of intact families among different ethnic groups: 62 percent of Asian-American teens live with both married parents, as do 54 percent of white teens, 40 percent of Hispanic youth, 24 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Native teens, and just 17 percent of African-American youth.
In multiracial families, the figure is 41 percent.
There is also wide disparity in the states: 59 percent of teenagers in Utah live in married two-parent families, as do 58 percent in New Hampshire and 57 percent in Minnesota, compared to 32 percent in Mississippi and 34 percent in Louisiana. In the District of Columbia, the figure is 16 percent.
Dr. Pat Fagan, who produced the report, asserted that the “culture of rejection” affects the entire nation.
“Children in broken homes are more likely to be poor or welfare-dependent,” he said in a statement. “They enjoy less academic achievement and less social development, have more accidents and injuries, and have worse mental health and more behavioral problems.
“The culture of rejection burdens communities with higher levels of poverty, unemployment, welfare dependency, domestic abuse, child neglect, delinquency, crime and crime victimization, drug abuse, academic failure, and unmarried teen pregnancy and childbearing.”
As a result, he added, the United States “experiences increased costs in education, healthcare, mental health and the administration of justice.”
The report warns that America “will not be able to maintain its leadership role in the community of nations unless its parents take a leadership role in the communities they have built: their families.”
why doesnt santa visit the poor kids or foster kids « I Was A Foster Kid
why doesnt santa visit the poor kids or foster kids « I Was A Foster Kid
santa never visited me when i lived with my bioparents. nope. not once. my brother and i knew santa existed..doesnt every kid? when we went to school we heard that santa visited other kids and bought them presents. some kids got alot and some kids got a few…but santa came to them.
one year, me and my brother asked what we had to do, to be “good” so santa would come to us, and bring us only ONE thing. i wanted a stuffed dog that was soft and my brother wanted a superhero guy, it didn’t matter which one. that’s it. instead we got beaten to a pulp and thrown in a bedroom. santa didn’t come that year.
another year we asked what we had to do for my bioparents so that santa would come to us. they didnt answer at first. we thought they might say clean up, dont bother them, pick up their drugs… traditional things. we tried again….. i wanted a stuffed dog that was soft and well, my brother wanted a superhero guy. the same things. my bio-father told us that if we were good and let him “play”, then santa would come. when your a little kid, it’s pretty hard not to “play” big people’s games especially when they beat the crap out of you or make it hurt worse. no matter how much squirming and moving one does, a big person is always going to win. their size, strength, and possible anger make it hard to escape when your a kid. big people are always going to get their way and get to “play” their games. they got what they wanted from me and my brother. but santa didnt come that year either.
i guess santa doesnt care about poor little kids who get abused hoping he will come and bring a stuffed dog that is soft and a superhero guy…
in foster care, it was variable. right? sometimes santa came, sometimes he didn’t. sometimes i got an art set and sometimes i got a candy bar or sometimes i got nothing. sometimes i was an “Angel Tree Kid” and sometimes i wasn’t. sometimes i was left out of the holiday and sometimes i was included.
i never understood why santa came so randomly. i never understood what i had to do more of, to get him to come. wasnt trying to “be good”… enough? or wasnt forced sex and “playing” big people’s games…enough? what more could a little kid give?
honestly the only thing i ever asked for in foster care from santa was just one thing… this time it wasn’t a stuffed dog that was soft; but it was a FAMILY that would be mine. i would have done anything since i was used to doing anything, for that gift. i guess it was too big. if a stuffed dog that was soft was too big of a gift, i guess a FAMILY was enormous.
i guess santa doesnt care about foster kids who are beaten down and all alone, without a FAMILY.
one would think santa would care about those kids that are having trouble, without anything, all alone, etc…the kids that really need the magic he brings…
…oh but wait, …santa is really your parents
…and they would have to give a shit…
i wish someone had told me that when i was a kid.
santa never visited me when i lived with my bioparents. nope. not once. my brother and i knew santa existed..doesnt every kid? when we went to school we heard that santa visited other kids and bought them presents. some kids got alot and some kids got a few…but santa came to them.
one year, me and my brother asked what we had to do, to be “good” so santa would come to us, and bring us only ONE thing. i wanted a stuffed dog that was soft and my brother wanted a superhero guy, it didn’t matter which one. that’s it. instead we got beaten to a pulp and thrown in a bedroom. santa didn’t come that year.
another year we asked what we had to do for my bioparents so that santa would come to us. they didnt answer at first. we thought they might say clean up, dont bother them, pick up their drugs… traditional things. we tried again….. i wanted a stuffed dog that was soft and well, my brother wanted a superhero guy. the same things. my bio-father told us that if we were good and let him “play”, then santa would come. when your a little kid, it’s pretty hard not to “play” big people’s games especially when they beat the crap out of you or make it hurt worse. no matter how much squirming and moving one does, a big person is always going to win. their size, strength, and possible anger make it hard to escape when your a kid. big people are always going to get their way and get to “play” their games. they got what they wanted from me and my brother. but santa didnt come that year either.
i guess santa doesnt care about poor little kids who get abused hoping he will come and bring a stuffed dog that is soft and a superhero guy…
in foster care, it was variable. right? sometimes santa came, sometimes he didn’t. sometimes i got an art set and sometimes i got a candy bar or sometimes i got nothing. sometimes i was an “Angel Tree Kid” and sometimes i wasn’t. sometimes i was left out of the holiday and sometimes i was included.
i never understood why santa came so randomly. i never understood what i had to do more of, to get him to come. wasnt trying to “be good”… enough? or wasnt forced sex and “playing” big people’s games…enough? what more could a little kid give?
honestly the only thing i ever asked for in foster care from santa was just one thing… this time it wasn’t a stuffed dog that was soft; but it was a FAMILY that would be mine. i would have done anything since i was used to doing anything, for that gift. i guess it was too big. if a stuffed dog that was soft was too big of a gift, i guess a FAMILY was enormous.
i guess santa doesnt care about foster kids who are beaten down and all alone, without a FAMILY.
one would think santa would care about those kids that are having trouble, without anything, all alone, etc…the kids that really need the magic he brings…
…oh but wait, …santa is really your parents
…and they would have to give a shit…
i wish someone had told me that when i was a kid.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Cleveland woman arrested for mistreating foster children
The BIG One - WTAM 1100: "Cleveland police say kids were living in deplorable conditions.
By Judy Thompson, Newsradio WTAM 1100
Saturday, December 18, 2010
(Cleveland) - A 12 year old girl told Cleveland police she planned to fall down the stairs at her school and hurt herself---so she wouldn't have to go back to her foster home.
The little girl told police a horrifying tale of mistreatment at the hands of her foster parent in the home in the 10-thousand block of Edgewater Drive in Cleveland.
Cleveland police Sergeant Sammy Morris says the child and two foster siblings claim they were forced to sleep either in the basement or the attic of the home, and were often locked up."
By Judy Thompson, Newsradio WTAM 1100
Saturday, December 18, 2010
(Cleveland) - A 12 year old girl told Cleveland police she planned to fall down the stairs at her school and hurt herself---so she wouldn't have to go back to her foster home.
The little girl told police a horrifying tale of mistreatment at the hands of her foster parent in the home in the 10-thousand block of Edgewater Drive in Cleveland.
Cleveland police Sergeant Sammy Morris says the child and two foster siblings claim they were forced to sleep either in the basement or the attic of the home, and were often locked up."
Natural grandparent may petition for grandparent visitation even after relinquishment or termination of parental rights : New Hampshire Family Law Blog
Natural grandparent may petition for grandparent visitation even after relinquishment or termination of parental rights : New Hampshire Family Law Blog
I myself was told by the Hillsborough County Probate Clerk in Nashua that I could NOT file for grandparent visitation because I don't know for sure where my grandson Austin is. I doubt that is part of the law! NH court's do as they please and are very bias when it comes to DCYF.
Posted on June 11, 2009 by Kysa Crusco
Natural grandparent may petition for grandparent visitation even after relinquishment or termination of parental rights
Share Link
On June 3, 2009 the New Hampshire Supreme Court released its opinion In the Matter of Kathaleen A. Dufton and Terry L. Shepard. The Court held that even where a natural parent relinquishes rights to his or her child in an adoption proceeding, she retains the right to petition a court for visitation of any grandchildren because she is the “natural” grandparent under the grandparent visitation statute. A grandparent is still subject to the requirements of the grandparent statute, and there must be an absence of a nuclear family and the grandparent must show that the proposed visitation is in the child’s best interests.
In this case, Kathaleen Dufton gave birth to her daughter, Vicki Shepard, when she was sixteen years old. She relinquished her rights to Vicki by giving her up for adoption. Vicki reunited with her biological mother when she was twenty-six year old and the two had a close relationship from that point forward. Kathaleen Dufton shared all the special occasions with her daughter including the birth of her grandchildren, vacations, baptisms and birthdays. When Vicki fell ill with cancer her mother was by her side until the end. After Vicki died, her husband, Terry Shepard, refused to allow Kathaleen to see her grandchildren. Kathaleen sought relief from the court under the grandparent visitation statute.
Parents have a constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit, including who may visit with their children. However, the legislature has crafted a grandparent visitation statute, allowing the family courts jurisdiction to order visitation over a parent’s objection when there is an absence of a nuclear family and if it is in the best interests of the child. Terry sought to have Kathaleen's petition dismissed, asserting that Kathaleen was not a “natural grandparent” of the children because she had relinquished her rights to Vicki, and therefore did not have standing to seek relief as a grandparent. However the court ruled that the plain meaning of the term “natural” was “biological” and therefore “the fact that the grandmother relinquished her parental rights to the children’s mother when the mother was an infant has no bearing, per se, upon her ability to seek visitation with the grandchildren.” Furthermore, the court found that her status as a grandparent was not derivative of her legal status as a parent to her child, and because she is related to her grandchildren, the grandparent visitation statute gives her standing to seek the visitation.
Crusco Law Office Law Clerk Daniel McLaughlin contributed to this post.
I myself was told by the Hillsborough County Probate Clerk in Nashua that I could NOT file for grandparent visitation because I don't know for sure where my grandson Austin is. I doubt that is part of the law! NH court's do as they please and are very bias when it comes to DCYF.
Posted on June 11, 2009 by Kysa Crusco
Natural grandparent may petition for grandparent visitation even after relinquishment or termination of parental rights
Share Link
On June 3, 2009 the New Hampshire Supreme Court released its opinion In the Matter of Kathaleen A. Dufton and Terry L. Shepard. The Court held that even where a natural parent relinquishes rights to his or her child in an adoption proceeding, she retains the right to petition a court for visitation of any grandchildren because she is the “natural” grandparent under the grandparent visitation statute. A grandparent is still subject to the requirements of the grandparent statute, and there must be an absence of a nuclear family and the grandparent must show that the proposed visitation is in the child’s best interests.
In this case, Kathaleen Dufton gave birth to her daughter, Vicki Shepard, when she was sixteen years old. She relinquished her rights to Vicki by giving her up for adoption. Vicki reunited with her biological mother when she was twenty-six year old and the two had a close relationship from that point forward. Kathaleen Dufton shared all the special occasions with her daughter including the birth of her grandchildren, vacations, baptisms and birthdays. When Vicki fell ill with cancer her mother was by her side until the end. After Vicki died, her husband, Terry Shepard, refused to allow Kathaleen to see her grandchildren. Kathaleen sought relief from the court under the grandparent visitation statute.
Parents have a constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit, including who may visit with their children. However, the legislature has crafted a grandparent visitation statute, allowing the family courts jurisdiction to order visitation over a parent’s objection when there is an absence of a nuclear family and if it is in the best interests of the child. Terry sought to have Kathaleen's petition dismissed, asserting that Kathaleen was not a “natural grandparent” of the children because she had relinquished her rights to Vicki, and therefore did not have standing to seek relief as a grandparent. However the court ruled that the plain meaning of the term “natural” was “biological” and therefore “the fact that the grandmother relinquished her parental rights to the children’s mother when the mother was an infant has no bearing, per se, upon her ability to seek visitation with the grandchildren.” Furthermore, the court found that her status as a grandparent was not derivative of her legal status as a parent to her child, and because she is related to her grandchildren, the grandparent visitation statute gives her standing to seek the visitation.
Crusco Law Office Law Clerk Daniel McLaughlin contributed to this post.
The Arab American News - Amer Act signed into law
The Arab American News - Amer Act signed into law: "As of Tuesday, December 14, relatives in Michigan will be given special consideration when children are placed into foster care by the Department of Human Services. It was on that day that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed House Bill 4118 into law. HB4118 is also known as the 'Amer Act,' after Ahmed and Rehab Amer, who helped draft the legislation and pushed for the bill to be passed into law."
Foster, biological families get in the Christmas spirit | htrnews.com | Herald Times Reporter
Foster, biological families get in the Christmas spirit | htrnews.com | Herald Times Reporter: "MANITOWOC — Children in foster care received perhaps the most desired gift of all this holiday season: being with family.
A Christmas party was held this week for the children, their foster family and biological parents and siblings, something new to the foster care program in Manitowoc County.
'This is the first time ever that the agency has put foster parents and biological families at one party, but we want to build support around that child from everywhere,' said Georgeann Knier, foster care coordinator for Manitowoc County. 'We want the biological parents and the foster parents to be a team with the children.'"
A Christmas party was held this week for the children, their foster family and biological parents and siblings, something new to the foster care program in Manitowoc County.
'This is the first time ever that the agency has put foster parents and biological families at one party, but we want to build support around that child from everywhere,' said Georgeann Knier, foster care coordinator for Manitowoc County. 'We want the biological parents and the foster parents to be a team with the children.'"
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