NH supreme court hears case of homeschooled girl ordered into public school – Roanoke Homeschooling | Examiner.com « The Preservationist
NH supreme court hears case of homeschooled girl ordered into public school – Roanoke Homeschooling | Examiner.com.
“Homeschoolers must never take for granted the freedom to educate their children at home. As attested by the case of 8-year-old Domenic Johansson of Sweden, who was taken from his parents by the government and placed into foster care because his family homeschooled him, in many parts of the world, the freedom to homeschool is being challenged and revoked. Driven by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, there is a movement to curtail parental rights, and especially home education, through Europe and many other parts of the globe. It is this treaty which gives the government (more specifically an international committee of 18 individuals) the power to determine the “best interests of the child” over parents. Not surprisingly, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been used to regulate or eliminate homeschooling in countries that have ratified it, as part of the child’s “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds” (Article 13, part 1).”
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
Monday, March 21, 2011
NH man charged with assaulting son with belt
NH man charged with assaulting son with belt - Boston.com
ROCHESTER, N.H.—Police in the New Hampshire city of Rochester say a man is facing charges he hit his 3-year-old son in the back with a belt several times.
Forty-five-year-old Thomas Goodwin Jr. appeared in court Monday after he was arrested and charged with assault and other offenses. He's being held on $25,000 bail.
ROCHESTER, N.H.—Police in the New Hampshire city of Rochester say a man is facing charges he hit his 3-year-old son in the back with a belt several times.
Forty-five-year-old Thomas Goodwin Jr. appeared in court Monday after he was arrested and charged with assault and other offenses. He's being held on $25,000 bail.
Judge orders New York City, Administration for Children's Serviced to identify case workers who monitored still-missing boy,
Judge orders New York City, Administration for Children's Serviced to identify case workers who monitored still-missing boy, 7 - NYPOST.com
A federal judge today ordered New York City and its child welfare agency to identify case workers involved in monitoring a 7-year-old boy who disappeared last year from a foster home and has never been found.
The boy's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, had filed suit against the city and its child welfare agency last fall, saying they failed to properly care for the boy and ignored complaints about his substandard foster care.
Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn federal court threw out the suit against the city and its Administration for Children's Services agency, but ruled that Rodriguez now can bring a new lawsuit against individual workers from ACS and St. Vincent's Services, whom she blames for not supervising her boy's foster care.
The boy, Patrick Alford, Jr., disappeared on Jan. 22, 2010, after he slipped away while taking out the trash with his foster mom at her East New York home around 9 p.m.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/judge_orders_city_acs_still_missing_qnYKnYc0Q2zvGZRmB4kW7O#ixzz1HHjIMil3
A federal judge today ordered New York City and its child welfare agency to identify case workers involved in monitoring a 7-year-old boy who disappeared last year from a foster home and has never been found.
The boy's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, had filed suit against the city and its child welfare agency last fall, saying they failed to properly care for the boy and ignored complaints about his substandard foster care.
Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn federal court threw out the suit against the city and its Administration for Children's Services agency, but ruled that Rodriguez now can bring a new lawsuit against individual workers from ACS and St. Vincent's Services, whom she blames for not supervising her boy's foster care.
The boy, Patrick Alford, Jr., disappeared on Jan. 22, 2010, after he slipped away while taking out the trash with his foster mom at her East New York home around 9 p.m.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/judge_orders_city_acs_still_missing_qnYKnYc0Q2zvGZRmB4kW7O#ixzz1HHjIMil3
Experts call state DHS mismanaged agency
Experts call state DHS mismanaged agency | Tulsa World
Using evidence shared in a federal class action lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, two experts commissioned by New York-based Children’s Rights condemned the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as a mismanaged agency.
The experts released reports Monday through Children's Rights.
Children’s Rights filed a lawsuit in February 2008 against DHS seeking wide-ranging reforms in its foster care system. A trial is expected to begin as early as October.
The reports released Monday state abused and neglected children taken into custody by DHS are further harmed by holes in communication and the agency's flawed computer tracking system.
The study claims the problems have led to high rates of maltreatment while in care, inadequate and untimely investigations, extreme placement instability, unsafe and inappropriate placements, poor efforts to maintain relationships with biological families, inconsistent visitation by caseworkers and denial of access to essential services.
“Given the overwhelming evidence that continues to mount, there can be little question that the well-documented and pervasive mismanagement of Oklahoma’s foster care system is directly tied to the harm that children in its custody suffer,” stated Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children’s Rights, in a press release.
The Department of Human Services could not immediately be reached for comment.
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20110321_298_0_Usinge385927
Using evidence shared in a federal class action lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, two experts commissioned by New York-based Children’s Rights condemned the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as a mismanaged agency.
The experts released reports Monday through Children's Rights.
Children’s Rights filed a lawsuit in February 2008 against DHS seeking wide-ranging reforms in its foster care system. A trial is expected to begin as early as October.
The reports released Monday state abused and neglected children taken into custody by DHS are further harmed by holes in communication and the agency's flawed computer tracking system.
The study claims the problems have led to high rates of maltreatment while in care, inadequate and untimely investigations, extreme placement instability, unsafe and inappropriate placements, poor efforts to maintain relationships with biological families, inconsistent visitation by caseworkers and denial of access to essential services.
“Given the overwhelming evidence that continues to mount, there can be little question that the well-documented and pervasive mismanagement of Oklahoma’s foster care system is directly tied to the harm that children in its custody suffer,” stated Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children’s Rights, in a press release.
The Department of Human Services could not immediately be reached for comment.
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20110321_298_0_Usinge385927
Foster Care Program Explained After Arrests of 2 Men
Foster Care Program Explained After Arrests of 2 Men - WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 -
MARDELA SPRINGS, Md.- Recent allegations of sexual abuse leveled against two Mardela Springs men, both certified foster parents, raised the question: what are the qualifications to foster children in Maryland?
Tracy Bayne, 51, was arrested Wednesday, March 16, and charged with sexual abuse of a minor, sex offense, and sodomy. His nephew, Stephen James Merritt, 38, was arrested on Tuesday, March 15, also on child sex abuse charges.
The Maryland Department of Human Resources confirmed both men were certified foster parents with a child placement agency, MENTOR Maryland.
MARDELA SPRINGS, Md.- Recent allegations of sexual abuse leveled against two Mardela Springs men, both certified foster parents, raised the question: what are the qualifications to foster children in Maryland?
Tracy Bayne, 51, was arrested Wednesday, March 16, and charged with sexual abuse of a minor, sex offense, and sodomy. His nephew, Stephen James Merritt, 38, was arrested on Tuesday, March 15, also on child sex abuse charges.
The Maryland Department of Human Resources confirmed both men were certified foster parents with a child placement agency, MENTOR Maryland.
Kids' court shouldn't operate in secret
Kids' court shouldn't operate in secret | legislation, state, problem - Our View - Appeal-Democrat
March 19, 2011 11:46:00 PM
We've become so accustomed to bad legislation emanating from the state Capitol that it can be surprising when a legislator offers a sensible solution to a major problem. Consider us shocked, then, by a bill introduced this month by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, regarding the state's troubled foster-care system. The legislation is desperately needed and targeted at the right problem — a problem that too often is overlooked.
Although details of Assembly Bill 73 were still being worked out, the bill's goal is to improve openness and oversight of a dependency-court system shrouded in secrecy. More than 60,000 California children are in foster care or otherwise are under the supervision of the court system. Unlike other court systems, dependency courts are closed to the public under the theory that children's identities should be protected.
But abuses fester anytime that sunshine is not permitted. Stories have reported on a number of cases in dependency court where records are kept from the public and where those who administer the system — social workers, judges, attorneys — are not always held accountable. In a free society, the government should operate in the most open and accountable way, yet this system — which can make life-changing family decisions — operates in a way more appropriate in un-free societies.
The Feuer legislation seeks to make the court system presumptively open. This is how it operates in 17 other states. In preparation for a March 1 hearing on the subject, Assembly Judiciary Committee staff explained the importance of this issue: "The dependency court has vast power over these children — determining what services they and their families will receive, who will care for them, in both the short- and long-term, and what contact they will have with their families. The court even decides whether to terminate parental rights and begin adoption proceedings."
These decisions currently are made in secrecy. As Feuer said, "Openness in this system fosters scrutiny and reform." Openness would provide more attention to the system and would push those who work for the system to operate at their very best. Critics have argued that it's necessary to keep the system closed to protect the children, but evidence from other states suggests the opposite. The best way to assure that reasoned and fair-minded custody decisions are made is to open the process to the cleansing light of day. That's why the nation's court system mostly operates in the view of the public and why a judge from a Minnesota dependency court, where openness is the presumption, came to California to support this change.
In a recent opinion column, retired Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Leonard Edwards, captured the frustration shared by many of us who have reported on the dependency courts: "A foster child dies while in care. The media contact the children's services agency and ask what happened. The agency responds that it cannot reveal any of the facts because the law requires that the matter remain confidential. The media next contact the juvenile court judge, who responds that there will have to be a hearing before the release (if any) of information relating to the death. The media is outraged. The public wonders about the secrecy surrounding the child's death and whether the agency and the court are trying to hide something."
Transparency is the best way to fix that frustrating and infuriating situation. We're pleased by Mr. Feuer's approach and glad to be pleasantly surprised by something in Sacramento these days.
March 19, 2011 11:46:00 PM
We've become so accustomed to bad legislation emanating from the state Capitol that it can be surprising when a legislator offers a sensible solution to a major problem. Consider us shocked, then, by a bill introduced this month by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, regarding the state's troubled foster-care system. The legislation is desperately needed and targeted at the right problem — a problem that too often is overlooked.
Although details of Assembly Bill 73 were still being worked out, the bill's goal is to improve openness and oversight of a dependency-court system shrouded in secrecy. More than 60,000 California children are in foster care or otherwise are under the supervision of the court system. Unlike other court systems, dependency courts are closed to the public under the theory that children's identities should be protected.
But abuses fester anytime that sunshine is not permitted. Stories have reported on a number of cases in dependency court where records are kept from the public and where those who administer the system — social workers, judges, attorneys — are not always held accountable. In a free society, the government should operate in the most open and accountable way, yet this system — which can make life-changing family decisions — operates in a way more appropriate in un-free societies.
The Feuer legislation seeks to make the court system presumptively open. This is how it operates in 17 other states. In preparation for a March 1 hearing on the subject, Assembly Judiciary Committee staff explained the importance of this issue: "The dependency court has vast power over these children — determining what services they and their families will receive, who will care for them, in both the short- and long-term, and what contact they will have with their families. The court even decides whether to terminate parental rights and begin adoption proceedings."
These decisions currently are made in secrecy. As Feuer said, "Openness in this system fosters scrutiny and reform." Openness would provide more attention to the system and would push those who work for the system to operate at their very best. Critics have argued that it's necessary to keep the system closed to protect the children, but evidence from other states suggests the opposite. The best way to assure that reasoned and fair-minded custody decisions are made is to open the process to the cleansing light of day. That's why the nation's court system mostly operates in the view of the public and why a judge from a Minnesota dependency court, where openness is the presumption, came to California to support this change.
In a recent opinion column, retired Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Leonard Edwards, captured the frustration shared by many of us who have reported on the dependency courts: "A foster child dies while in care. The media contact the children's services agency and ask what happened. The agency responds that it cannot reveal any of the facts because the law requires that the matter remain confidential. The media next contact the juvenile court judge, who responds that there will have to be a hearing before the release (if any) of information relating to the death. The media is outraged. The public wonders about the secrecy surrounding the child's death and whether the agency and the court are trying to hide something."
Transparency is the best way to fix that frustrating and infuriating situation. We're pleased by Mr. Feuer's approach and glad to be pleasantly surprised by something in Sacramento these days.
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