Filing identifies girl, 10, accused of killing Maine infant

Filing identifies girl, 10, accused of killing Maine infant | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME:

State prosecutors have formally charged a 10-year-old girl from Fairfield with manslaughter in the death of a 3-month-old girl this summer.

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U.S. Supreme Court could hear "Save Veronica" case

Legislative Strategies to Safely Reduce the Number of Children in Foster Care

Legislative Strategies to Safely Reduce the Number of Children in Foster Care



The National Conference of State Legislatures is the bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories.
NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system. Its objectives are:
• To improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures.
• To promote policy innovation and communication among state legislatures.
• To ensure state legislatures a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system.
The Conference operates from offices in Denver, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.

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Malloy, DCF announce $5 million grant to help families avoid foster care

Malloy, DCF announce $5 million grant to help families avoid foster care- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut:

Governor Dannel P. Malloy and state Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz have announced that the state has been awarded a $5 million federal grant to expand and enhance a DCF program designed to reduce the number of children in foster care by providing supportive housing and necessary services to vulnerable and homeless families.

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2013-2014 Families First Legislative Agenda

2013-2014 Families First Legislative Agenda — Cornerstone Action Cornerstone:

2013-2014 Families First Legislative Agenda

Preserve the right of conscience for all citizens, including their freedom to practice the tenets of their faith.

• Pass the “Health Insurance Freedom of Conscience Act,” which creates a conscientious exemption to any mandate incorporated into a private health insurance policy for purchasers of a health insurance policy.
• Create a religious exemption to contraceptive coverage as part of any private health insurance policy.
• Protect the right of businesses to deny service to potential customers when it would violate the owner’s religious beliefs to serve them.

Protect innocent human life from conception to natural death.

• Require abortion clinics and hospitals to report abortion statistics, adding N.H. to the list of 46 other states that currently require such reporting.
• Pass the “Fetal Homicide Act,” which defines “fetal homicide” as criminal assaults on a pregnant woman that result in miscarriage, stillbirth or “damage to a pregnancy” as an enhanced offense for sentencing purposes.
• Pass the Women’s Right to Know Act, which requires physicians to provide a woman considering the procedure with medically accurate information about her child and the abortion method that would be used as well as the long-term risks of having an abortion and alternatives to having an abortion.
• Pass the “Rights of Motherhood Act,” which bans coerced abortions.
• Pass the “Abortion Drug Safety Act,” and add N.H. to the list of 40 other states that require a prescription for drugs such as RU-486.
• Pass “The Heartbeat Act,” which protects unborn children who have a detectable heartbeat.
• Continue to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions.
• Ensure that surgical abortions are performed by a licensed physician (as they are in 43 other states) and that abortion clinics are regulated under the same standards as other ambulatory centers or health clinics.

Defend the natural family and traditional marriage, the foundational building blocks of society.

• Pass a law that repeals gay “marriage” and either restores civil unions for homosexuals or restores the pre-civil union law in New Hampshire.
• Improve parental oversight and control over public school classroom content.
• Encourage policies that favor keeping families together when welfare dollars are at stake.
• Eliminate no-fault divorce for parents of children.

Restore the natural right of parents to determine the best way to educate, raise and care for their children.

• Pass a constitutional amendment that protects the natural rights of parents to control the health, education and welfare of their children.
• Pass a constitutional amendment that removes “magistrates” (judges) involvement in educational funding and protects local control of education.
• Create legal safeguards to ensure that both parents’ rights are protected in the case of divorce.
• Require legal safeguards to ensure that parents’ due process rights are protected in cases involving their children and the Division of Children, Youth and Families.
• Pass a bill that rejects the national Common Core Standards.

Enact free market economic policies that empower New Hampshire families to achieve their highest potential.

• Pass a balanced state budget that cuts unnecessary spending and reduces taxes and fees.
• Pass Right to Work legislation that makes it optional for all employees, public sector and private sector, to join a labor union and pay agency fees.
• Repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to lower families’ energy costs.
• Pass a bill that phases-in a 401(k)-style pension plan to ensure a government that families can afford.
• Pass bills to prevent welfare fraud and abuse of EBT cards, reduce the number of welfare recipients and require recipients of taxpayer dollars to look for work.
• Pass comprehensive health insurance deregulation to reduce the cost of private health insurance.

Download a PDF of Cornerstone’s 2013-2014 Families First Legislative Agenda.

House Speaker William O’Brien-A Hero of the Family

House Speaker William O’Brien for Hillsborough 5 (Mont Vernon, New Boston) and All of New Hampshire — Cornerstone Action Cornerstone:

Saying House Speaker William O’Brien is a Hero of the Family is an understatement, for in his leadership position, Speaker O’Brien initiated, supported or enabled most of the families-first bills that passed into law during the 2011-2012 legislative session. The Speaker faces a primary with three people running for two positions in Hillsborough 5 (Mont Vernon and New Boston), and he is unequivocally the Cornerstone favorite in that race.

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Family Courts and Our Children. Is This How Justice is Served?

Family Courts and Our Children. Is This How Justice is Served? - Catherine Cooper - Rockland - Camden - Knox - Courier-Gazette - Camden Herald:

Guardians ad litem, Judges and quite a few Family Lawyers consider the Maine Guardians ad litem issues that have been widely reported not to be a big problem. 

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