Foster Care as a Mitigating Circumstance in Criminal Proceedings
Just published in Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review is an article, Foster Care as a Mitigating Circumstance in Criminal Proceedings. The article addresses the question: should a history of foster care involvement serve as a legitimate mitigating circumstance for a defendant in a criminal trial?
According to the article:
The sensationalism of many criminal trials, especially those of a capital nature, often result from the aggravating circumstances impacting the victim. Conversely, the mitigating circumstances that affect the accused‘s criminality rarely ...
Penalties for Falsely Reporting Child Abuse
The Jerry Sandusky criminal trial is over; the civil lawsuits are in active settlement mode. Undoubtedly, the entire country is more tuned into child abuse than it ever was. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that about 105 bills on the reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect have been introduced in 2012 legislative sessions in 30 states and the District of Columbia. 1 All of them include a penalty for failing to report suspected child abuse.
Oregon is one of the states which recently enacted child abuse reporting legislation. It added to the ...
Respite Care for Foster Parents Should Not Mean Inferior Care for Foster Children
Caring for a foster child, especially in a therapeutic setting, is a full-time undertaking. Because it can have severe emotional repercussions on the family, respite care by another trained foster parent or other professional is frequently made available.Respite care is an intervention that may reduce the risk of abuse or neglect to the foster child (Goldman, Salus, Wolcott, & Kennedy, 2003) while it simultaneously offers welcome benefits to the caregiver (MacDonald & Callery, 2004). Indeed, one study (Chan & Sigafoos, 2001) found that the more frequently families made ...
Child Abuse Investigations: have a healthy suspicion of multiple “unsubstantiated” findings
Following a child abuse/neglect investigation, a child protective services (CPS) investigator, usually in consultation with his or her supervisor, determines if the report should be substantiated or unsubstantiated. If the report is substantiated it means that the information gathered supports a finding of child abuse or neglect. If the report is unsubstantiated it means that the information gathered does not support a finding of child abuse or neglect.
Each state has its own unique scheme governing the practical application of the term “unsubstantiated” or ...
Non-abused siblings who remain at home: a dangerous Child Protection Services intersection
A recent study identifies the nation's most dangerous traffic intersection. It’s at Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The insurance company’s engineer who compiled the report notes that the intersection meets appropriate design standards and is regulated by traffic lights. He said traffic volume and driver error were two important factors in the high number of crashes.
One of the most dangerous intersections of every state’s child welfare system is the decision whether to remove or leave non-abused siblings in a home in ...
Standard of Care in Screening Adoptive, Foster and Kinship Parents
The lack of a clear legal “standard of care” for the evaluation and screening of prospective adoptive, foster, and kinship applicants directly undermines the child placement process, the physical and emotional development of children placed in adoptive and foster homes, and the adjudication of legal issues arising when children are harmed.
Often, it is only when a lawsuit is filed that society is forced to take a hard look at its legal expectations, and it is then compelled to acknowledge that there may be a very real distinction between child welfare’s ...
Homeschooling and Child Protection
Homeschooling is parent-directed education that meets the requirements for regular school attendance. The U.S. Department of Education in its 2007 National Household Education Survey estimated that “1.5 million students (1,508,000) were homeschooled in the United States.”[1] In that same study, parents were asked why they homeschooled their children. “The three reasons selected by parents of more than two-thirds of students were concern about the school environment, to provide religious or moral instruction, and dissatisfaction with the academic instru...