● We begin with a
big event in New York City next week. The title of the August 6 event is pretty
bland, but check out who’s speaking and I’ll bet you’ll want to see this. It’s an in-person event, but if you’re not in
the New York City area, you can register to watch a livestream. Full details are here.
● In New York, thanks
to a class-action lawsuit, it’s illegal to tear children from their homes
and throw them into foster care just because they “witnessed domestic violence”
– typically a husband or boyfriend beating the child’s mother. But New York’s
family police agency, the Administration for Children’s Services, considers
itself free to harass domestic violence victims and their children by putting
them under constant surveillance. So now
there’s another lawsuit. The
New York Times has an excellent story,
including lots of original material. But
the story would have been even more excellent had the Times fully
credited the Daily News for reporting on the suit first, back when it was filed.
●
When
children are taken from their parents forever and those children are adopted by
strangers, the parents often want to leave their children something to remember
them by, perhaps a cherished keepsake or a family photo from happier times. So they give these personal effects to the
family police agency to pass on to the children. But in Minnesota, they don’t pass them on.
That’s the topic of this story from Minnesota Public Radio, and this post to the NCCPR Blog.
● Following in the
footsteps of its New York counterpart, North Carolina’s Advisory Committee to
the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is examining that state’s family policing
system. They heard from several
outstanding panelists last week, and you can see the video here (I recommend starting with the searing testimony of
Toia Potts at 20:28 in.) One speaker, a
foster parent who doesn’t say what you probably expect, has posted the text of his excellent
testimony. (And there’s
context for his testimony in this story from The Assembly
and WBTV in Charlotte.) The full meeting transcript is here.
● Continuing its
excellent series “The Help That Harms,” WXIA-TV in Atlanta tells the stories of the enormous harm done to family after
family by false allegations.
● Two recent news
stories highlight what Missouri’s vulnerable children need – and what they
don’t. I have a column about it in the Missouri
Independent.
In this week’s
edition of The Horror Stories Go in All Directions:
From KXII in Oklahoma:
A Pontotoc
County man, who created a foundation to help children in foster care, is
accused of child sexual abuse. According
to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), Michael Priest, 72, was
arrested for allegedly committing several acts of sexual assault towards a
child.
