Child Welfare
A New Jersey state appeals court ruled that foster parents in the state do not have the right to weigh in on placement hearings related to children in their care, reports Jerry Demarco of the Cliffview Pilot.
Erik Eckholm of the New York Times profiles Michael Pearl, a preacher from Tennessee whose books on child discipline have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. At least three parents who have kept his book in their home have been charged with abuse-related homicides of their children.
The 16 states that receive supplement federal funding for poor families will see the extra assistance go away on December 1 due to budget cuts, reports Mike Hasten of Louisiana’s News Star. In Louisiana, the Department of Child and Family Services will reduce by $5.2 million its Kinship Care Subsidy Program as a result of the cuts.
Juvenile Justice
Shoddy record-keeping by the Department of Juvenile Justice is hampering the agency’s own investigation into the dosing of jailed children with powerful antipsychotic drugs, reports Dara Kam and Michael Laforgia of the Palm Beach Post.
Juvenile arrests in Wisconsin plummeted during the past decade, reports Kevin Hoffman of the Gazette Extra, and local leaders believe that it is in part due to more manageable caseloads for juvenile justice workers.
Georgia’s juvenile justice commissioner is stepping down after a local network brought into question her use of a monthly car allowance, reports Ryan Schill of the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.
