Sunday, November 30, 2008
"The best interest of the child" is the philosophy that should drive child welfare decisions, but the rules that come with federal funding haven't always cooperated.
"The majority of federal money is only available to maintain kids in foster care placement -- room and board, basically," said Marci McCoy-Roth, co-director of the Pew Charitable Trust's Kids Are Waiting campaign.
Until recently, only 11% of federal dollars Continue reading »
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — The nation's economic troubles play out one family at a time at the New Horizons Learning Center in this struggling city two hours northwest of Chicago.
Some parents have been laid off and must pull their children out of the day care center until they can find a job. Others' employment hours have been cut, so they reduce their kids' attendance to a few days a week.
Financial strains prompt one mother to pay with a Continue reading »
The Department of Child Services is removing too many Indiana children who could be safely left with their families, potentially endangering some of the very youths the agency is trying to protect, according to a report by a national child welfare reform advocate.
The influx is clogging already congested juvenile courts, leaving thousands of children without the required oversight of independent advocates and overwhelming the supply of foster and Continue reading »
COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Children traumatized by hostilities between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in North Cotabato and Maguindanao were given a respite from the conflict through a three-day sports-fest in Midsayap, North Cotabato.
Romeo Saniel, president of the Notre Dame of Midsayap College, which helped organize the event, said the children from conflict-affected communities of Aleosan, Midsayap, Pikit, Libungan, Continue reading »