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Maine’s child welfare ombudsman is dangerously wrong

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

Maine's first child welfare ombudsman, Dean Crocker, understood the lessons from the tragic death of Logan Marr, who was taken when her family poverty was confused with "neglect" and killed in foster care. Most of all she is wrong to ignore the enormous harm of needless removal. ? The current ombudsman, Christine Alberi, does not. ?

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From the people who brought you AFST: The most dangerous "child welfare" algorithm yet

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

It’s literally computerized racial profiling: race and ethnicity are explicitly used to rate the risk that a child will be harmed. As is so often the case with these algorithms, they are less prediction than self-fulfilling prophecy. But for America’s giant child welfare industry of helping professionals, that spoils all the fun.

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Is even a moment of self-reflection too much to ask? In child welfare – and journalism – apparently, yes.

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

I also expressed the hope that we would see more stories about such families and more self-reflection within the system and in journalism. Now he sees how much harm a family policing agency with vast, unchecked power and no accountability can do. So far, it’s not looking good. He wanted to help children.

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When it comes to the problems plaguing “child welfare” wrongful removal drives everything else – including caseworker turnover. Case in point: Massachusetts

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

They think they’re going to be working with families, helping families to engage in services, to be self-sufficient, to move on to higher education,” Everett said. It is a symptom of the culture of contempt for families and a lust for child removal that has characterized Massachusetts child welfare for decades. So they quit.

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Foster care as a shakedown scheme

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

The biggest problem with the so-called “child welfare” system is that it has nothing to do with the welfare of children. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) replaced welfare as we knew it. At the start of a case: Take poor people’s money to investigate poor people. That led to the child being thrown into foster care.

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5 Reasons Children Bully and How Parents Can Help

KVC

We see the impact of that as bullies and those they bully are twice as likely to self-harm and experience suicidal behavior. A bully is someone that deliberately acts out verbally or physically in an aggressive manner towards others with the intent to cause harm, fear, or distress. Words can hurt. What Defines a Bully?

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NCCPR news and commentary round-up, week ending May 21, 2023

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

They wonder if an artificial intelligence tool that the Allegheny County Department of Human Services uses to predict which children could be at risk of harm singled them out because of their disabilities. She’s even part of a group that rushed to defend a self-proclaimed “race realist” law professor beloved by Tucker Carlson.