Category: Latest News

Op Ed – Collective Support for DCFS and Director Deborah Forkas

Op Ed Submitted to The Plain Dealer on June 22, 2010 On behalf of the Alliance of Child Caring Service Providers and the Family-to-Family Administrators Council, two associations that represent neighborhood and children’s services organizations throughout Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, we are deeply saddened by the recent tragedies involving children ... Read More

Child-abuse reports climb in Ohio; Advocates blame ‘07 results on increasing economic strain

Thursday, April 2, 2009 3:25 AM By Catherine Candisky THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Ohio's sinking economy might be causing a spike in reports of child abuse and neglect. For the first time, new allegations of abuse and neglect topped 100,000, according to a statewide survey released yesterday. The report by the Public Children Services Association ... Read More

Too Old for Foster Care, and Facing the Recession

By JULIE BOSMAN Published: April 7, 2009 THE NEW YORK TIMES Even in boom times, young people who become too old for the foster-care system often struggle to make it on their own, lacking families, job skills or adequate educations. Now, the recession has made the challenges of life after foster care even ... Read More

Research Links Poor Kids’ Stress, Brain Impairment

By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, April 6, 2009; Page A06 Children raised in poverty suffer many ill effects: They often have health problems and tend to struggle in school, which can create a cycle of poverty across generations. Now, research is providing what could be crucial clues to ... Read More

Alliance Statement on Incident at Parmadale

The Alliance of Child Caring Service Providers is an association that represents providers who provide a variety of child welfare and children's mental health services in Cuyahoga County, including secure settings for children and youth. These providers are licensed and accredited and adhere to clear policies and procedures in regards ... Read More

Study Finds 1 in 5 Young Americans Have Personality Disorder

According to a study funded with grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the New York Psychiatric Institute, almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life. Personality disorders include obsessive, compulsive, anti-social, and paranoid behaviors ... Read More

Cash-Strapped States Cut Juvenile Justice Programs

Cash-strapped states cut juvenile justice programs By JIM DAVENPORT - December 26, 2008 COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - State budget cuts are forcing some of the nation's youngest criminals out of counseling programs and group homes and into juvenile prisons in what critics contend is a shortsighted move that will eventually lead to ... Read More

Pediatricians Don’t Routinely Ask About Mental Health

A recent Blog article on the U.S. News and World Report website focused on pediatricians and their inquiry into the mental health needs of their patients.  See the exerpt below: Pediatricians Don't Routinely Ask About Mental Health December 15, 2008 03:48 PM ET | Nancy Shute | Don't count on your child's ... Read More

Next Cultural Battleground: Gay Adoption

Sunday,  December 7, 2008 3:43 AM By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Anne Shelley and Dr. Robin Ross are unwinding after a jam-packed day of ferrying 4-year-old daughter Eva Mae from preschool to ice-skating lessons to speech therapy. "It's pretty much your mundane American family," said Shelley, 46, over a ... Read More

School-Based Program Can Change Kids’ Lives

A Seattle project was linked to better education, mental health 15 years later WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3 HealthDay News, U.S. News and World Report -- Urban kids who took part in a social development program in elementary school had improved mental health, sexual health, and educational and economic success as young adults, a ... Read More

Kids In Crisis Spend Days In ERs; Psychiatric Patients ‘Boarded’ While They Wait For Bed

Children in crisis who need psychiatric care can end up living in emergency rooms for days before getting it, according to an investigation by WCVB-TV in Boston. Deb Tilly's son, Ryan, spent 11 days in a Massachusetts emergency room with a security guard outside his door. His mother said there was ... Read More

Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children; Long-Term Risks of Teen Alcohol Use: Two New Studies

Children's mental health was the subject of two recent studies. One involved treatment of anxiety disorders, the other examined long-term effects of alcohol use in teenagers. The first study involved about five hundred children in the United States, ages seven to seventeen. They had moderate to severe disorders involving worries and ... Read More

Justice Department study dispels myths about girls’ delinquency, prevention programs needed

The Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) today released a research bulletin, Charting the Way to Delinquency Prevention for Girls, which reports that despite the rise in female juvenile crime, violence among female youth has not increased. Following a sharp increase in ... Read More

California’s Low Payments to Foster Parents Violate Federal Child Welfare Act, Judge Rules

Payments fall below the amount needed to generate matching funds. State is ordered to determine the cost of care. California's payments to foster parents are so low that the state is in violation of the federal Child Welfare Act, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday. Ruling in favor of three ... Read More

Overhaul of Connecticut child welfare agency suggested

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut's child welfare agency came under fire Monday from two critics who claim years of reorganizational plans haven't worked and children are not receiving the best care possible. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal suggested to state lawmakers that the Department of Children and Families needs to be partially ... Read More