Legal and Legislative News

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Report says Child Protective Service workers are overloaded, urges overhaul

texastribune.org

by Marissa Evans

November 6, 2016

Special masters hired by the state to scrutinize the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services say the embattled agency should increase its focus on improving the timeliness in seeing children under its care.

In their 13-page report, special masters Kevin Ryan and Francis McGovern also discussed the need for improvements in updating children's health records and limiting caseloads for Child Protective Services caseworkers. The long-awaited report comes almost a year after U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ruled that Texas' long-term foster care system violated children's civil rights. She ordered the state to hire special masters to come up with solutions.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association Fined Record $18 Million for Hiding Donor Names in GMO Ballot Battle

allgov.com

by June Williams

November 6, 2016

The grocery trade group hid donor contributions to oppose a voter measure that required labeling of genetically modified organisms. It spent $11 million to defeat the initiative, but refused to reveal actual donors such as Coke, Pepsi and Nestle.

The Washington D.C.-based trade group hid donor contributions to oppose voter Initiative 522, which required labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), according to Judge Anne Hirsch's November 2 ruling.

Foster Care Chief Ups Request For Caseworker Pay Hikes

houstonpublicmedia.org

by Marissa Evans

October 29, 2016

The head of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has decided to ask lawmakers for an additional $8.2 million to help raise salaries for Child Protective Services workers.

On Thursday evening, agency commissioner Hank Whitman wrote in a letter to Senate Finance Committee members that "providing a salary increase will have a positive impact on retention." "Settling on the ideal salary to diminish turnover is difficult," Whitman wrote. "Our research of U.S. Labor Statistics shows that comparable jobs in the Texas market pay more than salaries at CPS."

Chemtrails Of the Ocean: Government Launches New Toxic AquaTrails

neonnettle.com

by Luke Papenfus

October 13, 2016

Despite the fact that our oceans cover over 70% of our planet, nuclear meltdowns and toxic oil spillages like Fukushima would seem to occur more often than can be explained away by malpractice.

An award-winning online community named THE WELL reported in the 1990's that odd emissions had been spotted floating behind large vessels, which did not dissipate normally according to Kelvin wake patterns. Oceanographers at the Wyoming Institute of Technology have coined these dispersals "Aquatrails". Other Scientists were quick to dismiss the reports citing the usual 'conspiratorial' cry similar to chemtrails.

Choice and Truth: Nestle Continues Stealing World's Water During Drought

choiceandtruth.com

September 27, 2016

Nestlé is draining California aquifers. From Sacramento alone they take 80 MILLION gallons annually. They then sells the people's water back to them at huge profit under dozens of popular brand names.

Nestlé has been draining California aquifers at an alarming rate. In Sacramento alone 80 they extract MILLION gallons annually. Nestlé then turns around and sells the people's own water back to them at a massive profit in the form of bottle water. But this is not even the worst of it, the multinational mega corporation has also been extracting this water with a permit that expired over 2 decades ago!

#SAFE on phone makes reporting child abuse, neglect easy

abqjournal.com

by Rick Nathanson

September 20, 2016

Reportings of suspected child abuse and neglect have ticked up nearly 20 percent in the wake of last month's brutal killing of 10-year-old Victoria Martens and a campaign by the state.

If the calls about abuse or neglect involve a parent, guardian or someone in the household, it is screened in for investigation by CYFD; if the call involves someone outside the household, such as a coach, teacher or neighbor, then CYFD cross-reports the call to local law enforcement for investigation, Jacobson said.

Why we're afraid to leave our children alone

chicagotribune.com

by Virginia Postrel

September 18, 2016

Parents don't not leave their kids alone because they fear something might happen to them. They fear the moral disapproval. Only in the past decade or so has "no child left alone" become the social and legal norm in the U.S.

News reports and crime shows feed exaggerated fears. But Thomas and her co-authors note that legal norms needn't follow inaccurate beliefs about risks. "The fact that many people irrationally fear air travel does not result in air travel being criminalized," they write. "Parents are not arrested for bringing their children with them on airplanes. In contrast, parents are arrested and prosecuted for allowing their children to wait in cars, play in parks, or walk through their neighborhoods without an adult."

Arizona Supreme Court hands down controversial decision on sexual abuse laws

fox10phoenix.com

by Fox

September 17, 2016

The justices examine the language in Arizona's sexual abuse laws, which does not require sexual intent in order to be charged.

"The statue says intentionally or knowingly having sexual contact. Well sexual contact is just the direct or indirect touching of the genital of something else of the child. That is where the changing of the diaper could come into play," said legal analyst Monica Lindstrom.

County lays out staffing plans for child welfare agency in response to grand jury report

desertdispatch.com

by Shea Johnson

September 16, 2016

Laying out its plans to keep Children and Family Services staffing levels strong and defending the agency's law enforcement relationship, county officials authorized a formal defense this week to a critical grand jury report.

Authorized by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, the formal response comes as CFS deals with a series of offensives. Two weeks before the grand jury report in early July found the agency marred by significant under-staffing and a disconnect with law enforcement, the state Department of Justice announced it was reviewing the agency's "compliance with California laws intended to ensure the safety and well-being of children, including children in the dependency system."

2 Bristol residents charged with participating in IRS telephone scam

fox61.com

by Samantha Schoenfeld

September 15, 2016

Either you or someone you know has probably gotten a scam phone call threatening you to pay up. Some say that a child or grandchild is in jail and needs bail money.

On Thursday, federal authorities arrested Nancy Frye, 50, and Douglas Martin, 52, both of Bristol, and charged them with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They each face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

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