Suchergebnisse

Commentary / Family Law ; Like an iceberg, there are a multitude of family dynamics below the surface that GALs and other professionals may never know about a family when making decisions. Therefore, the question remains: When is it appropriate for an adolescent to speak to the court directly? Clarity from the legislature and the courts is desperately needed. (from Conclusion)

Legal commentary ; Cities around the country have weathered large-scale legal and illegal citizen reactions following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In response, many communities have imposed curfews. From a social policy perspective, is a juvenile curfew law a common-sense public safety tool or an example of undue and unnecessary interference from the government?

Article ; By embracing the uncomfortable conversations around how service systems may have failed an individual, Eau Claire County has implemented changes resulting in improved outcomes for its citizens in need of additional supports. By reframing gaps in service as a community issue, instead of just individual government system issues, the human services provider leadership is striving to create better outcomes for all Eau Claire community members.

Termination of parental rights ("TPR") ends the parent–child relationship though a process governed by state law. As a recent analysis of federal data revealed, TPR rates vary widely by state. In West Virginia, the TPR rate was 283 per 100,000. In New York State, the focus of this article, there were approximately 30 TPRs for every 100,000 children in 2014. Within New York State, TPR rates vary by county. In this exploratory piece, we analyze TPR rates in New York by county, noting discrepancies and seeking possible explanations for these variations, including possible effects of income disparities, single‐parent households, poor mental health, binge drinking, and drug addiction. This is an initial exploration only, and is not intended to be a rigorous quantitative study. Rather, our scope arises from what we have noticed from front line practice. It is our hope that researchers will use our exploratory findings for extended analysis, including analysis of TPR data from other states.

Legal advice. Washtenaw County Bar Association. ; Victims of sexual abuse are litigating. Among the most prominent defendants are schools, medical professionals, entertainment industry tycoons, politicians, coaches, and clergy. Often, if the case has value, a settlement can be reached, with plaintiffs taking their award as a one-time lump sum or as a structured settlement (a series of payments collected over a period of time). The decision to select a lump-sum payment or a structured settlement will depend upon many factors.

Just as the courts must consider the trade‐off between the best interest of the child and parental rights in involuntary termination of parental rights, policy on international adoption must consider the trade‐offs between the best interest of the child and the long‐term interests of the nation. We argue that countries that suspend international adoptions do not maximize social welfare. A consistent national policy to maximize the well‐being of the children and society at large would be to devote resources today to the oversight of international adoption in accord with child protections under the Hague Convention, while at the same time developing a domestic system of care that provides for the physical and developmental needs of orphaned children in the context of permanent families.

As of January 2006, the United States was the only major receiver of children through intercountry adoption that had not implemented the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention). The United States signed the Hague Convention in 1994, but did not pass implementing legislation until 2000. Regulations pursuant to the legislation were proposed in 2003, but final regulations did not go into effect until March 2006. The slow pace was partly the result of both Congressional wrangling over designation of a regulator and a prolonged conversation between the designated regulator and the adoption community over specific regulations. Finalization of the regulations brings the Hague Convention into force in the United States, but the current system is inadequate to protect the rights of all children and families as the Hague Convention intends. Two parts of the regulations are problematic, especially in combination. First, only substantial, not strict, compliance is required of adoption providers. Second, the United States encourages competition between accreditors of adoption providers. We argue that the regulations will increase the costs of adoption services but, at best, will not improve quality. We conclude that regulation of adoption should be centralized in order to comply with the intent of the Hague Convention.

Families that adopt children who are in foster care may receive monthly adoption assistance payments to offset the cost of raising the adopted child. The amount of the adoption assistance payment is the subject of bargaining between the family and the child welfare authority. This article uses a bargaining model to highlight factors that, in addition to the expected costs of raising the child, might influence the outcome of bargaining over adoption assistance payments. Findings indicate that married parents who adopt children already in their care have an advantage in bargaining, and single women who adopt their kin or foster children have a disadvantage in bargaining.

Legal commentary ; Whatever one's opinion regarding legalizing prostitution might be, and however well-intentioned the two pieces of proposed legislation are, might they inadvertently force sex work further into the shadows and thereby expose children to exploitation?