Some of Coloradoâs most vulnerable, traumatized and challenged children could get caught in a web of well-intended but misguided new state and federal rules. It could undermine the stateâs ability to meet these childrenâs needs for mental health, behavioral and substance-abuse care. That, in turn, could cause a ripple effect throughout Coloradoâs system for children who cannot be cared for in their own homes.
A statewide network of residential child care facilities â with highly skilled, licensed and trained professionals â long has provided behavioral health services and substance-abuse treatment for hundreds of children and teens a year. Many of these children do not have viable families; without residential treatment, they would be left out in the cold.
Some of Coloradoâs most vulnerable, traumatized and challenged children could get caught in a web of well-intended but misguided new state and federal rules. It could undermine the stateâs ability to meet these childrenâs needs for mental health, behavioral and substance-abuse care. That, in turn, could cause a ripple effect throughout Coloradoâs system for children who cannot be cared for in their own homes.
A statewide network of residential child care facilities â with highly skilled, licensed and trained professionals â long has provided behavioral health services and substance-abuse treatment for hundreds of children and teens a year. Many of these children do not have viable families; without residential treatment, they would be left out in the cold.
Some of Coloradoâs most vulnerable, traumatized and challenged children could get caught in a web of well-intended but misguided new state and federal rules. It could undermine the stateâs ability to meet these childrenâs needs for mental health, behavioral and substance-abuse care. That, in turn, could cause a ripple effect throughout Coloradoâs system for children who cannot be cared for in their own homes.
A statewide network of residential child care facilities â with highly skilled, licensed and trained professionals â long has provided behavioral health services and substance-abuse treatment for hundreds of children and teens a year. Many of these children do not have viable families; without residential treatment, they would be left out in the cold.
The reports from the Department of Human Services Critical Incident Review Team are some of the most heartbreaking items the state of Oregon produces.
The team reviews child fatalities when there is a connection to the stateâs child welfare department within a year of the death. The CIRT reports aim to understand what happened and consider what, if anything, can be learned.
A CIRT report from 2020 looked into what may have been a suicide or accidental overdose by a 16-year-old in December 2020.
Rewind back to 2016. DHS received a report about the child. The child was then 12 and struggling with mental health and self-harm. That investigation was closed because no evidence was found of parental abuse or neglect.
Home » Foster Care » Washington lawmakers look to keep families together as part of foster care reform
Poverty, disability, homelessness wouldn’t qualify as sole reason to take kids away
With tears in her eyes, Karen Osborne recalled the day in 2014 when police showed up to take away her 6-week-old daughter. Osborne hadn’t been accused of abuse nor neglect. Instead, social workers were concerned about Osborne’s “mental capacity.” They had already removed seven of Osborne’s previous children and made plans to remove her new baby before she was even born.
Social workers and a doctor who examined the baby didn’t find any evidence that the child was maltreated, according to case notes obtained by Disability Rights Washington. Rather than actual observations of Osborne’s parenting skills, state officials deemed her unfit to parent based on IQ tests. They moved to terminate her parental rights 18 months after removing the child, before Osborne had even completed parent