Tag: child protective services

Your child’s a no-show at virtual school? You may get a call from the state’s foster care agency

Massachusetts school officials have reported dozens of families to state social workers for possible neglect charges because of issues related to their children’s participation in remote learning classes during the pandemic shutdown in the spring, according to interviews with parents, advocates, and reviews of documents.

In most cases, lawyers and family advocates said, the referrals were made solely because students failed to log into class repeatedly. Most of the parents reported were mothers, and several did not have any previous involvement with social services.

The trend was most common in high-poverty, predominantly Black and Latino school districts in Worcester, Springfield, Haverhill, and Lynn; advocates and lawyers reported few, if any, cases from wealthier communities.

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Arizona child welfare workers fired after posing in ‘Professional Kidnapper’ shirts

On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported that multiple employees with the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) were terminated last month after posing for a photo wearing shirts that said “Professional Kidnapper” on the front.

The shirts also said “Do you know where your children are?” on the back, reported Blake Montgomery.

“When children are taken into state custody, parents and critics of the agency have been known to accuse Child Safety personnel of being ‘kidnappers,’” said the report. “The staffers are said to have worn the shirts during work hours. Christina Sanders, a former DCS unit supervisor, saw a picture of staffers in the parking lot of the Prescott, Arizona DCS bureau wearing the shirt and emailed the branch’s supervisor.”

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