Twelve Things That Caught My Eye on Foster Care/Adoption/Child Welfare — September 11, 2020

1. JoeAnn Ballard brought unconditional love to 75 Memphis foster children facing hardships

2.  Newsweek: Teen’s Death After Years of ‘Unspeakable’ Abuse Could Have Been Prevented by Health Officials: Investigation

After years of abuse, Sabrina was found deceased in her Perry, Iowa, home in 2017, weighing only 56 pounds. The “evil” in the home shocked officers on the scene and her adopted parents, Misty and Marc Ray were sentenced to life in prison with a total of five family members pleading guilty and receiving prison sentences.

Having concluded her investigation, [Iowa state ombudsman Kristi Hirschman] determined that with more rigorous oversight and communication between people who had knowledge of the rampant abuse, Sabrina’s death could have been prevented. News of the case sent “a chill” down Hirschman’s spine and conducting the investigation brought her to tears.

3. A migrant mother saw her disabled son walk into the U.S. Then he disappeared

4. New York Times magazine: The Children in the Shadows: New York City’s Homeless Students

Like many of New York City’s more than 100,000 homeless schoolchildren, Prince was familiar with uncertainty and isolation, with not knowing what day it was. For nearly all his life, he had lived under the curfew imposed by homeless shelters, with no visitors or play dates allowed at his home, and had adapted to long, endless waits at city agencies. Quarantine had coincidentally found him better situated than he had ever been: For the first time in Prince’s memory, his family had a precarious hold on a rental apartment in the Bronx.

5. Child Welfare Must Keep To Its Permanency Timelines

6. Victory for an Ohio Indian Boy

7. Remote learning that works (AEI podcast)

8. Parenting children from hard places through online schooling or in-person instruction during a pandemic 

9. Adoption: Learning to Trust as Never Before

10. Bethany Mandel: The Best Books for Babies and Toddlers

11.

“Adoption is less about getting a child for your family and more about giving your family or a child.” #adoption pic.twitter.com/sNtlid7amJ

— AdoptUSKids (@AdoptUSKids) September 10, 2020

12.

The annual Frosty 5K Run for #Adoption, hosted by @Wendys, will take place virtually October 3–17.

Together, we can change the journey for children who have been waiting in #FosterCare the longest.

Register today at https://t.co/J1vMlxfATZ pic.twitter.com/7HmksDY0ji

— Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (@DTFA) September 11, 2020