http://www.childrensrights.org Children's Rights is a national watchdog organization advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children in the U.S. Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:45:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en ChildrensRightsOklahomadgVHenryhttp://feedburner.google.com TULSA, OK — Following the release of two damning expert reports exposing serious risks of harm to children in Oklahoma’s foster care system, two additional expert reviews released today by national advocacy group Children’s Rights reveal many of those dangers can be linked to a disturbing lack of oversight among ... http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/two-expert-reviews-find-ok-child-welfare-plagued-by-mismanagement-dysfunctional-computer-system/ Five Child Deaths Were Preventable, According to National Child Welfare Expert TULSA, OK — A shocking new report by a national child welfare expert has revealed that several children who suffered abuse and neglect in Oklahoma group homes and institutions were never seen by a Department of Human Services (DHS) investigator ... http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/expert-finds-oklahoma-ignores-abuse-and-neglect-claims-concerning-foster-youth-living-in-institutions-discovers-five-of-nine-child-deaths-were-preventable/ Few events can inflict trauma upon a child like removing him or her from home. Subjecting that same child to repeated placements, in places that resemble anything but a home, amplifies that damage beyond imagination. Yet in Oklahoma, this is the experience for so many children. Just one example: a two-year-old ... http://www.childrensrights.org/cases/oklahoma-dg-v-henry/oklahoma-too-many-placements-too-often-in-shelters/ TULSA, OK — One out of eight children in a massive review of Oklahoma foster care cases has suffered confirmed abuse or neglect in the custody of the state Department of Human Services (DHS), according to a new report by independent child welfare experts released today by the national advocacy ... http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/new-report-reveals-shocking-number-of-oklahoma-kids-abused-in-foster-care-forced-to-change-homes-repeatedly/ TULSA, OK — As a new expert review of children in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services draws connections between the agency’s failures and horrific incidences of child abuse and neglect on its watch, DHS has admitted that it does not systematically track the total number of ... http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/kids-in-foster-care-suffer-as-oklahoma-child-welfare-agency-fails-to-track-workers-caseloads/ DENVER, CO — Strongly rejecting state officials’ claims that a district court judge abused his discretion in granting class action status to a lawsuit aimed at reforming the harmful child welfare system of Oklahoma, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver today unanimously upheld the lower court’s May 2009 ... http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/lawsuit-to-reform-harmful-oklahoma-child-welfare-system-may-proceed-as-class-action-federal-appeals-court-rules/ TULSA, OK — “If you don’t beat them down, they will run all over you.” So says a foster parent quoted in two new reports by independent child welfare experts linking failures throughout the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) with the often horrific abuse and neglect endured by children in ... http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/child-welfare-experts-blast-oklahoma-department-of-human-services-in-new-reports-on-kids-safety-in-foster-care/ Ever since Children’s Rights joined advocates from across the state of Oklahoma in taking legal action to reform the state’s extremely dangerous child welfare system in February 2008, the state has fought back hard. First, they tried to get the case dismissed. But the federal judge overseeing the case denied ... http://www.childrensrights.org/cases/oklahoma-dg-v-henry/fighting-for-child-welfare-reform-in-oklahoma-while-thousands-of-children-remain-at-risk/ Abused and neglected children across the state of Oklahoma won a major victory yesterday as a federal judge in Tulsa ruled that the lawsuit Children’s Rights filed in February 2008, seeking the comprehensive reform of the extremely dangerous Oklahoma child welfare system, may proceed as a class action on behalf ... http://www.childrensrights.org/cases/oklahoma-dg-v-henry/oklahoma-child-welfare-reform-campaign-to-proceed-as-class-action/ When Children’s Rights takes action to reform a failing child welfare agency, the direct result we seek is a court order mandating a range of major improvements in both its practices and the outcomes it produces for children and their families. But an important additional benefit of our reform campaigns is ... http://www.childrensrights.org/cases/oklahoma-dg-v-henry/childrens-rights-reform-campaign-focuses-intense-public-attention-on-oklahoma-child-welfare/