Lawsuit Seeks Fix for Foster Children| Agency Doesn’t Comply with Law, Group Says| Class Action Lawsuit Involving State-Run Foster-Care System Being Amended| Expert Panel Issues Final Report Finding N
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Author: Jamaal Abdul-Alim| Unknown| Children's Rights Inc.
Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel| Associated Press Newswires| Press Release
Date: 12/8/2000
Children’s Rights Inc. (CRI) attorney Marcia Lowry, discussing a progress report on New York City’s child welfare agency, submitted by a Special Child Welfare Advisory Panel, says, "the city has finally addressed many real problems in a meaningful way." Under the terms of the settlement of a 1995 class action lawsuit filed by CRI and Lawyers for Children, on behalf of children in foster care and children who are victims of abuse and neglect, the Panel was established to work with the City towards reforming the child welfare system. Lowry notes that further lawsuits, which were barred by the settlement for a two-year period ending December 15, 2000, may still be necessary to target the existing problems identified by the Panel. CRI has also filed a lawsuit against Milwaukee’s child welfare agency on behalf of five children in foster care, alleging that the city has failed to take the necessary steps to find a permanent home for these children within a reasonable period of time. The lawsuit arises out of an earlier class-action lawsuit filed in 1993, that alleged that Milwaukee had failed to protect children in foster care. The original lawsuit was settled in 1998, placing the welfare agency under state control. CRI’s new complaint alleges that the state has failed in its supervisory role. The complaint also alleges that the state has violated the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which requires states to terminate the parental rights of children who remain in foster care for 15 out of 22 months. CRI attorney Eric Thompson says this law was enacted "because systems such as the one in Milwaukee were not working toward finding a permanent home for kids who were growing up in foster care." CRI seeks a court order, requiring, among other things, increased staffing for Milwaukee’s child welfare system. Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Lawsuit Seeks Fix for Foster Children; Agency Doesn’t Comply with Law, Group Says, The Milwaukee J. Sentinel, Dec. 4, 2000, at 1B; Class Action Lawsuit Involving State-Run Foster-Care System Being Amended, Associated Press Newswires, Dec. 4, 2000, page reference unavailable; Children’s Rights Inc., Expert Panel Issues Final Report Finding New Strengths and Persistent Weaknesses in New York City Child Welfare System, Press Release, Dec. 8, 2000.