News for 7/22/2010 on Foster Care, Family Court and other curious items
Posted by: "Dan" dandiebolt@yahoo.com dandiebolt
Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:04 pm (PDT)
Grandfather says girl who died in foster care didn't belong there: 'This never should have happened'
Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 11:00 PM Updated: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 7:07 AM
GRAND RAPIDS -- Hank Schriever disagreed with authorities for putting his 5-year-old twin granddaughters in foster care in February, but assumed they would be safe.
He was distraught to learn police think a foster care mother is responsible for causing the death of one of the girls, Emily Marie Meno.
"My feeling is this never should have happened," the Cedar Spring man said. "That's why I'm so cotton-pickin mad about the whole system."
Emily died Saturday at Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital from a traumatic brain injury that happened late Thursday or early Friday. Police did not release the foster mother's name.
"The cards are against them," Toro said. "And they're expected to be on their own."
...
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/grandfather_says_girl_who_died.html
Too old for foster care, youths struggle
Lack of state, federal funds leave holes in safety net
Catherine Jun / The Detroit News
Detroit -- A growing number of youths in Michigan are reaching adult age while in foster care, a situation experts fear leaves them vulnerable to homelessness, poverty and incarceration.
State and welfare agencies say a lack of funding has been the greatest obstacle to getting these youths the safety net they need when they age out of the system.
When they're pushed out onto the streets at age 19 after years of jumping from home to home, the trauma of being separated from their families and getting inconsistent adult guidance destines them to multiple problems, said Paul Toro, professor of psychology at Wayne State University.
...
http://detnews.com/article/20100721/METRO01/7210369/Too-old-for-foster-care--youths-struggle
Judge: Fatally beaten boy needed shield, got inaction (with video)
By Lisa Roose-Church • DAILY PRESS & ARGUS • July 21, 2010
A "series of very bad decisions and/or questionable decisions" through-out the years caused Dominick Calhoun "to fall through the cracks and ultimately contributed to his violent death," a Genesee County judge said Monday.
Judge John Conover of the 67th District Court in Flint said the lack of action by Child Protective Services, the Livingston County probation office and Livingston County Probate Judge Carol Hackett Garagiola contributed to the boy's murder in April.
"We have all these series of events and if you weave a thread through them, you come up with this horrific tragedy to a 4-year-old boy," he said Monday.
The judge's comments came at a preliminary hearing for Dominick's mother, Corrine Baker, who was bound over to Circuit Court for trial on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree child abuse for her failure to protect her son from her boyfriend, who is charged in the boy's murder.
...
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20100721/NEWS01/7210303
British Columbia Plans "Groundbreaking" Changes in Family Law
If the British Columbia government gets its way, family law in the province will be rewritten to encourage out-of-court settlements. Before parties can use court services, they will have to show they tried mediation or dispute resolution first.
According to the FP Legal Post, the bar sees the proposed changes as "groundbreaking." They are the result of a four-year review of the province's 32-year-old Family Relations Act; the government plans to replace it with a new act next year. Family court cases account for one-quarter of all litigation in the province.
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http://sbmblog.typepad.com/sbm-blog/2010/07/british-columbia-plans-groundbreaking-changes-in-family-law.html
Database: Michigan Merit Exam scores
Search for your local school results.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100722/NEWS01/307220003/Database-Michigan-Merit-Exam-scores
Ottawa County voters have three lawyers to pick from to fill family division judge spot
Published: Thursday, July 22, 2010, 4:46 AM
OTTAWA COUNTY -- A trio of attorneys will face off to fill a rare open seat on the Ottawa County Circuit Court, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the November election to decide who will be the court's newest family division judge.
Assistant Ottawa County Prosecutor Kent Engle, family law attorney Chris Houghtaling and employment law specialist David Rhem will vie for the seat left open by the retirement of Judge Calvin Bosman and the decision of John Hulsing to move to the general law division of the court.
Currently, Ottawa County divides its four judges between the general bench, which concentrates on adult criminal and civil matters, and the family division which include juvenile law, abuse,
...
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/ottawa_county_voters_have_thre.html
Years and marriages later, they still pay
By Bella English
Globe Staff / July 18, 2010
Steve Niro got married in 1981 at age 23 and divorced less than five years later. At the time of the divorce, he and his wife were in their late 20s, and both were working. Niro remarried nearly 15 years ago, but he's still paying his alimony.
Two years ago, Niro's youngest son graduated from college, ending child support payments and leaving his former wife with alimony of $65 a week. "The next thing I know, I get summonsed to court for alimony adjustment,'' he says. A probate court judge increased the alimony to $700 a week even though the couple had divorced nearly a quarter of a century ago — five times longer than they were married.
"I paid child support. I paid college. I was never late. I fulfilled my obligations,'' says Niro, 52, a Milford native who works for an environmental engineering firm in Portland, Maine. "I just have to hope that legislators in Massachusetts have enough sense to pass a law that puts guidelines on alimony because the courts don't exercise any common sense or logic.''
Niro and other men — and women — like him say the state's alimony law is archaic, reflecting an era when women kept house and men provided. Today, with women making up nearly half the workforce, they say alimony should be a temporary boost, not a lifetime subsidy.
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http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2010/07/18/years_and_marriages_later_former_spouses_still_owe_alimony/?page=1
Voter Guide
Select a candidate from the list of races below to view the candidate's biography and responses to the State Journal's candidate questionnaire.
http://db.lsj.com/community/dc/election2010/index.php
South African doctor invents "anti-rape" female condoms with "teeth"
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/22/south-african-doctor.html
Making the case to expand 211 service: 'If it was not for 211, I probably would have been dead'
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/making_the_case_to_expand_211.html
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