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Source: N.J. Child Welfare Suit Settled
Source: N.J. Child Welfare Suit Settled
Tue Jun 24, 5:03 AM ET By TOM BELL, Associated Press Writer TRENTON, N.J. - A children's advocacy group and state officials reached a settlement on a class-action lawsuit that was filed in an effort to force reforms at New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Details of the settlement were scheduled to be announced Tuesday at a news conference with Gov. James E. McGreevey and officials from Children's Rights Inc., the New York-based group that filed the lawsuit. A Children's Rights spokeswoman declined to comment on the settlement Monday. Children's Rights sued the state in August 1999, accusing the division of violating foster children's civil rights with a care system that failed to plan for their future and left them at risk for abuse and neglect. The division has been criticized for years and came under intense pressure for reform in January, when the decomposed body of 7-year-old Faheem Williams was discovered in a storage bin in a home in Newark. His twin brother, Raheem, and their 4-year-old half brother, Tyrone Hill, were found alive but emaciated in an adjoining basement room. The state child services agency had investigated complaints of abuse involving the children since 1992, but never sought to remove the boys from the home. The agency then said it could not locate more than 100 children it was supposed to be monitoring. Children's Rights released a series of reports in the last two months that were critical of agency managers and workers. It said a look at 129 cases involving 195 children in foster care found that state investigators repeatedly made bad decisions. The latest report released last week said children placed in group homes, shelters and detention centers around the state were sexually assaulted and physically abused. Another group of findings released earlier this month said state officials knew about problems at DYFS for years but never took action to correct them. DYFS officials said reform is under way at the agency, including an 18-member panel formed by McGreevey to oversee the process. Legislation is also pending for creating an Office of Child Advocate, requiring criminal background checks of residential supervisors used by DYFS, and providing financial aid to foster children for college. In Trenton on Monday, more than 200 DYFS workers lashed out at the McGreevey administration during a rally at the Statehouse, saying the agency's problems aren't their fault. Workers chanted "Less paperwork, more social work!" and "Cap our caseloads, save our children!" They said the real problem is a lack of funding, which means not enough workers, caseloads that are too big and antiquated equipment. "I feel emotionally castrated, humiliated and ashamed of something that up until now I was proud of," said Dominick Antonicello, a 27-year DYFS employee. "I have spent my entire life saving children from unspeakable horror and I'm being labeled as incompetent." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...hild_welfare_2 ___ On the Net: Children's Rights Inc.: http://www.childrensrights.org New Jersey: http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dyfs/index.html |
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