social services

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Youngest Turpin Siblings Detail Alleged Abuse in Foster Care

They claim in suit they were forced to overeat and then eat their own vomit

(Newser) - Update: The six youngest Turpin siblings have sued Riverside County and foster care agency ChildNet, alleging that in the years after their 2018 rescue from their parents' Perris, Calif., home, they were subjected to "severe abuse and neglect" while in foster care. The suit claims the foster family they...

Woman Posed as Social Worker in 'Scary' Kidnapping Try: Police

The suspect apparently tried to take woman's newborn baby

(Newser) - California police have detained a woman who allegedly posed as a social worker to kidnap a woman's newborn child, KABC-TV reports. The woman, who called herself Mayella Ortega, is accused of showing up at the Santa Ana home last Friday and saying she had to take the week-old into...

Octo-Kids Living in Squalor?

 Octo-Kids 
 Living in 
 Squalor? 
social workers investigate
Apr 25, 2012 10:47 AM CDT

Octo-Kids Living in Squalor?

Police, social services visit Octomom Nadya Suleman

(Newser) - Social workers visited Nadya Suleman's home last night after an official complaint—by the Octomom's own hairstylist—that her 14 children are living in "general neglect." TMZ has the pictures that triggered the investigation, and while some of the allegations are less than hard-hitting (the kids...

California Bans Collecting Welfare at Strip Club ATMs

State debit cards no longer work ithere

(Newser) - Californian authorities learning that thousands of taxpayer dollars meant for needy families may have ended up being stuffed into thongs have banned collecting welfare at strip clubs. The establishments have been scratched from the official list of places where welfare recipients can use state-issued ATM cards to withdraw cash, the...

UK Apologizes to 'Brit Fritzl' Daughters

Social workers knew of incest, but failed to act: Report

(Newser) - British authorities publicly apologized yesterday for failing to protect two women from the violent, domineering father who raped them repeatedly over 25 years and forced them to bear 9 children. An official review of the case found the family had been in contact with 28 different social services agencies and...

DC, Catholic Church in Gay Rights Standoff

Church to pull plug on social programs if marriage bill passes

(Newser) - The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has told the District of Columbia it will tear up its social service contracts to help the city's needy if it passes a proposed same-sex marriage bill next month. The bill wouldn't require the church to perform or provide space for gay marriages, but would...

Jim Brown 'Dead Wrong' for Dissing Tiger

(Newser) - NFL Hall of Famer and activist Jim Brown recently ripped Tiger Woods for not giving back to his community, and that’s just "dead wrong," Michael Wilbon writes in the Washington Post. Brown seems to think Woods' Learning Center in Anaheim exists to teach kids how to golf....

Cops Quiz Octuplet Mom Over Son's Black Eye

Police, social workers visit Suleman home after autistic boy injured

(Newser) - Police and social workers visited Nadya Suleman's home yesterday after her autistic 4-year-old son turned up at school with a black eye and bite marks, the Los Angeles Times reports. Suleman's attorney said the boy probably got the black eye in a fall and the bites were from one of...

Generous Pensions Toppling Hungarian Economy

Public spending dilemma threatens to engulf Eastern Europe

(Newser) - Pensions are at the heart of the Hungarian financial crisis threatening to drag down the Eastern European economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Three out of every 10 Hungarians currently collects a generous government pension, but the cost—around 10% of GDP and rising—has made the country's deficit unmanageable,...

Cutbacks Hit Faith-Based Charities as Need Rises

Slashed state budgets leave programs with reduced funding

(Newser) - The recession has hit faith-based charities hard, threatening to cut off vital services for the sick, poor, and elderly, the Washington Post reports. With state and local budgets strapped for cash, contracts and grants for the groups—including the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities—have been slashed or delayed across...

Kid UK Parents Might Be Just Fine, Thanks
Kid UK Parents Might Be Just Fine, Thanks
OPINION
Feb 15, 2009 3:08 PM CST

Kid UK Parents Might Be Just Fine, Thanks

They need guidance, sure, but who cares if they go on the dole?

(Newser) - Don’t be so sure 13-year-old Alfie Patten and 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman will be bad parents for their newborn, Sarah Sands writes in the Independent. Sure, the young father “loves computer games and Manchester United,” but that “does not actually set Alfie apart from the adult male...

Adolf Hitler's Dad Blasts Kids' Removal

(Newser) - Adolf Hitler's frustrated father is blasting New Jersey officials for removing his children from his home only "because of their names," reports AP. Heath Campbell also charged that his 2-year-old daughter, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, appeared sick and dirty when he was allowed to see her. Adolf Hitler, 3,...

Hitler's Mom: 'I Want My Kids Back'
Hitler's Mom:
'I Want My Kids Back'
Jan 22, 2009 7:31 AM CST

Hitler's Mom: 'I Want My Kids Back'

(Newser) - Adolf Hitler's mom wants her son back home. The Jersey mother who saddled her three kids with Nazi-friendly names lost them to social services because of a neighbor's false claims of abuse, she tells the Express-Times. We "would never abuse our children," she said. "I want my...

Lean Times Prove Taxing for State Budgets

Shortfalls mean serious cost-cutting, fee hikes across US

(Newser) - Reduced sales, income, and corporate taxes are forcing states to cut back on services and consider laying off workers as they look for ways to slash spending and balance budgets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Conference of State Legislatures says states face a $40 billion budget shortfall as...

Teen Prostitutes Find Help at LA Shelter

Helping girls, rather than treating them as criminals, focus for Children of the Night

(Newser) - "I'm their mother," says the founder of a Los Angeles shelter for teen prostitutes. For almost three decades, Children of the Night has focused on helping girls recover from their past rather than treating them like criminals, Good Magazine reports. Shelter founder Lois Lois "isn’t like...

Dad Caged Daughters While He Worked

Girls, 2 and 5, found locked in wire cage in father's truck

(Newser) - An Illinois father has confessed to keeping his two young daughters locked in a cage in his truck while he worked, the Chicago Tribune reports. The trash and scrap-metal collector told police that he kept the girls, ages 2 and 5, locked up because he couldn't find a babysitter—and...

Sect Moms Say Kids Scarred
 Sect Moms Say Kids Scarred 
May 29, 2008 12:39 PM CDT

Sect Moms Say Kids Scarred

State blasted ahead of ruling on whether it had right to take custody

(Newser) - Taking young children away from their parents has harmful effects, say mothers from the polygamist sect in Texas, and numerous studies agree—which is why federal and state guidelines require a “reasonable effort” to keep children with their parents before removing them. Texas authorities don't appear to have done...

Germany Seizes 'eBay Baby'
Germany Seizes 'eBay Baby'
May 24, 2008 6:53 PM CDT

Germany Seizes 'eBay Baby'

Couple listed son 'as a joke,' but unamused cops suspect child trafficking

(Newser) - Germany has taken a seven-month-old baby from his parents after they tried to sell him on eBay, the BBC reports. The yet-unnamed child was advertised as “nearly-new” and had a starting price of one euro. “It was only a joke,” the child’s mother said. “I...

Blast From Obama's Past
Blast From Obama's Past
Mar 23, 2007 3:13 PM CDT

Blast From Obama's Past

High school chum, now homeless, hopes for handout

(Newser) - Barack Obama was surprised last week when a buddy from back in the days when he was called Barry got in touch. Keith Kakugawa, recently released from prison for his third drug conviction and living in a car, called the senator's cell phone to ask for help.

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