Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Illinois child welfare case

“An article in the March 28th. National Law Journal (subscription) reports that 'in a decision with national repercussions, a federal judge in Illinois has ruled that the state’s child welfare agency unconstitutionally denies due process to parents by separating families on ‘nominal evidence’ at the beginning of child abuse investigations….'"
[ Dupuy v. Samuels, cases 03-3071 and 03-3091 ]

Carolyn Kubitschek, vice president of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, commented that many state welfare agencies have practices similar to that of Illinois' giving parents or guardians accused of abuse or neglect the choice of leaving the home during the investigation, or surrendering custody of the child to the court.

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