Latest Child welfare News
First Black woman named as Connecticut's top public defender
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The first Black woman has been appointed as Connecticut's chief public defender. TaShun Bowden-Lewis, who officially began her job on Friday overseeing the Division of Public Defender Services, said she hopes to provide minority clients with a greater sense...

Abortion ruling prompts variety of reactions from states
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had provided a constitutional right to abortion. The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states, although the timing of those laws taking effect varies. Some Republican-led...

Same-sex couples updating legal status after abortion ruling
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Emails and phone calls from same-sex couples, worried about the legal status of their marriages and keeping their children, flooded attorney Sydney Duncan’s office within hours of the Supreme Court’s decision eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. ...

Couples wed as Swiss same-sex marriage law takes effect
GENEVA (AP) — Lesbian and gay couples in Switzerland rejoiced as they legally tied the knot Friday when the rich Alpine nation formally joined many other western European countries in allowing same-sex marriage, with some saying better late than never. The first same-sex marriages...
Editorial Roundup: Tennessee
Kingsport Times News. June 26, 2022. Editorial: Do you have what it takes to be a foster parent? As Frontier Health seeks foster parents to help meet a growing need in the region, the Census Bureau says that nearly 18.5 million American children are growing up without...

Lawsuits target Virginia school board sex-assault response
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A pair of lawsuits that for years has plagued Virginia's largest school system with allegations that it ignored students' accusations of sex assaults are back in front of federal judges. One of the lawsuits includes allegations of horrific abuse suffered by...
Editorial Roundup: Mississippi
Greenwood Commonwealth. June 25, 2022. Editorial: Success Mixed On Teen Births As with a lot of indicators about the well-being of people in Mississippi, this state has made significant progress in reducing the number of teen births, but it still has a long way to go....

R. Kelly timeline: Shining star to convicted sex trafficker
R. Kelly's musical accomplishments have been accompanied by a long history of allegations that he sexually abused women and children. Now the R&B singer has been sentenced to spend the next three decades behind bars. A jury found Kelly guilty in September of sex trafficking...

FBI opens sweeping probe of clergy sex abuse in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar...

Dutch PM condemns protests by farmers at minister's home
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent protest by farmers outside the home of the country's agriculture minister amid increasingly bold demonstrations against the government's plans to rein in pollution. A small group of farmers...
