In response to the recent earthquake in Haiti, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have implemented a special process to assist prospective adoptive parents with pending adoption cases in Haiti. The Humanitarian Parole policy is described in detail in this Fact Sheet issued by DHS. The policy applies only to children who were orphaned or separate
Practical Advice on Travel with Children
In the New York Times “Practical Traveller” column, Michelle Higgins writes about taking children abroad: “Stroller, Diapers, Paperwork.” The story includes a link to the State Department’s web site with information on the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program.
Human Trafficking and the Sex Trade
E. Benjamin Skinner, author of A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery (2008), has this article in Time magazine on ”South Africa’s New Slave Trade and the Campaign to Stop It” that looks at concerns that human trafficking may increase in advance of the World Cup soccer matches in South Africa in June.
Texas Abduction Case Highlights Risks of ex parte Orders
A column by Veronica Flores-Paniagua in the San Antonio Express-News, Warning Signs Missed at Every Step in Custody Case, follows up on the abduction controversy in Texas that began with a state court’s ex parte order to remove a child from his mother’s custody.
Comparison of Orphanage and Community Care in Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and Tanzania
With sharply rising numbers of orphaned and abandoned children in many less-wealthy countries of the world, policy makers have emphasized the importance of caring for children in family-based rather than institutional settings. A large study carried out by researchers from Duke University at six sites in five countries found that “health, emotional and cognitive functioning, and physical growth were no worse for institution-living than community-living” children, and that the difference in care settings accounted for a very small percentage of the variability in outcomes. The research gro
Conviction for “Honour” Killing
Here are reports of the trial and conviction this week in London of Mehmet Goren for the murder of his 15-year old daughter, Tulay Goren who had left home to live with a boyfriend. Karen McVeigh’s piece in The Guardian and Nico Hines’s article in The Times give more detail about the case.
New Approach to Aid for Orphans in Malawi
In the New York Times, Aid Gives Alternative to African Orphanages by Celia W. Dugger reports on an experimental program in Malawi giving direct cash assistance to extended families caring for children as an alternative to orphanages.
More on Child Migrants
Following up on the story I noted last week here, today’s New York Times has a piece by John F.
Australia Apologizes to Child Migrants
In a ceremony in Canberra this week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull offered apologies for Australia’s treatment of the “Lost Innocents” – children who were sent forcibly from England to Australia to relieve burdens on England’s social welfare system – as well as other children placed in foster care and state institutions who were also subjected to neglect and abuse.
Teenage Runaways
I’ve been thinking about this article from last week’s New York Times: “Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways.” The story, by Ian Urbina, has two installments (the second, looking at isssues of sex and prostitution, is here) and is accompanied by video reports. We’re more accustomed to hearing about street children and child prostitution in other parts of the world; this is an important reminder of issues here in t