Health News
- Beshear To Have Outside Panel Review Cases Of Children Killed Or Life-threatened By Abuse
An independent panel of experts will review cases of children who have been killed or severely hurt by child abuse or neglect, Gov. Steve Beshear announced Monday. The panel will have 17 members and be based in the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet....
- Judge Orders Cabinet For Health And Family Services To Speed Up Its Release Of Child-abuse Records
The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services has been given 90 days to release thousands of pages pertaining to about 180 cases of children who died or were badly injured from abuse or neglect. The order was issued Thursday by Franklin Circuit...
- Cabinet Files Appeal To Prevent Releasing Full Child Abuse Records; Beshear Backs Decision
On the day the state was supposed to release unadulterated records on deaths and near deaths from child abuse, under a court order, it filed an appeal to stop the process. And though Gov. Steve Beshear had ordered the Cabinet for Health and Family Services...
- Head Of State Social Services Steps Down Amid Controversy
In the wake of controversy about how her state agency handled child-abuse investigations, Kentucky's commissioner of social services has stepped down. No other details were confirmed about the resignation of Patricia Wilson, who was a career social-services...
- Beshear Says Hand Over Child Abuse Records; Cabinet Immediately Files For More Time
Gov. Steve Beshear ordered the release of "state records of children who have been killed or nearly killed as a result of abuse and neglect," reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. (Photo by H-L's Pablo Alcala) "Transparency will be...
Health News
Health and family cabinet continues to withhold more information in copies of child abuse records than judge allowed
The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services released three more death and near-death cases involving child abuse or neglect Friday under court order, but continued to withhold critical information. It has appealed the order.
The 2009 cases involve two babies who died from suffocation while the parents were impaired. A third case involves a 2-year-old girl from Lawrence County, who was injured after she was reportedly kicked in the head by a horse while unsupervised.
The 2009 cases involve two babies who died from suffocation while the parents were impaired. A third case involves a 2-year-old girl from Lawrence County, who was injured after she was reportedly kicked in the head by a horse while unsupervised.
The cabinet "continues to withhold, or redact, far more information" than was allowed under the Jan. 19 order of Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd, reports Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal. Shepherd said the cabinet could withhold the names of children seriously injured by abuse or neglect, names of private citizens who report suspected abuse, the names of minor siblings in the home and the names of minor perpetrators.
But the cabinet is withholding more information than that. "For example, in the case of the girl injured by the horse, the cabinet deleted the name and relationship of the adult who was watching her, even though the adult is named and identified as her grandfather in a separate internal review of the case," Yetter reports. "The cabinet also withheld juvenile and family court records in that case and the names of all adults involved." The girl recovered from the skull fracture sustained by the horse.
Gavin Villarreal never woke up after he was found with a plastic bag over his head in his crib, possibly placed over the 5-month-old's head by other young children in the home. His parents both tested positive for drugs on the day of his death and were convicted. In the third case, a month-old baby died after his father apparently rolled over him in his sleep. Both parents admitted they had been drinking and used marijuana before they went to bed. (Read more)
Gavin Villarreal never woke up after he was found with a plastic bag over his head in his crib, possibly placed over the 5-month-old's head by other young children in the home. His parents both tested positive for drugs on the day of his death and were convicted. In the third case, a month-old baby died after his father apparently rolled over him in his sleep. Both parents admitted they had been drinking and used marijuana before they went to bed. (Read more)
- Beshear To Have Outside Panel Review Cases Of Children Killed Or Life-threatened By Abuse
An independent panel of experts will review cases of children who have been killed or severely hurt by child abuse or neglect, Gov. Steve Beshear announced Monday. The panel will have 17 members and be based in the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet....
- Judge Orders Cabinet For Health And Family Services To Speed Up Its Release Of Child-abuse Records
The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services has been given 90 days to release thousands of pages pertaining to about 180 cases of children who died or were badly injured from abuse or neglect. The order was issued Thursday by Franklin Circuit...
- Cabinet Files Appeal To Prevent Releasing Full Child Abuse Records; Beshear Backs Decision
On the day the state was supposed to release unadulterated records on deaths and near deaths from child abuse, under a court order, it filed an appeal to stop the process. And though Gov. Steve Beshear had ordered the Cabinet for Health and Family Services...
- Head Of State Social Services Steps Down Amid Controversy
In the wake of controversy about how her state agency handled child-abuse investigations, Kentucky's commissioner of social services has stepped down. No other details were confirmed about the resignation of Patricia Wilson, who was a career social-services...
- Beshear Says Hand Over Child Abuse Records; Cabinet Immediately Files For More Time
Gov. Steve Beshear ordered the release of "state records of children who have been killed or nearly killed as a result of abuse and neglect," reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. (Photo by H-L's Pablo Alcala) "Transparency will be...