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Archive for April, 2021

In Memory of a Foster Child that Died a Year Ago After a Chokehold, Michigan is to Ban the Use of Restraints on Children Living in Group Homes

April 30th, 2021   No Comments   Abuse, Foster Care

On April 29, 2020, 16-year-old Cornelius Fredrick  threw a sandwich at another child during lunch at Lakeside Academy, a Sequel Youth and Family Services facility for at risk children in Michigan. In response to the sandwich incident, seven adult male staff members held little Cornelius on the floor for more than 10 minutes, putting weight on his legs and torso. Cornelius died two days later at a hospital. He was a foster child whose mother had died four years prior.

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Current Florida policy leaves hundreds of foster children without Medicaid coverage

April 28th, 2021   No Comments   Aging Out, Department of Children & Families (DCF), Foster Care

Until recently, the state of Florida has continued to abandon foster children who had already been abused and neglected, even after they left state care, by improperly removing 1,730 former foster children from Medicaid. Former foster children, under federal law, remain Medicaid eligible until age 26. However, a current Florida policy requires all former foster children to reapply for Medicaid at age 22, leaving hundreds of young adults without coverage.

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Kelley Kronenberg Adds Attorney Julianna B. Walo in Chicago

April 22nd, 2021   No Comments   News & Events

Kelley Kronenberg is excited to announce that attorney Julianna B. Walo has joined the firm’s Chicago office, where she focuses on workers’ compensation and business litigation. She is also expanding the reach of the firm’s Justice for Kids Division, a national practice dedicated to providing legal services to abused, disabled, and catastrophically injured children harmed in foster care, shelters, residential treatment centers, group homes, and other child welfare settings, as well as all children harmed by the acts of others.

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Father Christopher Ciomek of St. Peter Damian Parish in Bartlett, Illinois, has been removed from the ministry as a result of allegations of child sex abuse

April 21st, 2021   No Comments   Sexual Abuse

He is accused of abusing a minor approximately 30 years ago, during his years as a seminarian. The pastor has previously served at St. Monica Parish in Chicago, St. Theresa Parish in Palatine, the faculty of the Mundelein Seminary, and was an Associate Dean of Formation and Director of Chicago Seminarians. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) encourages victims of Fr. Ciomek and other priests to come forward: “Given that the average age at which a survivor comes forward is 52, and the fact that one allegation being made public often spurs others who were abused to speak out, we would not be surprised if more people come forward with allegations against Fr. Ciomek.” This one courageous victim has come forward, but there are many more victims of childhood sexual abuse that suffer in silence. Whether the abuse was caused by this priest, or other priests, victims should come forward to receive justice and closure.

Foster children are being sent to out-of-state mental health facilities where they are abandoned, abused, and sexually assaulted.

April 16th, 2021   No Comments   Abuse

A last resort procedure available to child welfare officials is sending foster children to out-of-state mental health institutions. Usually, these fragile children suffer from severe medical and psychiatric disorders that require specialized care. However, officials have been abusing this option, especially in Illinois, by using it far too often and then ignoring these children when they suffer physical and sexual abuse by other residents or facility employees. Although police and facility employees have documented instances of harm, far too often state officials fail to intervene and help these vulnerable youth.

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Father Known to DCF Who Abused, Neglected and Starved Toddler to Death Takes Plea, Gets 20-year Sentence

April 6th, 2021   No Comments   Abuse, Department of Children & Families (DCF)

Five months after his wife, Kristen Meyer, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the death of their infant daughter, Alejandro Aleman pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, as reported by CBS 12.

This issue arises from terrible circumstances that took place in Palm Beach County back in 2016.  Alejandro and his wife had 10 children at the time and kept them all in “deplorable” living conditions.  Investigators discovered a home with mildew, insects, and feces smeared on the walls.  The victim, Tayla, was merely 7 pounds at the time of her death when she was 13 months old.  Tayla was severely malnourished and was infected with E. coli, influenza, and pneumonia at the time of her death.

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