Tag: Child welfare

Jul 18

2023

Therapy gives family a second chance

Published by

This story is being co-published with The Imprint, a national nonprofit news outlet covering child welfare and youth justice. On a Tuesday evening in February, the parents of three children are seated with a therapist at their kitchen table in Cheektowaga. They’re sorting out ways to help their oldest, a 15-year-old girl. She loves TikTok and weightlifting and wants to be a counselor for young children when she grows up. But for years, the teen has exhibited harmful behaviors. She has attempted suicide, cut herself, lashed out violently and shrieked at members of her family when they tried to help. [...]

Posted 8 months ago

Jul 30

2015

Poloncarz plays down problems at CPS

Published by

For workers at Erie County Child Protective Services, high caseloads and missed deadlines have become the norm. But Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is adamant that the department no longer has any serious problems. “We’ve made great progress and we’re headed on the right track, there’s just always a little more work to be done,” Poloncarz said. County Legislators disagree. They voted 7-4 Thursday in favor of asking Poloncarz to personally discuss the performance of CPS at a special public meeting. But Poloncarz said he would not do so and dismissed today’s vote as “a political stunt.” The county executive, up for re-election in November, had ducked questions[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jul 23

2015

Child abuse unit still struggling

Published by

Kim Henderson lasted a year as a caseworker investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. She was assigned more cases than she felt she could handle. Many of the cases she inherited were poorly documented. And many of the families she was assigned to work with hadn’t seen a caseworker in months. Henderson quit her job with Erie County Child Protective Services two weeks ago, worried that too many families with children at risk weren’t getting the help they needed. “Sometimes the kids hadn’t been seen for months on end – it was terrible,” she said. Henderson’s experience is not[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post

Get our newsletters delivered to your inbox * indicates required

Newsletters *