Governor Deval Patrick today will create the state's first Office of the Child Advocate, a watchdog with power to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect and to monitor state agencies that provide services to children, state officials said yesterday.
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"Finally," said MaryLou Sudders, president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. "You need someone who can ask tough questions and has the backing of the governor. The office of child advocate is in response to a series of tragedies and legislative oversight hearings. There's no question about it."
The state agency that handles foster care, the Department of Social Services, has come under fire for several high-profile tragedies in recent years. In 2005, 4-year-old Dontel Jeffers died at the hands of his foster mother. Haleigh Poutre was left comatose in 2005 after a beating by her adoptive mother, who was under DSS supervision. And 4-year-old Rebecca Riley of Hull died after being given an overdose of psychotropic medications in 2006 by her parents, who had been monitored by DSS.
Patrick to create a child advocate
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Thread by wagglebee.
Kristi Burton, age 20, is heading a group called "Colorado for Equal Rights" (http://www.coloradoforequalrights.com), which is grabbing the attention of the major media nationwide. The organization is seeking the 76,000 signatures necessary under Colorado law to subject a resolution to a statewide plebiscite. The resolution simply reads: "Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read: Section 31. Person defined. As used in sections 3, 6, and 25 of Article II of the state constitution, the terms 'person' or 'persons' shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization."
In recent months, personhood bills for the unborn have failed to pass state legislatures in Montana, Virginia, South Carolina and North Dakota, but Burton's strategy is different. She's bypassing the legislature altogether, and going directly to the people.
New Colorado Initiative Seeks to Define Embryos as Human Persons under the Law
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