Child Injury Lawyer Blog

By Scott A. Marks, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

In an effort to keep kids out of foster care, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services is giving abusive parents accused or suspected of abusing their children a second chance to be good parents to their children. Experts call the experiment, run by the nation’s largest county-run child welfare program, one of the most promising experiments for child welfare. However, it is not without risks; it does place children back into homes that have been deemed unfit.

The program was developed in response to the fact that children in foster care often end up homeless, jobless, and incarcerated as adults. The theory is that the money spent on foster programs would be better spent educating the child’ biological parents to improve their parenting skills.

Los Angeles County is taking advantage of a new federal program which allows them to accept a set amount from the government, rather than an amount determined by how many children are in foster care. Under the program, the county can use any excess funds as they see fit. In some cases, the county may pay for furniture for the child’s room, child care, parenting and anger management classes, and even a bus pass to get to job training classes. If the child moves back in the parent may also be eligible for more housing, food stamp and welfare benefits.

The program seems to be working; in the last decade the county has reduced the number of children in foster care by more than half. And the savings in monthly foster care costs has allowed the county to hire more case workers. Find out more about this foster care avoidance program in California by visiting With time and help, a mom may learn to conquer anger.

By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

In June of 2009, Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price, were accused by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission of knowingly selling millions of children’s toys that were contaminated with lead paint, exposing children to lead poisoning. Mattel and Fisher-Price agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty.

This month, consumers won a multi-million dollar recall suit, which will require Mattel to compensate consumers who purchased any of the affected toys. The settlement calls for the largest toy recall ever recorded.

It is encouraging, heading into the holiday shopping season, that shoppers will be able to buy toys for their loved ones with greater confidence. You can find out more about the recalled toys at Mattel Knowingly Imported Poison.

By Scott A. Marks, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

It took less than one hour for a Tulare County jury to return a guilty verdict in this shocking California case. Nancy Ortiz, 24, of Orosi, California was found guilty on second degree murder and felony child abuse charges after she abandoned three of her children.

Two of the children were found alive and have been placed in foster care. The third died of exposure and was found in the bed of a pick-up truck. She was also convicted of misdemeanor child abuse after another of her children was found wandering the streets alone in nothing but a diaper. Ortiz will be sentenced on December 9th, 2009, and could serve over 22 years in prison for her actions.

You can read more about this sad case at Orosi mother who abandoned 3 infants found guilty of 2nd-degree murder in 1 child’s death.

By Stephanie F. Brown, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

Clackamas County, Oregon deputies arrested Justin B. Blackledge, age 31, for compelling a teen into prostitution, unlawful display of a child in a sex act and several counts of encouraging child sex abuse. Investigators report that Blackledge had a sexual relationship with the teenager in 2007 - 2008. During this time period, Blackledge posted explicit photographs of the teen on a website with the teen's contact information and a list of her sexual services. There appears to be a good bit of evidence on the internet and elsewhere on Mr. Blackledge. His bail was set at $250,000. It is a shame that teens are exploited in this manner.

You can read more about this story at Oregon Man Arrested for Pimping Out a Teen on the Internet.

By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

The Associated Press reported a very good but sad story about the trafficking of children for slave and indentured servant type of labor in the United States. The children were reported to work day and night with little to no breaks and very poor wages. While many think that these arrangements only take place outside of the United States, there are numerous reports showing child labor and child labor trafficking as a real problem in California and other States in the United States. You can read the sad stories of some of these children at Child Maid Trafficking - A Real Problem in the United States.

Many people, who put child maids to work, can avoid maids. They live in nice houses but it is not good enough to have a regular maid or housekeeper once a week. These folks want a maid all day and all night. It is a shame that somebody's laziness comes at the expense of a child who is forced to work to pay for a family member's debt or to get virtual slave wages to their families.