Child Injury Lawyer Blog

By Al Thiel, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

Sergeant Louis Carlos of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Police Department was present at the hospital when the two year old son of Jennifer Stephenson and a Mr. Apodaca was brought into the emergency room with four centimeter welts across the backs of both of his legs. The police officer said it was very hard for him to listen to the child screaming in pain, and even harder to hear what his parents had to say about it.

According to the child’s father, he entered the boy’s room and found him on lying on his bed underneath a chest of drawers. The child’s mother claimed that she didn’t see or hear anything. But doctors told police that the welts are consistent with the child being tightly bound by ropes, and said they suspected abuse or neglect. They added that they may need to amputate the boy’s legs; they have already performed surgery to remove some of the damaged tissue in hopes of saving his legs.

Both Ms. Stephenson and Apodaca have been arrested and charged with child abuse. The child and his little sister are in the custody of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. Find out more details of this heartbreaking story at Santa Fe Couple Arrested, Accused Of Child Abuse.

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

Taking care of a child with disabilities can be overwhelming. For many parents, that means they are unable or otherwise neglect planning for their child’s financial future. There are nearly 5 million children in the United States suffering from disabilities, and advanced healthcare technology allows many of them to outlive their parents. If the parents fail to plan for the care of their child after their own passing, that can place a heavy burden on other family members or may leave the child without any support at all. That makes the need for financial educational and planning resources for this group more critical than ever.

Planning for a special needs child’s future can be very complicated, requiring expertise in a variety of federal and state laws. The good news is that the high demand for these services in recent years has prompted many well-respected financial planning firms to develop programs especially for families with special needs children. Many businesses / programs / organizations train their employees to deal with the financial, legal and emotional issues of planning for a special needs child’s financial future. They may enlist the aid of an attorney, an accountant, and even social workers and other caregivers to create a well-rounded plan.

Parents should seek guidance in these matters as early as possible in order to avoid making costly mistakes. Find out more about financial planning for special needs children at Children with special needs face uncertain financial future.

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.