Arkansas ranks high in child abuse, deaths. COVID-19 has made it worse, officials say.
Mental Health
Instead of a surge of children entering foster care during the pandemic, the child welfare system has often found itself struggling to help families leave the system.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital saw an increase in the number and severity of child-abuse-related cases last year, a troubling pattern in a state that had high rates of child maltreatment before the onset of the covid-19 pandemic.
One of the nation’s largest youth residential treatment programs is shutting down after California officials, prompted by a Chronicle and Imprint investigation into rampant abuse allegations, decided to stop sending vulnerable children there.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco paid nearly $15,000 in campaign funds last year to a firm run by one of his subordinates. The staffer also has new business ties to the sheriff’s wife, corporate records show.
Prompted by a Tampa Bay Times investigation into the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the bill seeks greater transparency for intelligence-led police work.
Arkansas is the only state in the country in which two separate state departments conduct non-criminal investigations of suspected child maltreatment.
This is what happens when the hot line receives a report of alleged child maltreatment, according to interviews with Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Department of Human Services officials, state documents and state webpage.
When a reporter delved into the “hidden foster care” system, she found more questions than answers.
"The stress of my own personal experiences led me to dig deeper into how immigrant women were faring through the pandemic."