Report criticises treatment of children in care outside their home areas and under supervision of youth offending teams

Up to 3,000 of the most damaged and difficult-to-place children in care are being failed by the state, according to a damning report by the chief inspector of probation and other watchdogs.

In one children’s home they found a 16-year-old who has had 31 different placements since he was taken into care at the age of three. The independent inspectors also found victims of sexual abuse had been placed in units with those who had committed sexually harmful behaviour.

Liz Calderba...

The fact that Maddalena Douse was born at just 23 weeks, and is the youngest premature baby ever to survive in the UK, is a miracle in and of itself. But the reason she’s alive makes the entire situation all the more miraculous. See, current guidelines in England don’t suggest providing active care for babies born 22 weeks and 6 days or before. But when they put Maddalena on the scale, and realized that she weighed 1 pound — the minimum weight for a baby to be considered «viable» — they fought to keep her alive. Here’s the thing, though — Maddalena wasn’t 1 pound. Apair of scissors h...

Adam Lanza gunned down twenty-seven people in Newtown, Conn. Dec. 14 and his access to high-powered firearms has put gun control front and center in the discourse around the tragedy, but the 20-year-old’s reported enthusiasm for violent video games has some experts and lawmakers wondering if those, too, need the kind of regulation so many want on gun ownership.

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) addressed this issue while discussing his proposed “national commission on mass violence” on “Fox News Sunday” Dec. 16.

“The violence in the entertainment culture, particularly with the extraord...

Over two dozen Maui Police Department officers playedSanta Claus to 30 kids this weekend as part of the annual «Shop for a Cop» event, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Law enforcement officials take children from a local shelter for homeless families to Kmart, give each kid a shopping cart, and help them choose up to $100 worth of merchandise. FREE SHOPPING SPREE!

As for what sort of «merchandise» the kids went for, well, since the ages ranged from 4 to 14 years old, their picks were pretty much all over the map …

But, naturally, practical stuff like tube socks and und...

When it comes to giving children snacks, having a healthier array of options may cut down on calorie-intake while still keeping kids full, new research suggests.

Scientists found that children who were given snacks of vegetables and cheese or just plain cheese had the same levels of satiation compared to those given potato chips, meaning they were just as full. However, the vegetable and cheese groups reported significantly lower intake of calories.

«There is no magic food or ingredient that will end childhood obesity, but learning to substitute certain foods — such as choosing a combination s...

Over two dozen Maui Police Department officers playedSanta Claus to 30 kids this weekend as part of the annual «Shop for a Cop» event, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Law enforcement officials take children from a local shelter for homeless families to Kmart, give each kid a shopping cart, and help them choose up to $100 worth of merchandise. FREE SHOPPING SPREE!

As for what sort of «merchandise» the kids went for, well, since the ages ranged from 4 to 14 years old, their picks were pretty much all over the map …

But, naturally, practical stuff like tube socks and und...

When Santa visited Emily Burr’s house when she was a child, he didn’t bother to hide his tracks.

His reindeer left teeth marks on the carrot sticks Burr and her three siblings had set out for them, and Santa’s milk and cookies were half-eaten in the morning.

«We knew that Santa got milk and cookies wherever he went so he didn’t want to eat too much of them,» said Burr, now a graduate student in marriage and family therapy at Kansas State University.

And because the Burrs didn’t have a chimney, Santa landed on the front lawn. On snowy Christmases, Jolly Old St...

If you’re not wild about sharing your tablet with the kids, there’s good news. This year you’ll find more tablets made especially for children. Consumer Reports checked out 5 of the newest, costing between $150 and $200. They’re made for kids but they’ve got features that are all grown up. Some come with with real Android operating systems and features like Wi-Fi and expandable memory.

Consumer Reports examined the tablets, including display quality. Some screens proved hard to view from an angle...

Some San Francisco middle-school parents were taken aback this month when they received a letter describing their child’s stress level.

«We wanted to inform you that the results (of a screening) showed your child’s stress was in the normal range.»

Other parent letters identified high levels of stress.

At least one parent — with a «normal range» kid who is no stranger to homework-induced stress — wasn’t quite sure what to make of the letter sent by SRI International, an education research firm.

The letters went home to students from 11 district middle schools, where researchers are screening ch...

“Whooping cough cases are higher than at any point in the last twenty years and 13 babies have died from the disease, official figures have revealed” The Daily Telegraph reports.
This sad news reinforces the need for pregnant women to get vaccinated against whooping cough.
All pregnant women are now offered vaccination against whooping cough when they are 28-38 weeks pregnant. This is due to the sharp rise in the number of whooping cough cases in the UK.
Whooping cough is a serious illness. Babies who get it can develop severe complications such as pneumonia and brain damage...