Judge OKs new deals in Mississippi foster care case
JACKSON - The state of Mississippi and child advocates have reached another set of agreements in a 12-year-old lawsuit over shortfalls in the state’s child welfare system.
The two agreements approved Monday by Senior U.S. District Judge Tom Lee are at least the fifth and sixth negotiated between the state and those who sued in 2004, alleging Mississippi’s child welfare system was so bad that it was a federal civil rights violation .
The state has failed to comply with earlier settlements but now gets a reset — with specified actions over a year to build capacity . Then there will be a new, less strict set of requirements. Marcia Lowry, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said a there will be three-year window where plaintiffs can ask Lee to take over the system and appoint an outsider to run it.
It’s the latest development in the long-running Olivia Y case, named for one of eight children who lawyers said had been abused because of the state’s failures. More than 5,000 children statewide are in foster care.
Read more: http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/12/19/judge-oks-new-deals-mississippi-foster-care-case/95642738/