PITTSBURGH — The Justice Department has been scrutinizing a controversial artificial intelligence tool used by a Pittsburgh-area child protective services agency following concerns that the tool could lead to discrimination against families with disabilities, The Associated Press has learned. The ...
Read More »Child welfare algorithm faces Justice Department scrutiny
Will Md. become a no-fault divorce state? 
ANNAPOLIS — Legislation to make Maryland a no-fault divorce state came before House and Senate committees Tuesday, with the bill’s supporters saying the time has come for Maryland to join the 39 other states that permit a spouse to uncouple ...
Read More »‘Mature child’ test informs international custody dispute 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a Hague Convention ruling, a federal judge has determined that a 13-year-old who demonstrated sufficient maturity in objecting to a return to his mother’s custody in Germany may remain with his father in Rhode Island pending ...
Read More »Tennessee children services agency seeks $26M to curb issues 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee agency that has faced heightened scrutiny for failures in oversight of the state’s most vulnerable children is requesting a quick influx of $26.6 million, aimed at keeping youth from having to sleep in administrative state ...
Read More »Courts may no longer order mediation in custody cases involving coercive control 
Maryland courts may no longer order mediation in custody and visitation cases when one parent makes a good-faith report of coercive control by the other, whether physical abuse is involved or not. Family law practitioners and advocates for victims of ...
Read More »No retroactive support under temporary agreement terms 
RICHMOND, Va. — Where the parties’ temporary agreement provided wife with lump sum and monthly payments, the trial court correctly refused to order husband to pay arrearages accrued under the agreement because wife waived her right to retroactive support in ...
Read More »RI appeals court upholds ruling on attorney’s fees 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Where a Family Court judge found that a wife in a divorce case was entitled to counsel fees, the judge had both a statutory and contractual basis to do so, the Rhode Island Court of Appeals has ...
Read More »Father’s effort to return kids to Anguilla fails 
RICHMOND, Va. — Where the father alleged his ex-wife removed their two minor children from Anguilla to the United States in violation of his custody rights, but the mother showed the father consented to their removal, and the older and ...
Read More »Judge: School’s gender identity counseling did not violate parents’ rights 
BOSTON, Ma. — When school employees offered guidance about gender identity to two students, ages 11 and 12, they did not violate their parents’ fundamental rights protected by the 14th Amendment, a federal judge has ruled. But attorneys who represent ...
Read More »Church of England refuses to back same-sex marriage 
The Church of England said Wednesday it will allow blessings for same-sex, civil marriages for the first time but same-sex couples still will not be allowed to marry in its churches. The decision followed five years of debate and consultation ...
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