Mississippi Child Welfare Falls Short Of Meeting Terms Of Olivia Y. Settlement Agreement

On May 22, 4014, Children’s Rights, Inc. announced that it and the Mississippi’s Division of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) were developing a legally binding plan to address failures in the state’s child welfare reform effort related to a 2012 modified settlement agreement (MSA) in the Olivia Y. v. Barbour class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was initially filed by Children’s Rights in 2004. Since 2012, the court-appointed monitor has been unable to make any findings about DFCS progress toward meeting one-third of the 33 court-ordered statewide performance standards due to concerns about . . .