Skip to main content

Kelsey Briggs Law

For those who would like to know, the first of this month brought a new law to the land of Oklahoma, one designed to save the lives of children and inspired by the loss of one very special child.
Kelsey Briggs Law

An Oklahoma judge placed a young child back into the arms of her mother, who was suspected of child abuse.

About a month later, the child died.

The death of 2-year-old Kelsey Smith-Briggs prompted lawmakers to investigate how child abuse cases are handled by judges and state agencies.

The Kelsey Briggs law went into effect Nov. 1 and is designed to "provide more accountability with judges to place a child in a certain situation," and also frees up money for special investigations of possible child abuse and to hire 100 more caseworkers.

"The ramifications of this bill are a lot broader than this particular case," said Rep. Kris Steele, R-Shawnee.

There were about 52 child deaths in Oklahoma linked to child abuse or neglect last year, he said.

The law allows the Department of Human Services to appeal a decision a judge makes dealing with the placement of a potential child abuse victim.

Now judges must fill out a form explaining their decisions on where to place children.

A judge, however, has the right to seek help from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to look into the work of caseworkers at the Department of Human Services. Steele said sometimes there is an argument between a child's guardians where each individual involved points a finger at the other person. The law is also supposed to force district attorneys to release more information on cases to the public.

In the case of Kelsey, the Department of Human Services disagreed with the judge's placement and might have appealed the decision, if the new law had been in place.

Categories: ,,

Comments

Anonymous said…
You need to research your matterials a little bit better because some of it is false. Such as, the fact that Kelsey was not in the home a month before she was killed, she was there for four months.
Lilo said…
No, I really don't. You see, items that are blockquoted are quotes from other sources... not quotes from me. Things not blockquoted... that's the stuff I am responsible for.

Popular posts from this blog

Florida Sex Offender Registry

Reading the news today, I was taken back to see that the Florida Sex Offender registry was being criticized. Having had the chance to look at it previously, I had always found it rather informative, and well organized. The issue that many are having with it now wouldn't be noticed by the occasional browser on the site. Which makes it even worse. A review of the FSR has found some rather unsettling statistics: The News-Press analyzed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement database of 36,306 sex offenders and found: • 9,205 of them are incarcerated • 7,037 have run away or can't be found • 824 have been deported; and • 516 are dead. Of the 15,573 sex offenders listed as released and not on parole or probation, only 11,355 of those actually live in Florida. Sex offender registries can only be usefully, and only fully do what they where designed to do when they are updated, maintained and monitored continuously. When you are relying on the SO registries to monitors how safe your...

This land is my land, this land is not your land...

I was reading the illegal immigrant news this morning... you know, all about the Spanish National anthem... and all about their big rally May 2... and I started thinking. Perhaps, just perhaps we need to stand up. It may be a really good time to remind everyone who's country this is. 12 million illegals... heh, I think we can beat that. The rough estimate is that the US has a population of 298,000,000, or close too it. Take away the estimated 12 million illegals, and we still have 286,000,000 give or take some. So, basically, if one were to be honest- a boycott by legal citizens would be more impressive. 12 million illegals, who can not legally vote verses 286 million citizens who can minus children and some criminals. My country. Not theirs. My taxes, my jobs, my political leaders. 286 million people should be able to remind law makers just who put them in office. 286 million people should be able to remind companies who buys their products. 286 million people should be able to si...

WTW Someone Please Help Us

There's so much to work with, I'm going to just hit as much as I can. Ashely Simpson decided to pick a fight at McDonald's. Betting millions that if the employee would just go and get the manager- the manager would just love her. Simpson's climbing on the counter and irate behavior where in typical White Trash Style. Great coverage at Stereogum. Tom Cruise has decidedly canned his sister for her inability to help him keep his mouth shut. Evidently he needs a real professional as his PR person- in order to keep him in line. It's just not right firing family because you're and idiot. Kate Hudson is suing someone because of photos of her in which she looks like a starving actress. She claims the images suggest she has a eating disorder- no Kate, it's not the images, it's the you. One should not sue because they have starved themselves to the point of it being noticeable in photos. Please stop by these other great sites to read more WHITE TRASH WEDNESDAY B...