By JEFF AMY
Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – 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 such deals negotiated between the state and those who sued in 2004, alleging Mississippi’s child welfare system illegally put foster children at risk.
The state has failed to comply with earlier settlements, but now gets a reset – a year to build up its capacity. Then there will be a new set of requirements less strict than those previously set out. In exchange, the state leaves a three-year window where plaintiffs can ask Lee to take over the system and appoint an outsider to run it.
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