Child Care

Nadya Suleman told TV host "Dr. Phil" McGraw on Tuesday that she fears Kaiser Permanente Medical Center may not release her octuplets to her until she proves she can care for them. In an interview with The Times, McGraw said Suleman called him Tuesday afternoon, distressed after talking to Kaiser officials. Suleman has taped two episodes of McGraw's show, the first of which is scheduled to run today.

Malawi's government is happy with the way pop diva Madonna is looking after a 1-year-old Malawian boy after her plans to adopt the child last year caused a storm of controversy, an official said Friday. Adrina Mchiela, principal secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, said the government is satisfied so far at the way Madonna is looking after David Banda. "We have been monitoring her, and so far we see a loving mother in Madonna and David is very fine....

Researchers with the Santa Monica-based Rand Corp. will be knocking on doors across Los Angeles County seeking families to participate in a nationwide study on the influence of neighborhoods on child social and educational development. The Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, announced Wednesday, will survey 1,000 families in 65 neighborhoods, interviewing them about health insurance, child care, readiness for school and neighborhood life.

Los Angeles County child welfare workers frequently fail to comply with federal rules on monitoring the homes of foster children living with relatives -- a problem that has cost the county an estimated $6 million over the last year, officials said Tuesday.

The sun has barely crested over the stark Granite Mountains and Audrey Delgadillo is already scurrying around her house. The 20-year-old dashes outside to warm the engine of the family's dusty Ford Taurus, stirs her two youngest sisters out of bed, picks up toys in the living room and checks the bedroom of her other two sisters to make sure they've left for school.

Los Angeles police on Thursday appealed for the public's help to find a man who approached nannies on two separate occasions at a San Fernando Valley park and asked to purchase babies in their care. Both incidents took place this week at Encino Park (also known as Genesta Park) near Genesta Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department. "This type of behavior is quite unusual," Vernon said. "We'd like to identify this man as quickly as possible."

THE turnout may have been relatively puny at this week's immigration rights rallies in Los Angeles, but I have no doubt that the demonstrations threw more than a few families' routines into turmoil. After all, life can become pretty complicated when the nanny doesn't show and you're forced to figure out what to do with the kids so that you yourself can get to work. For many thousands of Californians, this isn't a one-day dilemma.

FROM her first glance, Dayna Bennett knew that Casey was not the kind of kid featured in adoption brochures. Fifteen and a spindly 6 feet 2, he was so unkempt and forlorn, he "looked like a ragamuffin" when they met in the visiting room of a state mental hospital three years ago. Bennett knew his history: Casey had been removed from abusive parents at age 6 and spent eight years in foster care, shuttled among relatives, strangers and group homes.

The West End YMCA will ensure that children with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in child-care programs, according to a settlement agreement announced Monday by federal officials. The Department of Justice began investigating the Ontario-based West End YMCA after receiving a complaint that it had removed a child from its after-school care program because the child has autism, officials said.

The state budget impasse that has lingered for more than a month is holding up $1 billion in payments to California's 785 state-funded child-care agencies, putting at risk 500,000 low-income children who could lose services, state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Tuesday.