We measure our success by the difference we make in the lives of children.

Children’s Rights has won landmark cases improving child welfare systems in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

Much more than mere symbolic victories, these campaigns for comprehensive child welfare reform produce real, measurable improvements in the lives of abused and neglected children.

To cite just a few notable examples:

• In Washington, DC, reforms resulting from our efforts more than tripled the annual number of adoptions of children in foster care.

• In Connecticut, where systematic failure to investigate alleged abuse and neglect placed thousands of children in danger, litigation and monitoring by Children’s Rights have ensured that more than 90 percent of abuse and neglect allegations are now investigated promptly — and the quality of the investigations has markedly improved. Under the pressure of our settlement agreement, the state’s rate of abuse among children in foster care placements has dropped 80 percent over the past five years.

• Sweeping reforms brought about by Children’s Rights’ settlement with the state of Tennessee have cut the number of children living in orphanage-style institutions and other non-family settings in half since 2002.

• In Missouri, Children’s Rights helped to overturn a state law that slashed aid to parents adopting children from foster care. Our efforts in Kansas City, Missouri, ensured that more than 90 percent of the children in custody received necessary dental, medical, and mental health care.

• Legal action in New Jersey brought about the creation of a cabinet-level children’s agency, among many much-needed reforms. Over just two years, the state increased its number of licensed foster families by more than 1,000 and reduced the number of children waiting to be adopted in the state by 39 percent. In 2007, New Jersey posted a new state record for the number of children adopted out of foster care.

The improvements we bring about are felt most directly by children and families, but they also pay dividends for society at large.

An economic impact study conducted in 2007 by Prevent Child Abuse America estimated the total cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States every year at more than $104 billion. That includes both the direct cost of maintaining the nation’s child welfare systems (estimated at approximately $24 billion annually) and the indirect and long-term costs that result when those systems fail — the billions of additional taxpayer dollars that must be spent on medical, mental health, addiction treatment, and criminal justice systems when children do not receive adequate care.

By improving the efficiency with which child welfare systems operate, we ensure that the money devoted to them is well-spent. And by focusing on the long-term health, well-being, and stability of the children as our paramount goals, our work can have a profound effect on the broader societal costs of abuse and neglect as well.

Learn More

• Download Results of Reform: Translating Children’s Rights’ Advocacy Into Better Lives for Abused and Neglected Children Nationwide (PDF).
• Read about the details of each of our legal cases.
• Browse our news archive and blog.
• Sign up to receive updates on our individual cases via e-mail or RSS.
• Find out how you can help by making a gift to Children’s Rights or joining our network of supporters.