December 14, 2018
Looking back at a year of protecting kids and providing hope
Thanks to donor support, 2018 was a year of hope for the children we serve. Children’s Rights transformed the lives of thousands of vulnerable kids, holding governments accountable across the nation, and speaking up when our laws and policies put them at risk.
Our country’s children need you. With your support, take look at what we accomplished together:
- When our government began separating immigrant children from their parents, Children’s Rights took the lead in partnering with the ACLU, filing an amicus brief that helped end this ruthless policy. Our work continues to make sure this travesty never happens again.
- In Texas, life got better for children in foster care when a court ruled the state must correct unsafe conditions and services that are leaving children more damaged when they exit the system than when they entered it.
- We proudly opened a new office in Atlanta to more effectively support the over 180,000 children in the South’s child welfare systems, including 137,000 children in foster care – the highest rate in the nation.
- A judge in Missouri certified a class action lawsuit, allowing us to represent over 13,000 kids placed at risk of severe physical and psychological harm through the dangerous administration of psychotropic medications.
- In Pennsylvania, our groundbreaking report “Unsafe and Uneducated” investigates systemic dangers and inadequate education for youth in residential foster care.
- We filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of boys living in an Iowa juvenile justice facility that relies heavily on solitary confinement and physical restraints instead of giving these traumatized children the mental health care services they need.
- We advocated for laws and policies to protect the rights of LGBTQ youth, and co-authored a best practices guide for child welfare providers about the unique needs of this group that is dramatically overrepresented in the foster care system.
- Our landmark case in Tennessee has resulted in the wholesale overhaul of the state’s child welfare system – and is now seen as a model for the nation.
- We continue to hold Connecticut, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Milwaukee, Rhode Island, and Arizona accountable for honoring their commitments to revamp their child welfare systems to make children’s lives better.
- We made our voice heard on issues that impact kids – from how the opioid crisis is driving up the number of children entering foster care, to ongoing threats to the rights of immigrant children – Children’s Rights is aggressively making the case for the children we serve.
Nothing could be more important than the safety of our children. Won’t you add your voice – and your donation – to support this vital work? By making one tax-deductible gift before the end of the year, you will be helping to transform the lives of even more children in 2019.
Sincerely,
Sandy Santana
Executive Director, Children’s Rights