November 19, 2018
They bounce from one emergency placement to the next 20, 50, even 100 times.
They are often housed “night to night” in homes or facilities with little more than the clothes on their backs. They’re dropped off at an agency office the next morning, only to repeat the same cycle for days, weeks, or months at a time.
They are moved so often that they are rendered effectively homeless. Some have been trafficked for sex and sexually abused in the very system meant to protect them.
These are children like R.M., a 13-year-old boy in Kansas foster care who was moved more than 130 times among different foster care placements. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but his constant placement moves have disrupted his treatment and caused his mental health to worsen.
But there is hope. Last week Children’s Rights and our partners filed a lawsuit demanding critical reforms in Kansas’s child welfare system.
As our partner Lori Burns-Bucklew told The Kansas City Star: “The system removes children from their homes because it believes they aren’t safe and aren’t being taken care of… They are removed with a promise of granting them safety and healing. Instead, we are making these children homeless. We are causing more damage than we are preventing.”
This lawsuit is just the first step. Children in Kansas need reforms that secure the safe and stable homes they deserve, and access to the mental health services they desperately need. Will you join this fight? Whether it’s by forwarding this email to a friend, posting an article on social media, or becoming a Children’s Rights Member, YOU can help children in Kansas.
Learn more about our Kansas lawsuit here.
Sign up for updates from Children’s Rights!
Click here to receive our Children’s Rights Insider e-blast.