The Texas child welfare system created more problems for a boy who already had many by pumping him full of drugs, a dangerous and growing trend all across the country. [Part 3 of 3] It started with one pill. The first night that Westley Swihart, then 14, spent in a Texas residential treatment center, the […]
Volatility in foster care placements and treatments undermines any attempt to use pharmaceuticals to heal abused and neglected children. [Part 2 of 3] When K.T. first entered foster care in 1997, she was six years old and drug free. Oklahoma child welfare officials placed her in state custody because her father had physically and sexually […]
After suffering abuse and neglect, plenty of America’s foster children need therapy and medical assistance, but across the nation it’s become too easy to throw mind-altering pills at their problems and hope they go away. [Part 1 of 3] Two years ago, a South Florida doctor prescribed a dangerous antidepressant called Symbyax to a young […]
Behind strong, committed leadership, Tennessee has transformed its foster care system into one that relies less on group care and places children more appropriately with families, providing better outcomes for abused and neglected kids. Porscha McCracken’s life didn’t change overnight. But it’s tempting to think so, looking back on the day she found support and […]
Two years after The Long Road Home, new data reveal that kids are still getting stuck in New York City foster care, Children’s Rights challenges the city to take immediate and effective action. Sixteen years ago, Children’s Rights launched its first reform campaign, demanding improvements in the foster care system run by the city that […]
For three years, Michigan officials neglected to improve their harmful child welfare system — and kids suffered. A new team stands ready to accept its responsibility for protecting vulnerable children.
Four years into the campaign to reform Rhode Island’s foster care system, Children’s Rights renews its fight on behalf of vulnerable kids with recent stories of abuse and neglect — along with enduring statistical evidence of systemic dysfunction. States are ranked across endless categories: population totals, educational performance, obesity rates, on and on. In some […]
At their second annual conference this week, Latasha Watts and her advocacy group, the Purple Project, urge current and former youth in foster care to take ownership of their lives and move toward a successful future. This weekend, 200 current and former foster youth will come together in Cleveland for the Purple Project’s 2nd Annual […]
A recent progress report on court-ordered reform shows that New Jersey is just the latest state to shortchange youth aging out of foster care, leaving them vulnerable to and unprepared for adult-sized problems. Even the briefest of stays in foster care is traumatic for children. After being abused or neglected in their own homes, these […]
Texas child welfare officials have long promised an overhaul of the state’s dangerous child welfare system. A new story, spurred by Children’s Rights’ reform campaign, indicates that empty plans won’t be tolerated any further. As our campaign to reform the dysfunctional Texas child welfare system gathers steam, there is mounting evidence that the public is […]
