Bias and racism are widespread in the child welfare system. Black children are taken into foster care at a disproportionately high rate and languish longer before being adopted, reunited with their parents or aging out of the system. “It’s a perfect opportunity to say let’s stop the madness of unnecessarily removing kids,” said Ira Lustbader, […]

When I was about eight years old, my mother was killed in a car accident. My sister and I were then placed in the custody of my father, who grew increasingly abusive toward us. Though we were pressured to keep quiet, the abuse became so severe that I eventually revealed to school staff and a […]

In one of his first acts as president, Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to not renew its contracts with private prisons. The president’s decision was hailed by civil liberties organizations, who saw it as a blow against a notoriously abusive system that often dehumanizes the incarcerated. “This is a first […]

Mercedes Bristol was already caring for an infant grandchild when her son dropped off his other four kids at her San Antonio home for what she thought would be an overnight stay. She didn’t have beds for them but figured they’d be OK for one night. That was 10 years ago, and they never left. “When […]

For six years, hers was the first name on the lawsuit that sought to change Arizona’s child-welfare system. It was Tinsley v. Flanagan. Then Tinsley v. McKay. Then Tinsley v. Faust. Margaret Tinsley’s role as the lead plaintiff  and “next friend” of a foster child known by her initials of B.K. outlasted many of the state bureaucrats […]

It’s time to stop placing American foster children in institutions and other group settings, according to a new report by the national child welfare group Children’s Rights. Continuing the practice, the report argues, unnecessarily harms children in government care. Before offering a strategy for change, the report makes the case that taxpayers are needlessly spending millions to maintain […]

Bethany Christian Services, the country’s largest evangelical adoption and foster care agency, has announced it will begin placing children with LGBTQ couples. The Michigan-based agency, which has offices in 32 different states, announced on Monday that it would no longer refuse to place children with same-sex couples and other prospective parents that the agency previously […]

Two years after U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ordered a long list of reforms for the Texas foster care system, state health and human services officials have made some improvements. But on Tuesday, Jack again decided they haven’t done enough. In a quick morning hearing, Jack said she will give state officials until May to […]

A restraining device called “the wrap” is gone. Staff at the Boys State Training School in Eldora are now using seclusion rooms only in cases when a boy is at risk of seriously harming himself or others. And the school has hired more mental health counselors.

An agreement intended to improve conditions for children in Arizona’s child-welfare system won final approval from a federal judge on Friday, capping a six-year legal battle. U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver blessed the agreement after hearing more than 2 ½ hours of public comment on the plan hammered out by attorneys for the Arizona Department of Child […]