The federal government agreed Wednesday to allow federally funded foster care agencies in South Carolina to deny services to same-sex or non-Christian couples. Children’s Rights is quoted.

Lead Counsel Christina Wilson Remlin is quoted: “Along with our partners and allies on this issue, we are currently exploring all legal avenues.”

Sandy Santana and Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus Campaign for Children, advocate for policies that put the best interests of children first in the upcoming legislative session.

Children’s Rights presented oral arguments to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with respect to our case in Arizona, B.K. v. McKay.

Sandy Santana, executive director of Children’s Rights, released a statement on the findings of the HHS indicating that thousands more children were separated from their parents at the border than what was previously understood.

As detailed in Unsafe and Uneducated: Indifference to Dangers in PA’s Residential Child Welfare Facilities (co-authored by Children’s Rights and Education Law Center), lack of adequate oversight by PA DHS puts children in harm’s way. Read more from Maura McInerney at Education Law Center and Kate Burdick at Juvenile Law Center.

Gov. Laura Kelly has a new opportunity to address systemic issues in Kansas foster care. Ira Lustbader, litigation director at Children’s Rights, is quoted: “Given how dysfunctionally run the system has been for so many years there is no question that new, fresh leadership is desperately needed.”

Sandy Santana called for increased attention in the accreditation process for psychiatric hospitals and other behavioral-health facilities in the U.S. treating children in this Letter to the Editor in The Wall Street Journal.

“Amidst continued challenges that will affect the agency every year, Tennessee’s sustained success in reforming its foster care system is a major accomplishment,” wrote Ira Lustbader, litigation director at Children’s Rights.

Sandy Santana, executive director for Children’s Rights, issued this statement: “We are pleased that the Senate took steps to reverse some of the most onerous policies in our nation’s broken criminal justice system by passing the bipartisan FIRST STEP fAct and ending the cruel practice of juvenile solitary confinement at the federal level.”