Greg is perhaps the most accomplished diving champion in the history of the modern Olympics movement. He’s been called both “the greatest American diver” and “probably the greatest diver in history,” but his gold medals in 1984 and 1988 represent only a small slice of his life achievements. He’s also an accomplished actor I first saw him […]
Tai Thergood desperately wanted to be what he says he never had growing up — a present father, actively involved in his children’s lives. But he would be the first to admit he had a lot to learn about how to be a dad. Over nearly a decade, Thergood had repeated interactions with Connecticut’s foster […]
With some fundamental changes, Connecticut’s foster care system has become a model for the nation, reuniting nearly 2,400 children with their families since 2019. NBC’s Cynthia McFadden reports for TODAY, introducing the system’s pioneering new leader and some of the families she’s helping. Video.
Every day in the United States, Black children are investigated by the child welfare system and forcibly separated from their parents, at rates far greater than their white peers. Decades of data, research, and lived experiences reveal the deep disparities and discrimination within this system. Over 50 percent of Black children in the U.S. will experience a […]
The Department of Justice announced today that the state of Alabama – namely the Department of Human Resources and State Department of Education – “illegally discriminates against children in foster care with emotional and behavioral disabilities.” The system has violated parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act by relegating hundreds of students with disabilities to […]
Hours after Jaidryon Platero attempted suicide, an employee of New Mexico’s child welfare agency visited the 16-year-old in the hospital to investigate whether he was a victim of child neglect. Platero winced whenever he turned his head, a sharp jolt of pain emanating from the stab wounds he’d left in his neck during a mental […]
As the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan has come and gone, about 100 Afghan youth remain in United States government custody without their parents—the majority of whom are placed in shelters and other congregate care settings. This number reflects both great progress in releasing hundreds of Afghan youth to sponsors over the past year and […]
Dozens of Kansas foster children slept in offices overnight last year, experienced too many night-to-night placements and for some, mental health needs weren’t met soon enough. That’s what an independent monitor found in the first report measuring how well Kansas is following the settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit aimed at improving the state’s […]
A new state-by-state analysis of how well America meets international standards on protecting its children found “alarming” results — a nation that “overwhelmingly” fails to protect its youngest residents from child marriage, corporal punishment, child labor and justice system abuse. New York, considered progressive by American standards, was among states receiving failing grades on the national […]
Weeks after hearing from advocates and government officials about racism in the American child welfare system, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination said Congress should consider changing or eliminating several major laws pertaining to child protection investigations, foster care and adoption. The committee, often referred to as CERD, said it was “concerned […]
