Texas has bought more time to avoid obeying a federal judge’s foster care ruling, reports Dallas News in this article about Children’s Rights lawsuit in Texas.

The ACLU headed a lawsuit that led to Ms. L’s release on March 6 but the little girl remains in detention, said Sandy Santana, executive director of Children’s Rights, one of 15 groups that filed an amicus brief in the suit.

A new bill that recently passed the state Senate would deprive children of loving families with a particular target on potential LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents, write Christina Wilson Remlin, lead counsel for Children’s Rights.

Children’s Rights is cited in this article about the impact of anti-LGBTQ legislation on children in state care and potential adoptive and foster parents.

In the wake of a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, this article about the need for increased mental health services cites Children’s Rights’ lawsuit in Miami-Dade/Monroe Counties.

“Atlanta is the epicenter of the LGBTQ South, and has many couples that would provide loving forever homes to children in need,” said CR attorney Christina Remain. “I know from years of experience working on the Kenny A. case that our foster care system suffers from a lack of homes.”

“There is long-term harm when kids are treated like ping pong balls, or when infants are warehoused in shelters and group homes,” said Ira Lustbader, litigation director for Children’s Rights, in the statement announcing the lawsuit. “Extreme instability and unnecessary institutionalization can physically damage children’s developing brains, impacting their learning and behavior.”

Law firm Baker McKenzie and non-profit group Children’s Rights on Tuesday filed the class action lawsuit against DCF on behalf of about 2,000 children in foster care in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and lawyers representing foster children slugged it out Thursday over whether a federal appeals court should make Texas obey a judge’s demands while the state appeals her ruling that its long-term foster care system is “broken.”

Sandy Santana is quoted in this article about the opioid epidemic and the Family First Prevention Services Act: “For the government now to redirect funding for substance abuse and preventative services to keep those kids that are at risk of entering foster care with their families is a big, big deal.”