Paul Yetter, co-counsel with Children’s Rights in our lawsuit on behalf of children in Texas foster care, is quoted in this article: “The positive news is that the state has allocated a significant amount of funding for foster care. The problem is that the state does not have a comprehensive plan to fix the system.”
A proposed law would make it harder to gather data surrounding sex trafficking. Elizabeth Pitman Gretter, senior attorney at Children’s Rights, advocated for the need to collect this data. “It’s such critical information and we are already well-past the time where the states should be able to do it and should be doing it.”
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.
