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 […]
AUSTIN — State leaders and the judge presiding in a Texas foster care lawsuit said Tuesday they’re distressed by a new report in which court-appointed monitors said they found chaos, self-harm and child-on-child sexual activity running rampant in recent months at a private treatment facility in Galveston County. A residential treatment center operated by Devereux […]
A six-year drive to reform the state’s foster-care system could end Friday, when a federal judge will consider final approval of a class-action settlement. The settlement, reached in negotiations between the Arizona Department of Child Safety and child-welfare advocates, outlines four major areas of improvement. Attorneys for both sides say they expect the settlement, which […]
A legal settlement that governs the state’s child welfare work in Milwaukee County could be coming to a close because the state has met nearly all of its requirements when it comes to better protecting some of Milwaukee’s most vulnerable children. The state Department of Children and Families and Children’s Rights, which brought a lawsuit nearly three decades […]
