Make no mistake—the foster care system is broken. There is a nationwide shortage of foster parents. Meanwhile, child poverty, a lack of resources for grandparents and kinship care providers, and barriers to affordable housing and quality mental health services all increase the likelihood of child welfare involvement. Data show that young Black Americans are more […]
Paula Bryant had longed to bring her children home after they spent years in the custody of the foster care system. And when one of her daughters, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, was fatally shot by a Columbus police officer April 20 outside the foster home where she was staying on the Southeast Side, it left Bryant […]
“The unjust separation of Black children from their families causes lasting harm to their development and well-being and is part of a broader legacy of institutional racism that shapes our society,” Shereen White, senior staff attorney at Children’s Rights, stated in a press release. White went on to state that too often poverty and economic […]
There are real reasons to be hesitant about calling CPS if you suspect abuse or neglect. To start with, it’s important to recognize that Black children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. Black parents are also reported at higher rates, they’re more likely to be investigated by child protective services, and their parental rights […]
Alabama child advocates filed a federal class action lawsuit Thursday against the Alabama Department of Human Resources, saying the department unnecessarily traps vulnerable children in facilities and impedes their long-term process.
“The children we represent are cut off from family and community, without access to their school or to a normal teenage life, denied the chance to play a sport, ride a bike, or sing in the choir — to experience the joys of being a child,” said Christina Remlin, lead counsel for Children’s Rights. “Instead, […]
“Children, bouncing from placement to placement over and over again, children not receiving the medical and mental health services that they needed, not receiving visits from their caseworkers, there were a number of concerns that were leading to children, not being safe in Michigan’s foster care system so we brought this lawsuit to try to […]
Ohio officials agree with experts who say that children who must be removed from their homes do better when placed with relatives rather than foster parents. But in a years-long defiance of a federal court order, and despite another pending federal lawsuit, the state still doesn’t award equal pay to “kinship caregivers,” the official term […]
One year ago, seven staff members at a residential treatment facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, pounced on a 16-year-old after he tossed a sandwich in the cafeteria, smothering the foster youth as he cried out desperately for breath. Cornelius Fredericks died May 1, 2020. And since that day, a nation on high alert over the killing […]
Bias and racism are widespread in the child welfare system. Black children are taken into foster care at a disproportionately high rate and languish longer before being adopted, reunited with their parents or aging out of the system. “It’s a perfect opportunity to say let’s stop the madness of unnecessarily removing kids,” said Ira Lustbader, […]
