Officials try to put children in psychiatric facilities near family. But when they can’t find a placement locally, the kids are sent to out of state centers — some that have been accused of physical and sexual abuse and other mistreatment.
Children’s Rights In the News
A bill introduced before Congress on Thursday would remove virtually all federal requirements that states seek to terminate the rights of parents within a specific timeline in child welfare cases, repealing a ticking clock that has been criticized for exacerbating racial disproportionality and shutting the door on parents fighting to overcome addiction, domestic violence, health […]
About 17% of children in Alabama’s residential foster care facilities have received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 37% of eligible youth statewide, according to data obtained from the Department of Human Resources.
“I was a zombie,” Jimmy said. “I was on seven psychotropic medications when I was 14 years old. I couldn’t eat. I had chest pain.” Jimmy knew even at that age he didn’t need all the medications he was being prescribed. He needed a home and healing for the trauma he had experienced before and […]
The Department for Children and Families says it works to make sure gay, lesbian and transgender foster children end up in welcoming homes, but nothing in state law requires special consideration. Christina Remlin, lead counsel at Children’s Rights, said training requirements in Kansas can be helpful, but states need laws in place to fully protect […]
The facts are so stacked against a sheriff in metro Atlanta, Georgia, that there’s no need for a lengthy, expensive trial, according to a federal judge: The DeKalb County sheriff violated the educational rights of disabled students locked up in the county’s adult jail, which is run by the sheriff. The rather unusual “summary judgment” […]
One of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ lawyers in the area of children’s law is moving across the country to join a similar but smaller outfit in New York City. Children’s Rights announced earlier this month that it has hired Leecia Welch as lead counsel for the East Coast firm. “I feel fortunate to be able to […]
A lawsuit over the state’s treatment of older foster children with mental illness will move forward after the United States District Court of New Hampshire issued a ruling Thursday denying the state’s motion to dismiss. The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of New Hampshire, the Disability Rights Center-NH and others in Jan. 2021, claims that […]
Bricks for Kids — a sculpture crafted out of approximately 35,000 toy bricks — will be on display in Agawam Park in Southampton Village from Thursday, September 2. . .
In 2015, Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, JD, drew attention to the problems with prescribing psychotropic medications to foster children. She noted that serious deficits persisted regarding inadequate informed consent and insufficient oversight and that there was a dearth of education and availability of nonpharmacological treatments to address the mental health needs of […]