Ira Lustbader reflects on the closing of the foster care reform campaign in Tennessee, which has now become a road map of hope for kids in foster care.

“You just keep waiting and waiting and hoping and praying for transformational change, and it’s so slow in coming,” said a Texas child welfare advocate of the state’s delayed progress toward change.

Settling in a case brought by Children’s Rights and our partners, Florida has agreed to no longer place children overnight in hotels or unlicensed offices, to stop squeezing more children into foster homes than they are licensed for and to keep children aged 6 and younger out of group foster homes staffed by shift workers.

“We are exceedingly disappointed that after more than ten years, Michigan still finds itself failing the state’s most vulnerable children,” said Samantha Bartosz of Children’s Rights in a press release last week following the latest report. “This long into reform, such grave safety concerns for children clearly suggest a lack of management focus.”

Samantha Bartosz is quoted in this article about the ongoing dangers in Michigan’s child welfare system: “The reform efforts started to go into a state of paralysis and even retreat. We see in this most recent monitoring report some difficult results for kids.”

Children’s Rights’ lawsuit challenging Iowa’s ongoing use of seclusion and a mechanical restraining device known as “the wrap” in a state juvenile home for boys may proceed as class-action litigation, a judge ruled this week.

In Michigan, thousands of children in foster care remain in harm’s way. A U.S. District Judge says it is time for real change.

Children’s Rights and our work to ensure the safe use of emergency shelters across various states are featured in this article.

Elissa Glucksman Hyne, senior policy analyst at Children’s Rights, is interviewed on this radio segment about the challenges faced by youth aging out of foster care.

Christina Wilson Remlin condemns the potential harms that could result from SB 221: “Taxpayer-funded foster care agencies would be able to turn away qualified same-sex couples and deny our most defenseless children the chance of a better life in a safe and loving home.”