With children staying home, states are seeing a significant decline in the number of abuse and neglect cases reported since COVID-19 caused schools and businesses to close. “The shelter-in-place order and the school closures have literally made, in my view, millions of millions of kids invisible to the professionals that are trained to spot abuse and […]

Last month, Disability Rights Iowa and Drake University’s Center for Children’s Rights wrote to Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen to share concerns about the safety of Iowa youth now living in detention facilities, group care and the state-run training school for boys located in Eldora.

Children who enter the school are caught in a vicious cycle of violence perpetuated by the institutional shortcomings of a school that places very little emphasis on treating mental health disorders.

Federal Judge Stephanie M. Rose holds the State liable for violating the constitutional rights of children at the School and ordered that a monitor be appointed to oversee sweeping court-ordered reforms to practices at the School. Filed in 2017, the case centers on BSTS’ lack of adequate mental health care services for children who need […]

“This is an extraordinary victory for children,” said Harry Frischer, Children’s Rights lead counsel. “The School literally has been torturing youth in its care.” A powerful 116-page ruling came out of an Iowa class action suit Children’s Rights, Disability Rights Iowa, and Ropes & Gray LLP filed in 2017.

A federal judge issued a powerful decision in C.P.X. v. Garcia (formerly known as C.P.X. v. Foxhoven), a class action lawsuit brought against the Boys State Training School (BSTS) in Eldora, Iowa. Federal Judge Stephanie Rose holds the State liable for violating the constitutional rights of children at the School and ordered that a monitor be appointed to oversee […]

A 2015 Arizona case seeking reform to the foster-care system was declined class-action status before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case will be taken to trial before U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver at a later date. “New York-based nonprofit Children’s Rights has brought similar lawsuits in other states, arguing the problems are systemic and […]

“This is part of the broader administration agenda of creating an authorization to discriminate based on religious or other deeply held beliefs. It opens an avenue for providers to force vulnerable young people to adopt their religious beliefs, even if that runs counter to the wellbeing of these young people,” said Christina Wilson Remlin, lead […]

I recently sat in a courtroom in Kansas City and listened to a foster mom, a grandfather, and a birth mother all speak with great emotion about the harm done to children they love. They had come to testify before the final hearing in the first federal class-action lawsuit to focus solely on the widespread and often dangerous use of psychotropic medications among youth in foster care.

A five-year legal battle over Arizona’s foster-care system has cost taxpayers more than $7 million, public records show. The spending is likely to continue: State child-welfare officials have turned to the U.S. Supreme Court in their bid to nullify the lawsuit’s class-action status. They have hired former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to make their […]