Two court monitors’ latest assessment of Michigan’s child welfare system was described by a federal judge Thursday as “just devastating,” despite a 15-year effort to reform the troubled system. “It was really depressing to read how little the state has accomplished,” said Judge Nancy Edmunds of the U.S. District Court of Michigan’s Eastern District. “If anything, we’ve slipped […]
Despite the ongoing threat of the pandemic, families gathered to celebrate the joys of the season. But many kinship caregivers in Ohio struggled to provide children in their care with basic stability and security – let alone holiday toys and treats. That is why advocates filed a legal brief in support of H.C. v. DeWine, a lawsuit brought […]
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) shelter system received 122,000 migrant children who were taken into U.S. custody without their parents in fiscal year 2021, an all-time high that shattered previous records, according to new government figures obtained by CBS News. Leecia Welch, a lawyer representing migrant children in a federal court case, said HHS […]
As the Biden administration scrambled to deal with thousands of migrant children at the US-Mexico border this spring, officials were raising concerns that they were ditching “even the most basic safety procedures” and setting up facilities “run like disaster camps.” An internal document obtained by CNN sheds light on a federal agency under stress and […]
It is profoundly disturbing that the Glen Mills School is seeking to reopen under a new name (Nov.11). In 2018, months before it was shut down, Children’s Rights documented 16 incidents of staff physical maltreatment at Glen Mills from March 2014 to January 2017, which equates to one incident of child maltreatment by staff every other month.
The Biden administration has revoked a Trump-era waiver that exempted federally funded foster care providers in three states from following nondiscrimination rules. The federal Department of Health and Human Services earlier this month said it would revert to the Obama-era nondiscrimination policy in the three states — Michigan, South Carolina and Texas — bringing them […]
Pairing families with social worker and parent advocates to help navigate the system has shown promise. But in Philadelphia, problems persist with racial bias and disregard for families. “I think what it comes down to is that it’s a system that doesn’t value families,” says Shereen White, a former attorney in the Philadelphia Public Defender’s […]
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.
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.
