Press Releases
Children’s Rights Applauds Additional Funding Announced for Connecticut’s Foster Parents
The following statements were issued by Ira Lustbader, Litigation Director at Children’s Rights, and Steven Frederick, Partner at Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky in response to Governor Ned Lamont’s approval of supplemental funding to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The new funding will support foster parents for the costs associated with caring for […]
October 20, 2020Infrastructure Brief Reveals Progress and Areas for Improvement in Fulton and DeKalb County Child Welfare Systems
(Kenny A. v. Kemp, 1:02-cv-01686-TWT, N.D. Ga) Contact: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org (Atlanta, GA) –A new infrastructure brief outlines specific measures that will allow Georgia to recover millions of dollars in federal reimbursement for child welfare programs, better manage contract agencies to ensure safer outcomes for children, and hold the state’s child welfare system to a […]
October 13, 2020Foster Care Settlement Agreement in Arizona Moves Forward as Court Grants Preliminary Approval
Contacts: aronan@aclpi.org, cjenkins@childrensrights.org, jmais@perkinscoie.com Phoenix AZ — Today U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver granted preliminary approval of a settlement agreement for B.K. v. Faust , a federal class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the more than 13,000 children in Arizona’s state foster care system. The settlement will require the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) […]
September 9, 2020DCF Continues Progress Through the Pandemic, New Report Shows
The Court Monitor in the ongoing federal child welfare reform lawsuit known as Juan F. v. Lamont (formerly Juan F. v. Malloy) released the latest report on the progress of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) in meeting the remaining improvement requirements in that lawsuit. The report covers the Fourth Quarter of 2019 (October-December […]
August 20, 2020Children’s Rights Files Amicus Brief in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia to Argue Against Government-Sanctioned Discrimination in Child Welfare System
Contacts: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org (August 20, 2020) – Today, Children’s Rights filed an amicus brief in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case to be argued in front of SCOTUS this fall. The case centers on Catholic Social Services (CSS), a child welfare agency that has sued the City of Philadelphia to receive taxpayer dollars […]
August 19, 2020New report finds taxpayer-dollars used for license to discriminate in the foster care system
Today, the House Ways and Means Committee Democratic staff released a new report that finds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to deliberately have failed its mandate to act in the best interest of vulnerable young people in the foster care system. Christina Wilson Remlin, Lead Counsel at Children’s Rights, issued the […]
August 18, 2020Religious Exemptions in Child Welfare System Would Harm Millions of Children
New Report Highlights Potential Outcomes of Upcoming Supreme Court Case and Implications for Broader Social Services and Nondiscrimination Protections Contact: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org (August 18, 2020)—Today the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) released The High Stakes in the Fulton Case: Undermining the Vital Role of Child Welfare Laws & Regulations in Protecting America’s Children. This report highlights […]
July 8, 2020New Federal Civil Rights Settlement Agreement Promises to Transform Broken Foster Care System and End Years of Victimization and Trauma for Kansas Children
Contacts: Christina Ostmeyer, costmeyer@kansasappleseed.org; Patricia Guinto, pguinto@youthlaw.org; Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org; Josh Epstein, josh.epstein@dlapiper.com (July 8, 2020 – Kansas City, KS) – Today Kansas officials and attorneys advocating for the rights of over 7,000 children in Kansas foster care agreed to an ambitious settlement plan to transform an overburdened, mismanaged and dangerous foster care system that […]
July 6, 2020Advocates demand Alabama protect children in Sequel facilities across the state
Today children’s rights advocates sent a letter of concern urging leaders in Alabama to take sweeping and immediate action to protect foster youth placed in facilities operated by Sequel Youth and Family Services across the state. Four for-profit Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs) – Sequel Owens Cross Roads, Sequel Montgomery, Sequel Tuskegee and Sequel Courtland and the state agencies responsible for them – are at the center of these demands.
July 4, 2020Administration proposes rule to remove protections for LGBTQ people at shelters
Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a rule change that would remove protections for LGBTQ people at HUD-funded homeless shelters. Christina Wilson Remlin, Lead Counsel at Children’s Rights, issued the following statement in response to the proposed modification: “Giving federally-funded shelters a green light to discriminate against transgender and gender […]