Press Releases
Children’s Rights and Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute in Letter to United Nations Committee: Racial Injustice in Child Welfare is an Urgent Human Rights Issue
On May 16, Children’s Rights and the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School submitted a letter to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination asking that it address racial discrimination within the child welfare system in an upcoming review of the U.S. regarding all forms of racial discrimination.
May 4, 2022Georgia District Court Grants Relief in IDEA Class Action for Children in Need of Special Education in Adult Jail
Contact: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org ATLANTA, GA —On April 29, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued a remedial relief order in T.H. v. DeKalb County School District. The Court ruled that the DeKalb County Sheriff must provide eligible incarcerated youth with legally mandated special education and related services. The case was […]
April 27, 2022Arizona Law Sanctions Taxpayer-funded Discrimination and Harms Children and Families
On April 25, Governor Doug Ducey signed into law a bill allowing faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to turn down prospective parents because of the agencies’ religious beliefs. The new law opens the door to discrimination against same-sex couples and families of differing religions seeking to foster or adopt a child at a time when the foster care system in Arizona is under enormous strain. According to the Arizona Department of Child Safety, there are close to five children in foster care for every one licensed foster family.
March 31, 2022Sweeping Lawsuit Brought against New York State on Behalf of Thousands of Medicaid-eligible Children Denied Mental Health Treatment
NEW YORK, NY—New York is denying Medicaid-eligible children their legal right to mental health care. Today, a class action lawsuit was brought by Disability Rights New York, Children’s Rights, the National Health Law Program, and Proskauer Rose LLP. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children under the age of 21 with mental health conditions. […]
March 30, 2022Children’s Rights Comments on New Monitor’s Report of Sexual Abuse and Poor State Oversight at Texas Foster Care Facility
A new report has been filed by the court-appointed monitors of Texas’ foster care system in the ongoing lawsuit M.D. v. Abbott, brought by Children’s Rights on behalf of children in permanent foster care in Texas. The report finds that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) rushed its investigation into The Refuge, […]
March 24, 2022Federal Court Approves End to Child Welfare Lawsuit in Connecticut, Citing Dramatic Improvements for Children and Families
Contact: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org | 917-971-1784 Bridgeport, CT – In a milestone for Connecticut children and families served by its Department of Children and Families (DCF), Chief United States District Judge Stefan J. Underhill today ruled that the defendants in the Juan F. v. Lamont class action lawsuit, Governor Lamont and DCF Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes, […]
March 23, 2022Federal Court Approves Plan to Immediately Address Crisis of Children Sleeping in South Carolina DSS Offices
Contact: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org COLUMBIA, SC — South Carolina’s Department of Social Services (“DSS”) and Counsel for all children in foster care custody in the State, as parties to a 2016 settlement that requires dramatic changes in South Carolina’s foster care system, have agreed to a short-term action plan to address children staying overnight in […]
March 22, 2022Children’s Advocacy Organizations Decry Attacks on Children Seeking Safety in the United States
Washington, D.C., MARCH 22, 2022—As a community of more than 40 organizations who work on behalf of children, we unite today to demand an end to attacks on immigrant children and to correct dangerous misinformation campaigns about migrant children and their families at the border and within the United States. Together, we are working to […]
March 14, 2022State of Connecticut and Children’s Attorneys Jointly Request End to Child Welfare Lawsuit, Citing Dramatic Improvements for Children and Families
Bridgeport, CT – Today, marking a milestone victory for Connecticut children and families, the parties to the Juan F. v. Lamont class action lawsuit jointly filed a motion to exit federal court oversight, citing measurable, sustained and durable improvements to the care and support of children served by the State’s Department of Children and Families […]
March 3, 2022President Biden’s Words Speak for All of Us Who Cherish and Defend Children’s Rights
Contact: Camilla Jenkins, cjenkins@childrensrights.org, 917-971-1784 NEW YORK, NY — Last night, President Joe Biden condemned Texas’s abhorrent attack on transgender children, their families, and caretakers while Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra issued guidance that state child welfare agencies should support youth access to gender-affirming medical care. Children’s Rights wholeheartedly supports […]