Press Releases
New 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 […]
June 25, 2020Statement on the Administration’s Executive Order on Child Welfare
Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at strengthening the child welfare system, directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to adopt the following strategies: Increase robust community partnerships with public, private, and faith-based organizations with an emphasis on transparency and data sharing across partners. Improve access to adequate resources for foster […]
June 16, 2020Federal Monitors Report Children in Texas Foster Care Remain at Serious Risk
After ten months of investigation, a comprehensive Monitors’ Report has concluded that the Texas child welfare system continues to expose children in permanent foster care to the risk of serious harm. The monitors’ assessment, released this week, comes several years after the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that deficiencies in the system “pose a significant safety risk for foster care children,” and laid out an improvement plan intended to address the system’s failures.
Children’s Rights Releases Report on COVID-19’s Impact on LGBTQ+ Youth in Child Welfare Systems
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 16, 2020 Contact: Camilla Jenkins, 646-216-3311, cjenkins@childrensrights.org Children’s Rights Releases Report on COVID-19’s Impact on LGBTQ+ Youth in Child Welfare Systems (June 16, 2020) – As the COVID-19 crisis continues to present challenges for youth in government systems, Children’s Rights has released “Fostering Inequity: How COVID-19 Amplifies Dangers For LGBTQ+ Youth […]
June 15, 2020Landmark victory for LGBTQ rights, Supreme Court ruling protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on whether Title VII of the federal 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ workers from employment discrimination, extending protections to LGBTQ workers. Christina Wilson Remlin, Lead Counsel at Children’s Rights, issued the following statement in response to today’s landmark 6-3 decision: “This is a joyful day for the entire […]
June 12, 2020LGBTQ protections reversed in federal ruling
Late this afternoon, a final rule removed nondiscrimination protections from the Affordable Care Act for LGBT people. Christina Wilson Remlin, Lead Counsel at Children’s Rights, issued the following statement: “Today’s announcement is yet another move by the administration to deny LGBTQ people their constitutionally guaranteed rights. The protections for LGBTQ people detailed in Section 1557 […]
June 2, 2020Statement on what racism has done to children
Sandy Santana shares Children’s Rights’ statement in response to the atrocities of today and the systemic racism that for decades has stained our nation, inflicting unacceptable harm on the children we serve: “Children’s Rights sees the impact of racism on the faces of our children. Black children enter the foster care system at a far […]
May 8, 2020HHS Ruling Targets LGBTQ Youth During Public Health Crisis
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a final rule change that will end data collection regarding the sexual orientation of foster children and foster and adoptive parents in the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). Christina Wilson Remlin, lead counsel at Children’s Rights, who recently spoke […]
