Press Releases
Atlanta Child Welfare System Posts Best Results to Date in Court-Ordered Reform Effort
ATLANTA, GA — The Atlanta child welfare system performed better in the second half of 2008 than ever before in implementing widespread reforms required under a federal court order secured by Children’s Rights, according to a new progress report, keeping abused and neglected children safer in foster care and acting faster to return children who […]
June 8, 2009After Slow Start, Court-Ordered Child Welfare Reforms Underway in Mississippi
JACKSON, MS — The Mississippi Department of Family and Children’s Services ended the first period of a massive court-ordered effort to reform its child welfare system having reached few of the required first-year benchmarks for improvement, according to a new report issued late Friday by a court-appointed monitor — but the agency is now well-positioned […]
June 1, 2009Hundreds More Milwaukee Foster Homes Needed, Says New Expert Assessment in Child Welfare Reform Effort
MILWAUKEE, WI — The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW) must recruit nearly six hundred more foster families to keep the abused and neglected children in its custody from being placed in inappropriate and unstable foster homes, according to a new study released today by an independent expert contracted by BMCW as part of a long-running […]
May 9, 2009New Report: District of Columbia Still Failing to Provide Many Key Child Welfare Services
WASHINGTON, DC — The District of Columbia continues to provide inadequate care and services to the District’s abused and neglected children and vulnerable families, according to a new report released today, falling short of 42 benchmarks for reforming its dysfunctional child welfare system under federal court orders secured by Children’s Rights. The report (PDF) was […]
April 27, 2009Better Results for Children as New Jersey Completes First Phase of Child Welfare Reforms
NEWARK, NJ — New Jersey has successfully completed the first phase of a massive child welfare reform effort mandated by the settlement of a federal class action brought by Children’s Rights, according to a report released today by the independent monitor in the case — and the state’s abused and neglected children and at-risk families are […]
March 30, 2009Groundbreaking Reform Effort Dramatically Improves System of Legal Representation for Atlanta Foster Children
ATLANTA, GA — Under a court order secured by Children’s Rights in a landmark child welfare reform class action, Fulton County (metro Atlanta) has significantly increased the number of Child Advocate Attorneys assigned to represent abused and neglected children in juvenile court proceedings — and dramatically reduced the unacceptably high caseloads that previously prevented attorneys […]
March 26, 2009Connecticut Successfully Implementing First Steps of Plan to Fix Child Welfare Problems
HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families has cleared a longstanding backlog of over 1,000 children in foster care awaiting required health check-ups and dramatically improved its efforts to assess and plan for the services and treatment needed by abused and neglected children, according to a new report trackingDCF’s progress in implementing sweeping […]
March 24, 2009Report: Despite Some Progress, Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare Still Lags in Reform Effort
MILWAUKEE, WI — Although the Bureau of Milwaukeee Child Welfare (BMCW) continues to make some progress in implementing broad reforms required under a court order secured by Children’s Rights, a new report evaluating BMCW’s progress shows that the agency is still plagued by serious problems that must be addressed in order to ensure the safety and […]
February 4, 2009DC Mayor Seeks to Undermine Child Welfare Reforms, Advocates Charge
WASHINGTON, DC — The administration of District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty is attempting to undermine the authority of the independent monitor appointed by a federal court to oversee a long-running effort to reform the District’s dysfunctional child welfare system, according to a new brief filed last night by Children’s Rights. Children’s Rights, which secured […]
January 30, 2009Citing DC Mayor’s Failure to Commit to Child Welfare Reforms, Children’s Rights Files for Contempt
WASHINGTON, DC — Charging the administration of District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty with impeding the implementation of court-ordered reforms to the District’s dysfunctional child welfare system — and placing the administration’s desire to exit court oversight ahead of the safety and well-being of DC’s abused and neglected children — Children’s Rights renewed a motion […]
