Each week, First Star features links to local, state and/or national news coverage of child welfare-related issues — with a special focus on improving system accountability, introducing best practices and encouraging reform through public policy.
ARCHIVES: 2006 | 2005 | 2004
June 4 , 2007
Reno Gazette-News (editorial) -- Children and society suffer when nobody wants to pay
Dallas Morning News -- Melees at CPS facilities point to foster care crisis
Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- State must pay $6.2 million for abused foster kids' ordeal
May 21, 2007
National Public Radio -- Mississippi reaches deal to revamp child welfare system
USA Today -- Record numbers of foster kids leave program as adults
Contra Costa Times -- Foster care nears crisis, studies warn
Daily Times-Call (Longmont, CO) -- Area nonprofit works with kids, adults to prevent sexual abuse
May 7, 2007
San Francisco Chronicle -- Internet search helps connect foster kids with their relatives
Daytona Beach News-Journal -- Group homes a haven for Florida's foster kids
April 30, 2007
Newsday -- New Jersey plans to keep more abused, neglected children in-state
Houston Chronicle -- Bill would inform foster children of legal rights
Lexington Herald-Leader -- Foster care focus shifts to family; Relatives seen as best placements
NPR/All Things Considered -- Chicago's Catholic Charities to cut foster care
The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) -- State gets 'F' in aid for abused foster kids; But many lawyers take cases for free
April 23, 2007
CBS News -- Advocacy group: Abused kids need lawyers
Seattle Times -- Who speaks for kids in dependency court?
Portland Press Herald -- Maine gets an 'F' from child advocacy group
Dallas Morning News -- Bill aims to make foster care safer; Deaths lead lawmakers to add workers, rethink further privatization
Des Moines News -- Sibling visitation bill is signed into law; agencies will be required to try to arrange meetings for brothers or sisters sent to separate foster homes
April 16, 2007
ABA Journal -- The Youngest Clients: Lawyers are becoming more assertive in advocating directly for children in court proceedings
Sacramento Bee -- Supplemental Security Income could assist foster kids with serious disablities
St. Petersburgh Times --Program helps foster teens learn how to live independently when they reach 18
April 9, 2007
Monterey County Times -- New help for abused children;
County set to approve plan for better response
Miami Herald -- Foster kids, delinquents may get school vouchers
April 2, 2007
Cincinnati Enquirer -- Info-sharing system could cross-check court records
Washington Post -- The tragedy of child neglect
Pawtucket Times -- Rhode Island urged not to drop foster kids at 18
March 26, 2007
National Public Radio -- Lawmakers reconsider assets of foster children
San Diego Union-Tribune -- Proposed state legislation and a new local program would change the way foster children are dropped into the adult world
March 19, 2007
Boston Globe -- Rhode Island ponders future of foster care
Houston Chronicle -- Fixing foster care in the state of Texas
March 12, 2007
Pioneer Press -- Schools, advocates grapple with teaching age-appropriate safety lessons to prevent child sexual abuse
Boston Globe -- A dilemma; medications for foster kids
March 5, 2007
Washington Post -- Notes of Despair: On a D.C. court bulletin board, pleas for vanished parents and stories of foster kids’ damaged worlds come to life
Arizona Republic -- Foster parents needed to help Hispanic children
Chicago Tribune -- Foster families let biological kin share in children's transition back into homes
Sacramento Bee -- Former foster child puts her experiences on paper, then on stage to debunk stereotypes about kids in the system
February 26, 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer -- Federal report says N.J. child welfare system has improved, but work remains to be done
Omaha World-Herald -- State may oversee foster care lawyers
Anchorage Daily News -- State regroups on child abuse; Plan aims to learn more about youths' situations
Portland Press Herald -- State's shift from using group homes questioned
February 12, 2007
Washington Post -- UNICEF ranks U.S., Britain at bottom of child welfare survey
Pasadena Star-News -- Foster care system setback
February 5, 2007
Charlotte Observer -- Foster child ends bid to travel to D.C.; Teen says stress has been too difficult in fighting Guilford DSS over trip
Charlotte Observer -- Teen wants to be heard. DSS says no; What rights do kids under state care have?
Anchorage Daily News -- A sister's love, the state's call; Siblings torn apart struggle to understand adult decisions
Boston Herald -- Former foster child backs bills giving kids a legal voice
January 29, 2007
Detroit Free Press -- How Michigan's child welfare system failed a little boy (a three-part series, plus related stories)
Palm Beach Post -- Program gives housing, hope to aging out foster youth
New York Times -- Offering help for foster care alumni
January 22, 2007
Wichita Eagle -- Open child welfare hearing is a window into CPS agency
San Diego Union-Tribune -- Back in the kid business: Kinship support groups aim to help elderly caregivers
Charlotte Observer -- Child welfare changes get mixed reviews
Omaha World-Herald -- Judge dismisses challenge to Nebraska foster care
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January 15, 2007
Sacramento Bee -- State Urged to Aid Former Foster Kids: Lack of support leads many to become homeless or jobless, a report concludes
Boston Globe -- Too Old for Foster Care, They Hit Streets Unprepared for Life
The Enquirer (Northern Kentucky) -- Foster Care Process Criticized: Inspector general criticizes 'cloak of secrecy'
Providence (R.I.) Journal -- New Hotline Offers Mental-Health Help for Children, Families
New York Times -- Rise in Child Abuse Reports Has Family Court Reeling
January 9. 2007
New York Times — Girl Is Dead a Year, and Many Can’t Forget
Baltimore Sun — City to launch Chessie system; Foster-care tracker to go online
The Times West Virginian — State justices target child abuse, neglect cases with recent rulings
January 2. 2007
Tulsa World — New research shows that negative experiences during childhood could affect a person's health later in life
Philadelphia Enquirer — DHS mustn't blink: Experience shows that fixing the complicated child-welfare system requires constant attention to details
Indianapolis Star — More help may come for children in '07; 300 new caseworkers, money for advocates
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette — Former foster children would receive health care under plan
