Children's Services

Federal Spending on Kids Falls, as More Dollars Flow Toward Older Adults and Debt

The findings are included in the latest edition of an annual report. “In a sense in our budget, we’re treating kids worse and worse,” said one of its authors.

  • By Bill Lucia

Federal Spending on Kids Falls, as More Dollars Flow Toward Older Adults and Debt

The findings are included in the latest edition of an annual report. “In a sense in our budget, we’re treating kids worse and worse,” said one of its authors.

  • By Bill Lucia
Children's Services

Federal Spending on Kids Falls, as More Dollars Flow Toward Older Adults and Debt

The findings are included in the latest edition of an annual report. “In a sense in our budget, we’re treating kids worse and worse,” said one of its authors.

  • By Bill Lucia

Foster Care Crisis Opens Door to Second-Chance Parents

Severing parental rights is the nuclear option of child protective services.

  • By Teresa Wiltz

Wraparound Support is Key to Keeping Families Out of the Child Welfare System, Report Says

The analysis of a grant program that paired supportive services with permanent housing finds that these interventions decrease interactions with the child welfare system.

  • By Emma Coleman

Lawsuit Pits Faith-Based Adoption Agencies Against Michigan’s Anti-Discrimination Policy

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Spotlight on Baltimore pipeline deal … Los Angeles Sheriff putting aside misconduct investigations … Washington state works on debt-collection bills.

  • By John Tomasic

As Drug Crises Surge, Babies Enter Foster Care at Higher Rate

The trend can have a big impact on state budgets.

  • By Teresa Wiltz

Navigating the Justice System, Victims Find Comfort with Courthouse Dogs

Courthouse companion dogs offer emotional support for victims and witnesses in 39 states.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

As Need Grows, States Try to Entice New Foster Parents

States are using new campaigns, including online ads, to recruit foster parents.

  • By Teresa Wiltz

The Soaring Cost of Child Care In 5 Charts

The cost of raising children has gotten so overwhelming for so many families that policymakers on both the federal and state levels are floating proposals.

  • By Heidi Steinour, The Conversation

The Coming Care Crisis as Kids With Autism Grow Up

The number of adults with autism diagnoses is soaring, but there aren’t enough programs and services to meet the demand.

  • By Noah Remnick, The Atlantic

Foster Parents Have Become Professionals in Some States

The idea of hiring professional foster parents to take care of children is controversial, but is being tested as a solution to the shortage of families in these state systems.

  • By Teresa Wiltz

New Survey Finds Big Increase in U.S. Teen Vaping

One in five high school seniors vaped in 2018.

  • By Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz

Fears Raised of ‘Chilling Effect’ on Kids If Trump Proposal Is Adopted

Changes to the “public charge” rule could make it harder for immigrants to secure green cards if they seek government services like Medicaid.

  • By Laura Maggi

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Measuring Results of Early Childhood Spending

Finding more resources to help struggling populations “needs to be reframed as an economic imperative, even a national security issue.”

  • By Timothy B. Clark

New Rules Could Open More Homes to Foster Kids

The proposed federal guidelines would eliminate square footage and bedroom requirements, among other changes.

  • By Teresa Wiltz

Report on Uninsured Children in the U.S. Shows Distressing Trend

“With an improving economy and a very low unemployment rate, the fact that our nation is going backwards on children’s health coverage is very troubling,” said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families.

  • By Laura Maggi

If Parents Get Deported, Who Gets Their Children?

One in five children being raised by extended family members—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—live in an immigrant household, more than half a million children, a new report shows.

  • By Teresa Wiltz

Summer Food Programs Face Challenges in Rural Areas

Paperwork, administrative burdens and transportation issues can lead to lower participation among children in rural areas, experts said at a House subcommittee hearing.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Watchdog Projects Ongoing Drop in Share of Federal Spending on Kids

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released its estimates as the nation's debt and deficits are on the rise.

  • By Bill Lucia

More Money—and Stricter Scrutiny—for Child Care

“What we’re seeing is an influx of state policymakers starting to wrap their arms around the fact that learning doesn’t start in kindergarten,” said Bruce Atchison of the Education Commission of the States.

  • By The Pew Charitable Trusts

Share of Kids Facing Food Insecurity Still Above Pre-Recession Levels

“In 16 states, more than one-in-five children live in food insecure households,” new research from The Hamilton Project notes.

  • By Bill Lucia

Federal Judge Asked to Appoint ‘Special Master’ for Illinois Child Welfare Agency

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Intergovernmental ‘venom’ in S.C. … Colo. to adopt Calif.-style auto emission standards … and coral disease heading to Key West.

  • By Michael Grass