Transforming Foster Care: An Audacious Goal
Giving Voice and Agency to the Children and Youth Most Affected
Sixto Cancel knows most youth exit the foster care system with serious trauma. His organization, Think of Us, vows to disrupt the bureaucracy of child welfare.
Covering Health Care for Undocumented Families
Health Care for Child Immigrants is Safe For Now, Experts Say
Undocumented parents often don’t seek health care for fear of deportation. Journalists can help kids stay covered, experts from the Children’s Defense Fund Texas said.
The Path Toward Authentic Juvenile Justice
Zero-Tolerance Policies Don’t Work. What Does?
Ruth Rosenthal and Christina Quaranta have studied the effects of over-policing youth. They want journalists to communicate more effective solutions.
Heeding the Messages from Gun Violence Data
Gun Violence Harms Physical, Mental and Community Health
Gun violence causes wide-ranging negative effects—especially for Black and brown communities. KFF’s Nirmita Panchal unpacks statistics for American youth.
Through the Eyes of a Child
Helping Immigrant Children and Families Requires Humanity and Accurate Reporting
Sister Norma Pimentel of Catholic Charities says the tear-stained faces of immigrant children launched her work at the U.S. Border. She puts their humanity first.
Responding to Trauma in Immigrant Children
With Proper Support, Immigrant Children Can Learn to Move Beyond Trauma
Psychologist Monica Romo of the Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing explains how to identify trauma in--and create safety for—immigrant children.
Letting Extended Family Help Children Heal
Kinship Care Should Be Prioritized for Most Children
Children at risk for abuse and neglect benefit more from family support than foster care placement, says Monarch Family Services founder Dr. Valerie Jackson.
Defending Immigrant Children’s Rights
It Takes Legal Support and Courage to Make the Long Solo Journey
Gaining legal status in the U. S. can take years for unaccompanied immigrant children. Aimee Korolev and Dalia Castillo-Granados of the ABA detail the process.
An Up-Close Review of Remote Learning
Breaking Down the Data: The Nation’s Report Card
COVID’S remote learning protocol eroded progress in math and reading. Grady Wilburn of the National Center for Education Statistics unpacked the data.
Dismantling Child Welfare: The Way Forward?
Upending the System to Defend, Not Police Families
Alan Dettlaff thinks poverty and racism have destroyed too many Black and brown families in the child welfare system. The University of Houston Professor wants to abolish it.
Navigating Grief and Trauma in Our Children
Children Can Build Resiliency Through Support and Resources
Pediatrician David Schonfeld of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement helps children and communities grasp the nuances of trauma and grief.
The Cost of COVID: Education Funding Explained
Quantifying School Spending — and the Toll Extracted by the Pandemic
What journalists should know covering U.S. learning loss. Ash Dhammani of Georgetown’s Edunomics Lab how to use the first-ever spending database for public schools.
Historic ‘Yes’ Vote for Early Child Care
New Mexico Is the First State to Fund Early Child Care for Most Residents
New Mexico voters made history by approving early education and childcare funding. Sharon Kayne of New Mexico Voices for Children explained the strategy.
Trading Trauma for a Hopeful Future
Journalists Must Prioritize Context When Covering Crises
Austin American-Statesman Editor Manny García believes communities deserve reporting that doesn’t just focus on trauma and violence but empowers them to act.
Newborn Screening, Genetic Testing Varies by State
How Reporters Can Cover Inequity in Rare Disease Diagnosis
Many journalists know newborns are screened for rare diseases, but may not realize the “death by zip code” phenomenon.
NBC’s Richard Engel on Battling Rare Disease
A War Correspondent Reports the Ultimate Loss: His Child’s Death from a Rare Disease
Lead with empathy, advises Richard Engel. After the death of his son Henry, he urges more attention to rare diseases. They turn out to be not so rare.
Keeping Teens From Crime: What Works?
Chicago’s “Choose to Change” Program Reduces Arrests of Youth for Violent Crimes
At the University of Chicago Crime Lab, researchers explore ways to keep at-risk kids out of crime – and partner with schools to put theory into practice.
Reporting on Kids and the COVID Vaccine
Cutting Through Misinformation
Tips for reporters covering the coronavirus vaccine for children — and how it will impact families, schools and more.
Back-to-School in a Pandemic World
Masking, Vaccine Issues Vex Schools
With the rapid surge of the Delta variant, schools are implementing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for teachers and students in an attempt to slow the spread. What new obstacles are teachers, students and families facing?
Child Care: Facts and Culture Wars
Child Care Debate in Congress and States Challenges Politicians and Journalists to Think Anew
Jobs are coming back faster than child care — and that’s left 2 million women still at home. Expert says lack of affordable care costs America $57 billion each year. But who should get federal assistance: providers, families, businesses or states?
Women Ousted from the Labor Force
2.3 Million Have Lost Their Jobs. The Pain Is Unequal. And Recovery Will Be Hard, Experts Warn.
Women’s lost jobs and reduced hours during the pandemic could cost the U.S. economy $64.5 billion and slice $12.2 billion off U.S. tax revenues. Will the Biden stimulus be enough to reopen child care centers and reemploy them?
How COVID-19 Worsened Education Inequality
Divide Between Rich and Poor Students Widened as Limited Access to Tech, Internet Impeded Learning
The average American student could end the year five months behind in math. Learning loss has hurt poor kids and students of color most of all. Experts say universal broadband and other strategies could help them catch up.
The Political Battle Over Paid Leave
As COVID-19 Ravages the Economy, Paid Leave Can Help Mitigate Damage
Paid sick days and paid leave can help families weather a crisis or pandemic, but workers in much of the country don’t get them. Will the new Congress change that?
America’s Child Care System in Crisis
How COVID Overwhelmed an Already Stressed System
With low-paid workers and bare-bones budgets, child care centers have survived on the edge for years. Now, as parents pull their children amid COVID, the industry faces a reckoning.
How Poverty and Trauma Affect Brain Development
Early Stress Can Have Lifelong Effects on Brain and Body Health
A “revolution” in research is uncovering the connections between poverty, racism and hunger in children and long-term behavior and health outcomes.
How Poverty and COVID Shape Children’s Lives
Before COVID, Childhood Poverty Was a Major Problem. It’s Only Gotten Worse.
Since COVID hit, researchers have pivoted to document how isolation, financial shocks and increased stress have affected children and their families.
How Poverty Affects Children’s Health
Stress and Other Adverse Childhood Events Have an Effect on Health into Adulthood
726,000 Americans have lost their health insurance. Pediatricians visits are down. Moms tell doctors they cannot buy food for today.
The Impact of Opioids on Children
Families Often Ripped Apart as Drug Use Escalates
Pediatricians often witness the ravages of drug use – not on the users, but on their children.
Why Healthy Play Spaces Matter
In Areas Where Kids Lack Play and Exercise Options, Health Falters
What can cities and states do to get kids to play – and shed pounds? A research project aims to find out.
