foster care

Christi holds a migrant child's hand as they walk to the swimming pool.

National

'I Know That They're Cared For." Why One Mom Has Chosen To Foster Migrant Children

6:09pm July 28, 2019

Unaccompanied minors cross the border without family or support. "Any kid that's in my house is, at least while they're here, safe," says one foster mother, Christi.

Parental drug use is increasingly cited as the reason to remove kids from their homes and place them in foster care. Some argue more should be done to keep families together.

More Kids Are Getting Placed In Foster Care Because Of Parents' Drug Use

12:36pm July 15, 2019

by Susie Neilson

With drug use surging in the past decade and a half, many parents are losing custody of their kids. But is foster care the best solution?

Empty baby beds stand in the maternity ward of a hospital (a spokesperson for the hospital asked that the hospital not be named). Six days after Farai Chideya took her adopted newborn child home from a hospital, she was forced to give him back to his birt

Health & Safety

'I Was Utterly Gutted': Farai Chideya Endures 3 Failed Adoptions

1:33pm July 14, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

The journalist, author and former NPR host speaks out about her painful quest for motherhood: "There's a lot of emotional blood on the floor."

National

Catholic Foster Care Agency Can Not Discriminate Against LGBTQ Couples, Court Says

9:58pm April 22, 2019

by Richard Gonzales

The agency argued its religious freedoms were violated when Philadelphia ended a foster care contract. A federal appeals court disagreed.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, pictured earlier this month, has settled a lawsuit by same-sex couples who argued their rights were violated by faith-based adoption agencies that don't want to work with gays and lesbians.

National

State-Funded Adoption Agencies In Michigan Barred From Refusing LGBTQ Parents

9:39pm March 22, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

Attorney General Dana Nessel reached a settlement with the ACLU. It requires agencies not to discriminate against gay people who want to adopt or foster children referred by the state.

"We would not be able to foster without Medicaid," says Sherri Croom of Tallahassee, Fla. Croom and her husband, Thomas, have fostered 27 children in the past decade. They're pictured here with four adopted children, two 18-year-old former foster daughter

Health & Safety

Foster Parents Often Struggle To Find Doctors To Treat The Kids In Their Care

7:20pm August 22, 2018

by Phil Galewitz

Foster children can have extraordinary health needs. Some states are testing a coordinated approach to care to keep these kids from slipping through the cracks.

Kelly Zimmerman holds her son Jaxton Wright at a parenting session at the Children's Health Center in Reading, Pa. The free program provides resources and social support to new parents in recovery from addiction, or who are otherwise vulnerable.

Beyond Opioids: How A Family Came Together To Stay Together

3:06pm June 19, 2018

Infants do better with their parents, studies find, as long as parents have support to get and stay sober. This program starts during pregnancy, to rally and train a strong family support network.

Queue Listen Now

Amanda Williammee and her daughter Taycee. Now a happy preschooler, the little girl was born with neonatal abstinence syndrome — a condition that includes opioid withdrawal symptoms like tremors, irritability, sleep problems and high-pitched crying.

For Babies Of The Opioid Crisis, Best Care May Be Mom's Recovery

6:00pm May 08, 2018

by Sarah Jane Tribble

Early findings on infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome are reassuring, and doctors are optimistic that normal development can continue. Making sure parents are treated for addiction is key.

Maria Luis (center) with her children Angie and Daniel on the day they were reunited in 2011. The children spent five years in the foster system after federal immigration officials sent Luis back to her native Guatemala.

National

When Immigration Detention Means Losing Your Kids

6:18am December 08, 2017

by Emma Jacobs

After federal immigration agents sent Maria Luis back to Guatemala, her kids went into the Nebraska foster system. It took her five years to get them back.

Whitney Duncan was given the choice of sending her daughter, Deklyn, 3, to stay with her grandmother in Jasper, Ga., while she entered rehab or lose her to foster care.

Number Of American Children In Foster Care Increases For 4th Consecutive Year

7:11pm November 30, 2017

by Richard Gonzales

Parents' substance abuse is one of the items driving authorities to remove kids from homes.