Our Bill of Rights provides children with enforceable legal protections while they are in the state’s care. These protections ensure that children have the right to stay with their siblings, making joint placement the legal default to preserve their most vital family bonds.
Every child also has the legal right to live in a home free from abuse. We enforce this by mandating independent investigation pathways for every report of mistreatment, ensuring that agency secrecy cannot hide a child’s safety concerns. Children also have the right to know why they were removed and what the state’s plan is for their future. We require caseworkers to explain these plans in age-appropriate language and keep children informed of every court date and major decision affecting their lives
News & Press
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Mandatory Reporting Saves Lives
In The Imprint, reporter Jeremy Loudenback highlighted California’s efforts to change mandatory reporting laws, a movement spurred by advocates who believe the current system unnecessarily pulls innocent families into the child welfare system. Loudenback featured the story of Roger De Leon, Jr., who was investigated for suspected abuse only to be later found innocent, as one traumatic example.
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Model Reforms
At the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, we protect the rights of children who are victims of abuse and neglect, and we work to ensure every child has a safe and loving home. To protect children’s rights, they must be clear and defensible. We passed state legislation codifying children’s rights and ensuring they [...]
Dear Members of the Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary: As you consider improving permanency outcomes for children in foster care, the Center for the Rights of Abused Children (Center) invites you to investigate client- directed counsel for abused and neglected children. Typically, when lawmakers ask for a single reform that will do [...]
The Problem Federal law mandates states provide children a representative to 1. obtain a clear understanding of the situation and needs of the child, and 2. make recommendations to the court concerning the best interests of the child. This person can be an attorney or a court appointed special advocate. Backgrounder - Federal RTC
Frequent and unnecessary delays in the court cases of Arizona’s foster children add years to a child’s time in state care. Each court continuance delays permanency for a child up to four months. Timely hearings are a matter of due process for all parties and delays are costly to families, children, and taxpayers alike. Senate [...]
The adoption process can be slow, sometimes taking longer than a year. This largely administrative activity swallows precious time that foster children, especially older kids, don’t have to waste. Older kids are among the most difficult to place in a permanent home and face terrible odds without a family. Twenty-five percent of children who “age [...]