NCYL

The Trump administration is expected to formally release new regulations Friday that would remove time limits on how long the federal government can detain migrant children. The new rules would end the 1997 Flores agreement which prevents the government from keeping detained minors in immigration custody for more than 20 days, whether they’re with their families or traveling alone.

Bill Grimm, who has helped lead reform-prompting litigation against several state and county child welfare systems, has been awarded the Mark Hardin Award by the American Bar Association Center on Children and The Law.

Yesterday, we began a three-part look at Katie A. v Bonta, a class-action lawsuit over mental health services for California children involved in the child welfare system. Los Angeles County settled with plaintiffs in 2003; the state settled on behalf of the other 57 counties in 2011.

It is going to take more than a Blue Ribbon Commission or a czar to significantly change the trajectory of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system: it will require a re-ordering of political priorities and the will of the entire community.

The National Center on Youth Law (NCYL) is calling on foster youth, child welfare leaders and others involved in the lives of youth in care to join a campaign to end the excessive use of psychotropic drugs.