Trump

A Catholic mother’s lawsuit alleging bedrock religious discrimination by South Carolina’s largest child-placement agency with the blessing of state and federal officials may proceed, a federal judge ruled this week, rejecting calls to throw out her case.

  President Donald Trump issued an executive order Wednesday with a laundry list of instructions for his administration on child welfare. The order does not appear to direct new money to states – in one place, it might be calling for tighter restrictions on federal funds – but it does lay out new data collection and technical assistance aimed at reducing the use of, and time spent in, foster care.  

The number of child welfare agencies working to create a more welcoming experience for thousands of LGBTQ foster youth took a big jump in the past year, according to a report released Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. 

COVID-19 has complicated the process of reuniting immigrant families with their children when a parent with an ongoing child welfare case is either in ICE custody in the U.S. or has been deported.

We’re counting down 10 of the biggest stories The Imprint published in 2019. Each day, we’ll connect readers with a few links to our coverage on a big story from this past year.

Just days after being impeached by the House of Representatives, President Donald Trump signed a spending bill for 2020 that includes hundreds of millions in funding to assist states with a recent overhaul of federal child welfare financing.

Young people leaving foster care already face frustrating barriers when it comes to getting food stamps, a critical support for a population with high rates of homelessness and unemployment. As the Trump administration continues its efforts to clamp down on food stamp eligibility with a new set of rules targeting people living in the most impoverished parts of the country, foster youth and those aging out of the system will have an even tougher time feeding themselves.

In a move expected for months, the Trump administration has announced it will no longer enforce an Obama-era rule insisting that federally funded child welfare providers refrain from discrimination against adults and children based on religious values.