While some improvements have been made, a lack of resources and cultural changes continue to challenge efforts to reduce absenteeism.
Children & Families
In Texas, a journalist uncovers a "shadow child welfare system that operates outside the purview of state officials, in spaces created by gaps in oversight and the law."
Bakersfield-based Simran Singh delivers articles of faith to Sikhs in detention centers. His encounters shed light on the brutality of life as a detainee.
Cuts to SNAP and farm-to-school programs under the Trump administration risk worsening childhood disease, nutrition experts warn.
A reporter grapples with the lack of progress in fixing the health and safety problems faced by rural students and staff in Alaska's public school system.
Children in low-income Black communities face higher lead exposure risks from aging schools and homes, which can lead to worse health and learning outcomes.
Transracial adoption remains a complex and often debated subject, one that experts Bryan Post and Rhonda Roorda are tackling head-on.
Victor Malin Jr. endured foster care, trauma, and prison. Now he mentors youth and leads community programs to stop others from following the same path.
Black court-appointed special advocates in Sacramento work to support foster youth, especially Black teens, amid system flaws, racial disparities, and a lack of advocates.
Malachi, raised by his grandmother after a troubled childhood, now advocates for foster youth. Kinship care and family-first approaches are helping reform child welfare systems.