The initial statistics shocked me. It turns out, I hadn’t seen anything yet.
There’s more information known about every man, woman and child in the U.S. than ever before, in digital form. Why not use that data to protect the youngest, most vulnerable members of society?
What if the United States treated child abuse and neglect as if they were deadly diseases?
Vigo County had the highest rate of child neglect investigations in the state in 2017 — 238 for every 1,000 kids, a Times analysis of child welfare data found.
Child neglect is closely tied to poverty. By focusing on individual families accused of mistreating their kids, are we letting society off the hook?
Since the Great Recession started more than a decade ago, many Arizona families have languished as the state, facing budget shortfalls, cut services again and again. Foster care placements have swelled.
Children in troubled families are often destined for troubled lives — unless they get help before their brains become “hard-wired for stress.”
Arizona has the some of the strictest guidelines in the nation for welfare benefits. Tucson mother Jessala Grijalva can usually get what she needs for herself and her three children, but she’s found some surprising exceptions.
That's bad news, especially given ample research that has shown how critical engaging and speaking to young children is for building brains and spurring healthy development.
This two-part series examines this issues on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation:
Part 1: A Community's Struggle with Addiction
Part 2: Services Offered to Recovering Drug Users
