In Arkansas, judges make frequent use of their authority to lock up children known as "status offenders," despite the fact that they haven't broken any laws. Few people outside the juvenile justice system know how easy it is for a child to end up behind bars. Even fewer see the long-lasting impact.
How can we keep abuse and neglect from occurring in succeeding generations? Florida judge Cindy Lederman offers a vision of juvenile court as a crucial opportunity to turn around the lives of both parents and young children, before it's too late.
The U.S. has a much higher rate of child maltreatment deaths than other rich countries, and studies are beginning to show that early child abuse can spark changes that are linked to later-in-life health issues. But how do you get poor, stressed parents to be kinder and more engaged?
Last year, more than 50,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America crossed the Mexico-U.S. border looking for their parents or better opportunities. But the journey north can entail serious trauma and suffering. What are the long-term mental health issues such children face?
Twenty-one journalists from around the nation will receive reporting grants from the new Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being, the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and the National Health Journalism Fellowship.
Less than a decade ago, Native Hawaiians represented about a third of the children in Hawaii’s foster care system. Today, they comprise half the state’s foster population of 2,200. Why is that? And what initiatives show the most promise in helping reduce the disparity? A new series will investigate.
In Asian families, raising a child with autism spectrum disorder means not only piles of bills, long wait-lists and underfunded programs, but also a life of double isolation. What might be done to offer such families more support and services?
The concept of "toxic stress" has rapidly gained currency in recent years to explain the damaging effects sustained stress and instability can have on young children. Reporter Daisy Rosario is exploring how such stress impacts underserved communities, and how it might be addressed through services.
By all accounts Charles should have been a success – middle-class upbringing, positive extracurricular activities and a Boy Scout. His future was bright. The opportunities were endless. Instead Charles ended up in the criminal justice system, a long fall for an Eagle Scout. What happened?
Three-and-a-half-year-old Dylan was tiny, feisty and freckled with tousled blond hair. His mom brought him to the pediatric clinic because he had tried to smother his 2-week-old sister. She didn’t know what to do with him, and frankly neither did we. It was 5 p.m. and the clinic was closing.
