Films and TV portray the trauma and hope within foster care and child welfare, reflecting real-life struggles and evolving narratives around race, abuse, and belonging.
Schools and Education
Children’s media uses relatable characters and stories to explore adoption, foster care, and family separation, helping normalize tough topics and open conversations.
A reporter finds that Maine schools continue using restraint and seclusion on students, causing trauma and shirking accountability.
Montcalm County Intermediate School District was one of the subjects of a 2022 Detroit Free Press investigation over restraint and seclusion tactics used on students with disabilities.
While the state Department of Education has made trainings and tools available, researchers say it needs to do more to help districts use them.
Thousands of restraints and seclusions used on students each year reveal fractured interpretation of Maine law.
Even with incomplete data, experts say districts show alarming reliance on practices meant for emergency use.
Alaska’s rural schools face decades-long neglect as state funding lags, leaving Indigenous students in hazardous, overcrowded buildings with few options.
It has been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and despite the difficulties, LAUSD reported that in 2023-2024 the graduation rate reached 87%, the highest of all time.
Emily Schwing investigated Alaska’s crumbling rural schools, finding dangerous conditions, historic funding failures, and state neglect despite urgent community needs.