foster care

28-year-old Natalie Zarate spent two decades working towards becoming a citizen after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as a child. Except now she worries that the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to crack down on immigration and end birthright citizenship could endanger her and her family.

The case is pending before Randy Crane, chief judge of the Southern District of Texas.

The court voted 9-5 against rehearing the case that voided significant portions of court oversight, removed the judge in the case, and nullified contempt fines.

Twice this year, emergency response crews were called to a foster care contractor's office in Topeka to save the lives of children in state custody. Poor supervision at such offices has been a problem for years.

A court-mandated report released Monday shows that Kansas' foster care system is not only showing no improvement in key areas, but getting even worse. Foster children are still sleeping in offices, despite a lawsuit settlement requiring that stop three years ago.

Lawyers for the State of Texas on Monday tried to convince a U.S. appeals court that it should not be fined for failures in investigations of abuse and neglect of intellectually disabled children. The three-judge panel appeared to not need much convincing.

Alyssa Murphy turned 27 last week. She was 6 years old when she was placed in foster care. She stayed in 40 placements after that. She reflected on what the case she joined at 14 has done for foster kids, and why she wants Judge Janis Jack to stay on the case.

After 13 years, the state said Judge Janis Jack should be removed from overseeing its foster care system because she isn't 'impartial.'

Four court filings, hundreds of pages and thousands of serious incidents illustrated how ill prepared the state is when directly caring for youth — a job their workers were never meant to do.

Substance abuse contributes to around 13% of Kansas children entering foster care. Now, Kansas is testing a new Family Treatment Court in rural counties that will help parents complete addiction treatment and reunite with their kids.