foster care

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.

More than 800 youth this year have spent time in unlicensed placements throughout Texas.

Lawyers for the state’s foster care system tried to fend off contempt complaints stemming from alleged failures to observe several court orders from federal court monitors and plaintiffs in a case that stretches back 12 years.

Cornerstones of Care has had 17 kids sleep in a new shelter. The agency says it's an improvement over an office stay, but it's at a campus that critics call "grim.”