Developed through the Family Separation Working Group in partnership with trusted national and international organizations on the front lines of supporting families, this practical guide helps parents, caregivers, and those assisting them understand their rights, learn about reunification options, and identify resources that may support them in finding the best solution for their child and family.

This Guardian investigation reveals that the Trump administration arrested the parents of at least 27,000 children in its first seven months in 2025, dramatically increasing deportations and raising concerns about widespread family separation. The report highlights how these policies have disrupted families and warns of long-term emotional, financial, and legal consequences for those affected.

This Guardian article reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded a contract to private security firm MVM Inc.—a company previously accused in lawsuits of “torture,” “enforced disappearance,” and mistreatment of migrant children—to help locate undocumented children who entered the U.S. alone. While ICE describes the effort as “safety and wellness checks” to ensure children’s well-being, internal documents and critics suggest the program is actually intended to facilitate deportations or legal action against the children or their sponsors, raising fears of renewed “backdoor family separation.”

The CNN report (published April 28, 2026) describes how the U.S. administration is moving to speed up deportation proceedings for migrant children held in custody by advancing immigration court hearings by weeks or months.

This Associated Press investigation reveals how many adopted children in the U.S.

Date: April 28-30, 2026

Location: Kansas City, KS

This study of homeless former foster youth in California highlights the complex and often contradictory nature of their foster care experiences, with some reporting belonging and identity support alongside loneliness, unmet needs, discrimination, and abuse. The findings underscore the importance of centering youth perspectives to better inform child welfare services and prevent homelessness among care leavers.

This webi­nar pre­sent­ed by the Urban Insti­tute and spon­sored by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion explored approach­es to strength­en­ing eval­u­a­tion in child wel­fare ser­vices in the United States to more rapid­ly and prac­ti­cal­ly doc­u­ment what works.

This CNN article examines how increased immigration enforcement in the U.S. is leading to more children being separated from their parents and, in some cases, placed into foster care. It explains that as detentions and deportations rise, some states are changing laws and policies to prevent children from entering the foster system by allowing temporary guardianship arrangements instead.

This article reports on a lawsuit and family’s account that a 3‑year‑old immigrant girl was allegedly sexually abused while in U.S. federal custody after she was separated from her mother at the U.S.–Mexico border and placed in a foster home.