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.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition program in the United States, serving about 42 million people and helping reduce food insecurity, with roughly 40% of recipients being youth. This policy brief focuses on how recent federal changes put youth aging out of foster care at risk of losing SNAP benefits and recommends reinstating eligibility waivers, strengthening state transition services, and protecting data on food insecurity for this vulnerable population.

This article examines how child protection systems continue to reflect colonial power by disproportionately intervening in Indigenous families and undermining cultural practices and kinship systems. It highlights growing Indigenous-led movements to reclaim authority over child welfare, emphasizing self-determination and the rebuilding of care systems grounded in Indigenous laws, values, and relationships.

Since taking office in 2025, the second Donald Trump administration significantly expanded immigration enforcement while weakening safeguards for due process, family unity, and parental rights, resulting in record detention levels and widespread impacts on immigrant families. This research by Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights found that many deported parents were denied the opportunity to make arrangements for their children, leading to increased family separations that may become long-term or permanent.

This Guardian article reports on a new investigation finding that, under recent U.S. immigration policies, some parents are being deported without their children—often without being given the opportunity to make arrangements for their care. Based on interviews with deported families and advocacy organizations, it highlights how these separations can happen abruptly during detention, leaving children—including very young or vulnerable ones—behind in precarious situations.