foster care

Kathy Stolz-Silvis was nine years old when her father died, making her and her siblings eligible for Social Security survivor benefits. But she didn't become aware of those benefits until decades later.

National

Decades after foster care, she learned she was owed benefits. Where did the money go?

5:01am July 22, 2022

by Alexandra Arriaga

After reading an investigation by NPR and the Marshall Project, former foster youth are asking what happened to their benefits — and the government isn't helping.

News
Youth

Children’s Home Society of North Carolina receives $8 million donation

4:07pm June 27, 2022

by Keri Brown

As NC proposes new mental health plan for youth in welfare system, Forsyth County asks for options

4:56pm April 08, 2022

by Keri Brown

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a new plan to address complex behavioral health needs for kids who come into the care of child welfare services.

Daisy Hohman was separated from her three children for 20 months when they were placed in foster care. When Hohman was reunited with her children, she received a bill of nearly $20,000 for foster care from her Minnesota county.

States send kids to foster care and their parents the bill — often one too big to pay

4:35pm December 27, 2021

In every state, governments charge parents for the cost of foster care when children are taken away. When that happens, NPR found, poor parents can't make ends meet, so families are kept apart longer.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion to make sure foster youth who receive Social Security benefits have access to those checks. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, co-sponsor of the motion, said the new directive is a "game changer."

Los Angeles County Moves To Get More Money Into The Hands Of Foster Youth

4:51pm July 16, 2021

by Joseph Shapiro

Los Angeles County plans to ensure foster youth who get Social Security can use the money later, going against the common practice of child welfare agencies nationwide to use benefits to pay for care.

An autopsy report released Wednesday by the medical examiner's office in Kalamazoo, Mich., ruled the suffocation death of Cornelius Fredericks a homicide.

National

3 Children's Home Staffers Charged In Death Of 16-Year-Old

12:08pm June 25, 2020

by Vanessa Romo

The former employees allegedly sat on Cornelius Fredericks' chest and legs for about 12 minutes. When he became unresponsive, employees at the home waited another 12 minutes to call for help.

Before Guy Bryant (right) took Romario Vassell (left) into foster care, Vassell had been living in a homeless shelter.

National

He Traded Single Life To Be Foster 'Pop' To More Than 50 Kids

1:06pm October 18, 2019

Guy Bryant has fostered dozens of children over the past 12 years. At StoryCorps, he told one of his foster kids that he wants them to pass on what they've learned from him.

Queue Listen Now

Berkshire, the camp director, and other mentors spend one-on-one time with campers. One child said they feel like this is their "real" home and the other home they live in full time is a "backup."

National

At This Camp, Children Of Opioid Addicts Learn To Cope And Laugh

9:33pm October 09, 2019

by Kavitha Cardoza

Camp Mariposa in Dayton, Ohio, is designed just for them. The program lets these children share their experiences, learn coping strategies and, most importantly, get to be kids.

Queue Listen Now

Christi holds a migrant child's hand as they walk to the swimming pool.

National

'I Know That They're Cared For." Why One Mom Has Chosen To Foster Migrant Children

6:09pm July 28, 2019

Unaccompanied minors cross the border without family or support. "Any kid that's in my house is, at least while they're here, safe," says one foster mother, Christi.

Parental drug use is increasingly cited as the reason to remove kids from their homes and place them in foster care. Some argue more should be done to keep families together.

More Kids Are Getting Placed In Foster Care Because Of Parents' Drug Use

12:36pm July 15, 2019

by Susie Neilson

With drug use surging in the past decade and a half, many parents are losing custody of their kids. But is foster care the best solution?