foster care

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

The journalist, author and former NPR host speaks out about her painful quest for motherhood: "There's a lot of emotional blood on the floor."

The agency argued its religious freedoms were violated when Philadelphia ended a foster care contract. A federal appeals court disagreed.

Attorney General Dana Nessel reached a settlement with the ACLU. It requires agencies not to discriminate against gay people who want to adopt or foster children referred by the state.

Foster children can have extraordinary health needs. Some states are testing a coordinated approach to care to keep these kids from slipping through the cracks.