Trump’s recent Presidential Order appears in its entirety below in the Read More section of this post. Added to the order today, is conflicted and confusing language that will have a terrible impact on the quality of life for millions of America’s abused and neglected children, families, and the communities they live in.
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This study of 251 neglected children and 502 community matched control group over a 17 year period found that 32% of child abuse fatalities occurring in the same year were attributed to child neglect alone. Most of these children were unnoticed by teachers, law enforcement, healthcare workers and others and received no child protection or welfare services.
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The United States ranks near the bottom of wealthy countries for child well-being, with higher child poverty, infant mortality, and firearm deaths than its peers. Learn what the data shows and why it matters.
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This from Idaho today. The tip the iceberg reported on by Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota recently. Add to this the Federal Government’s “Bonfire of Deregulation” millions of abused and neglected children will be underserved and many more of them die of trauma and abuse in 2026.
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The WHO has highlighted alarming statistics. Millions of children suffer from preventable and treatable diseases, even though affordable treatment exists. Children’s right to health is recognized in several United Nations and international agreements. The growing economic power of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and pharmaceutical giants raises new questions. Many ask whether these private, non‑state entities have an obligation to ensure children’s right to health.
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In 2025, the federal government declared a bonfire of deregulation in Child Protective Services (CPS) for 2026. This is part of a broader “parental rights” and religious liberty agenda. MAGA voices,
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Contrary to a common assumption, neglect is not less damaging than abuse. Research shows neglect victims have lifelong problems because they miss developmental milestones around language, self-control, and bonding with others.
A constant dilemma in neglect cases is whether to traumatize children by removing them from their families, or leave them in situations where their brains aren’t developing normally.
Quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs can make it possible to leave children at home while helping their parents improve parenting skills.
This study documents that neglect victims who got ECE moved quickly from having a language deficit to the normal range. Language development is critical to academic success and positive interpersonal relationships.
ECE can help many children avoid foster care and still obtain the baseline skills they need to thrive.
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American Fosters are struggling. These reports from around the nation indicate a great need for more help for at risk families and safe homes for children unlucky enough to be born into toxic homes.
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Abused and neglected children don’t have a voice in the politics and policies that rule their lives. They are at the mercy of our politicians and institutions that serve them.
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Because CASA and Children’s Advocacy Centers remain largely unknown, at‑risk children and families lose critical lifelines they don’t even realize exist. Low public awareness means fewer mandated reporters, neighbors, teachers, and relatives can to turn when they suspect abuse—or how to push for a CASA volunteer or a CAC referral when a child enters the system. It depresses volunteer recruitment for CASA and philanthropic support for both models, limiting how many children can be served. It also allows policymakers to underfund these services…
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“Why Do You Give?” is an invitation to turn concern into action for abused and neglected children. For 30 years, KARA and our volunteers have been researching, reporting, and speaking out about the most critical child protection issues of the day, giving voice to children who cannot speak for themselves.
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U.S. child welfare “bonfire of deregulation” and family‑preservation‑first strategies are unfolding in a landscape where children already have very few enforceable federal rights to safety, and where independent research shows large numbers of children dying at the hands of their caregivers. Safe Passage findings: children dying in “known” danger The Safe Passage for Children of…
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National and federal data show that child neglect is the primary allegation in a clear majority of CPS cases, so removing neglect from CPS as an entry criterion would likely eliminate investigation for roughly 60–75% of the children who are currently investigated or substantiated, with some variation by state. About 7.8 million children / year are reported abused and neglected to CPS. Because child abuse is invisible, it is likely that at least that many children remain unseen and unreported. The Trump child welfare executive order leans heavily into language about “unnecessary removals” and “overreach”
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There is an underappreciated reality that Child Protective Services is the only safe haven for children living with rape, violence and neglect as they are too young to defend themselves.
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While Trump’s child welfare orders do not delete “neglect” from law, they lean heavily into language about “unnecessary removals” and “overreach” that can be weaponized by parental rights, MAGA, and some religious groups to argue that neglect rarely justifies CPS involvement.
How the order’s framing minimizes neglect
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Richard Wexler’s Child Neglect in America article uses a Swedish child neglect study to make sweeping claims about “American child neglect and poverty,” even though childhood conditions in the two countries are radically different. In the Nordic welfare states, far fewer children live in deep poverty and families receive broad supports like child benefits, paid leave, subsidized childcare, and universal health care, while U.S. child poverty is roughly twice as high and basic needs often go unmet without thin, means‑tested programs
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I have sat in emergency rooms at 2 a.m. holding the hand of a child who flinched at every sudden sound, because of the things done to her at home. I have watched little ones arrive at foster homes with all their belongings in a trash bag, eyes wide and silent, trying to be “good” so no one will send them away again. I have seen teenagers scream, swear, and hit people, when what they really were was traumatized, terrified, and broken.
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Below are KARA’s researched useful videos and podcasts on
child abuse and neglect mental health
ACEs, trauma, healing, and skill‑building cluster into a few groups: big‑picture science, practical trauma‑informed care, and survivor‑oriented healing content.
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Mental Health RESOURCE BOX listing in your favorites for PTSD Coach, PTSD Family Coach, and 988/Crisis Text Line as always‑available supports for abused and neglected children, youth, and adults.
Crisis lines (U.S.)
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Enhancing Child Protection Awareness on Wikipedia: A Research-Based Approach to Expanding and Improving Information on Child Abuse, Policy and Protective Services Cavendish University Uganda
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Children and youth in foster care often have needs that are not available to be filled by the County or their caregivers. Christmas and the holiday season can be hard on families with limited resources. If you know of a foster child or foster family who would benefit from the resources on this page, send this link to them and share this page widely.
Do you have examples of resources not shown here? Send them to info@invisiblechildren.org with FOSTER RESOURCES in the subject line
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This post addresses the healthcare burden children with high ACEs scores have on our communities and nation. What’s not obvious to many is that at risk children become at risk youth and at risk adults. 9-year 80% prison recidivism has been with us for over 20 years. This single statistic shines a light on the cascading and forever financial and social costs to our communities from one other American institution that is easily understood. The health care financial and social costs are more complex and harder to understand. The Cape Breton University study below brings clarity to this complex issue.
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Texas child neglect fatalities 2024: The Most Common Cause of Child Death in Texas Isn’t defined as Abuse. The Center for disease control defines child abuse with clarity as any act of physical, sexual, or emotional harm including neglect, done towards a minor under the age of 18 by an adult that holds a custodial or parental role (About Child Abuse and Neglect | Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, 2024).
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Check out KARA’s most current child abuse and child protection podcast series and hear their stories. Short Powerful Social Worker Interview(7minutes) Rising Numbers of Suicide and Self-Harm Among Children ((5 minutes) What it’s Like Being a CASA Volunteer Guardian ad Litem (2 minutes) Unpacking ACEs ((7 minutes) Listen to these child abuse and trauma expert…
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There is no shortage of well-meaning volunteers and workers dedicated to improving the lives of the children they are serving as teachers, Guardians ad Litem, social & healthcare workers, law enforcement and adoptive/foster parents.
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Responding to the Presidential Order addressing Neglect: Keeping neglect as a primary gateway into CPS is essential because what looks like “just poverty” on the surface is often a pattern of chronic educational, emotional, and safety failures that permanently damages children and fuels intergenerational harm.
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Over 48 years, CASA/GAL (Guardian ad Litem) programs have grown into a national network of more than 900 organizations with 80,000–100,000 guardian ad litem volunteers serving close to a quarter‑million abused and neglected children each year, according to National CASA/GAL program surveys and the association’s own history. In every state but North Dakota, these volunteers are often the only adults in the courtroom whose sole job is to stand for a child’s best interests—and they do it with intentionally tiny caseloads so each child gets more time, more attention, and more consistency than overloaded systems can usually provide
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President Trump’s new framing—that most child neglect cases “don’t belong” in CPS because they are “only poverty”—ignores a very large body of evidence that (1) poverty and neglect are tightly intertwined but not identical, and (2) chronic school un‑readiness, absenteeism, and school failure are core manifestations of serious harm that drive lifelong poverty, crime, and substance abuse.
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The Netherlands’ Child Labor Due Diligence Act puts a legal duty on companies to make sure their supply chains are free from child labor. It aims to stop goods and services produced with child labor from entering the Dutch market, but raises questions about children’s civil rights, enforcement, competition, and how far corporate responsibility really goes. A deeper dive for those who want more detail is linked here.
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KARA is expanding our resource page to answer questions and provide access to more resources. This will be an interactive, AI-driven public platform that providing timely and accurate information on child protection, child abuse, childhood trauma, and all things related to child welfare. It will highlight key details for public and civic awareness.
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The following articles illustrates how government policy and law has yet again failed to ensure the safety and well-being of children. Children continue to face sexual abuse, gendered based violence and health crises, among other disastrous circumstances. Advocacy by civil society and humanitarian aid is essential in order to support one of the more vulnerable populations of society.
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This is the season of organizations asking for your money and the challenges of directing your dollars wisely and well. Here are ways to be more involved, impactful, and satisfied with your charitable gift giving:
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1. Directly improve children’s well‑being Local groups provide basics like food, safe spaces, early learning, and mental‑health supports that many children would not otherwise receive. These charity services are tailored to community realities (schools, housing, transportation), so help reaches the right kids faster and with less bureaucracy. 2. Keep families stronger and safer Community organizations…
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America’s child protection crisis demands more than empty rhetoric and recycled policies. Here’s what needs to change—and how we get there.
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This post gets at the meaning of President Trump’s Presidential Order bringing change to America’s Child Protection System. If you support the work KARA is doing to improve the lives of abused and neglected children and at-risk families, read to the bottom and send this link to your State Representative (find them in the link below).
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This article from 2013 is still true today with no signs of changing. It needs to be shared with your states lawmakers: The United States is the only nation that has not signed the United Nation’s International Rights Of the Child Treaty of the 1980’s. A primary reason we refuse to sign the treaty is…
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TRAUMA INFORMED TEACHING, TRAUMA INFORMED CLASSROOMS Teachers as Mandated Reporters and Frontline Defenders – Teachers are uniquely positioned—they often spend more awake hours with children than any other adult, especially for those from troubled homes. They are confidants, first responders, and witnesses to the silent suffering of abused, neglected, or traumatized students.
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Child Protection in the News (find your state here) KARA reports on child abuse and child protection around the nation counting on readers sharing it with friends and policy makers in your community. Inform your legislators and changemakers and let’s work together to make life better for at-risk children and families.
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Child and youth interactions with police and courts differ dramatically between the United States and most advanced European nations, with major impacts on measurable outcomes for young people and their communities.
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Hear this retired social worker give hard answers to tough questions about helping abused children navigate the courts, Child Protective Services, foster care, and issues that of trauma and mental health (podcast)
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There is little transparency in Child Protective Services. If there were, more people (and legislators) would know and we might have the laws, programs, and support these children need. Today, access to information that should be public often requires a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA).
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Foster parent heroism is not measured merely in good intentions, but in the daily grind of listening, learning, and loving—of building families that heal not just children, but the fractured systems surrounding them. A society willing to back, support, and empower its foster parents—financially, politically, and culturally—creates hope for millions and becomes more just, compassionate, and resilient.
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This former CASA Guardian ad Litem is happy to see the saving and rebuilding of the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program in Minnesota. Thank you to Kathleen Blatz and the MN State GAL board for your hard work and dedication to this important program.
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Help KARA Grow Awareness of Foster Advocates and Imprint News efforts to inform Minnesota Fosters Of Resources Available To Them (share this widely
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Dutch authorities establish a positive duty of care on corporations to ensure their supply chains and contractual relations for the supply and manufacture of goods and services are free from child labour. Critics however worry about the possible distorting effects on competition of Dutch companies and the Dutch economy due to increased administrative burdens. A Dutch company illustrates how even with compliance of the new due diligence law, supply chains may never be free from child labour.
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Fixing CPS with greater transparency in Child Protective Services. This conversation is about the many things impacting the safety and wellbeing of abused and neglected children. The lack of transparency being discussed in West Virginia CPS applies to every state: A Meaningful Conversation (35 Minute Podcast). Discussed in this podcast: Kinship care partners, mentors, volunteers, stability,…
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Children who face poverty, neglect, or violence often lack a voice in systems meant to protect them. Advocacy — speaking up and acting on their behalf — is one of the most powerful ways individuals and communities can help these children find safety, stability, and opportunity. Whether through mentoring one child or pushing for nationwide policy reform, everyone can play a part.
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If we are to save the growing numbers of children facing serious problems we need many more skilled counselors and mental health workers in our schools. In this time of unregulated digital chaos, social, and political upheaval, children and youth are experiencing high levels of (short Spotify Podcast) ACEs, depression, school and personal failure, and suicidal thinking. We can’t fix this, but we can address what it is doing to children.
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he significant decline in critical student test scores since 2020 signals that millions of children across the country are falling behind on foundational skills, threatening both individual opportunity and the long-term vitality of entire communities
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The head of the Federal Administration for Children and Families (Adam Alex), is attacking LGBTQ+ Foster Families over youth gender identity. Life is hard enough for foster families and the struggling LGBTQ+ children trying to rebuild lives filled with abuse and neglect in their birth homes and a growing sense of unwelcome in our communities. Federal policies demonizing queer children gins up hatred and legitimizes fear and violence against almost ten percent of Americans.
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