What’s It Like Being A Foster Child In Child Protection? (podcast/video)

Think about being a foster child taken from the only home you have ever known because of the terrible things done to you by your parents. Waking up in a strange house or group home where you don’t know anyone. A different school, no friends or familiar faces, things, or routines to soften your day.…

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What Makes a Good Guardian ad Litem Program Leader (part 3)

Transforming the Guardian ad Litem Program Leadership for Lasting Change: With the guidance of leaders who refuse to cut corners and who hold public policy accountable  Guardian ad Litem programs can move from mere compliance toward authentic justice and opportunity for every child who enters their care.

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What Makes a Good Guardian ad Litem Program Leader? (part 2)

The director of a Guardian ad Litem program must operate with a keen understanding that human lives, not mechanical products, are being shaped by their agency’s decisions. Directors know that their staff and volunteer advocates impact the safety, healing, and future success of children navigating trauma, mental health and behavior challenges, and disruption.

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What Makes a Good Guardian ad Litem Program Leader? (part 1)

Strong leadership in the Guardian ad Litem Program is very different from typical American industries. In manufacturing, managers drive output and profitability—metrics our culture worships.

In child protection, the stakes are human and long-term: it’s about children’s safety, trauma recovery, and the lifelong wellbeing

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If You Live In MN You Should Do This

The Safe Passage Report on Child Maltreatment Deaths is a remarkable report – not in a good way. It demonstrates how common it is for Minnesota children to die from abuse in the home even after they have become known to CPS. This report is still only the the tip of the horrors facing abused children as;

DHS did not cooperate with the investigator,
Four counties did not respond,
Child deaths reported were only those that had court filings or had been reported in the media

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All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children (Don Shelby)

Policies that keep children in homes with life‑threatening harm on the grounds of unproven or unscientific beliefs—account for avoidable homicidal deaths of hundreds of MN children and many more tortured and near-death experiences annually. When Child Protection becomes more transparent when studies like the one linked above become common, this reality will be recognized in all…

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International Rights of the Child Treaty (& why jails are full)

Over 25 years ago the rest of the world (194 nations) decided that children have basic human rights and begin signing the International Rights of the Child Treaty. Under this document, children are to have the rights to education, safety and well being including not to be made soldiers, not to be enslaved).

America is the only nation that has not signed that agreement, largely because we still demand that southern states continue to militarize youth as young as eleven, through military schools.

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Terminating the CASA Volunteer GAL Program Will Cost Children’s Lives and Taxpayers Money

On Tuesday, 4.22.25 National CASA/GAL received notice that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has terminated (CASA National) federal grant awards – among 360 notices of termination the DOJ issued this week. All 12 million dollars.

In this fast moving effort to “cut waste” and “save money”

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How Media Shapes Child Welfare Perception (#1 in KARA’s Child Welfare Series)

how media coverage of child welfare too often focuses only on tragedy — fueling blame, misunderstanding, and reduced public support for the very systems meant to protect vulnerable children.

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