Kids at Risk Action, hosts Alex and Jordan explore the profound impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how childhood trauma can affect individuals throughout their lives, much like PTSD in veterans.
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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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Emma and Michael expose how childhood trauma is quietly devastating the lives of millions of children—some as young as toddlers—who are misdiagnosed, overmedicated, and left unsupported in overwhelmed systems.
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KARA Tracks & reports on the issues facing America’s at-risk children From time to time, we share important resources like CWLA reporting when we find the information compelling. This information is compelling
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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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This episode of the Kids at Risk Action podcast dives into the science and societal impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)—early life traumas like abuse, neglect, and household instability that dramatically shape physical and mental health outcomes. Through powerful commentary from child advocates
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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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KARA compiles articles, research, and reports on child abuse and child protection around the nation & internationally. This reporting covers child suicide and suicide statistics in the100+ articles listed below.
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KARA sporadically compiles articles, research, and reports on child abuse and child protection around the nation & internationally. Child rights, safety, protection are just a few of the topics you will find addressed in the approximately 100 articles below.
We are seeking a volunteer to make this a regular feature on our website. Contact Hello@invisiblechildren.org with volunteer research in the subject line if this might be you.
KARA is seeking university research on the topics of childhood trauma, children’s rights, parental rights, foster care, adoption, child protection, children’s mental health, juvenile justices and child advocacy. Contact Hello@invisiblechildren.org with volunteer university research in the subject line if this might be you.
Ways for KARA readers to raise their voice for at risk children. The options in the Read More below provide direct impact, community building, and how to create policy change for at risk children where you live.
Join KARA’s team of followers to interrupt child abuse and heal the children that need our help. Over the years, millions of KARA followers have shared information with their friends, social media, and policy makers and gone on to lend a helping hand for child friendly initiatives in their communities.
DetailsKARA is a volunteer organization and does not have staff to respond to requests for help.
Please use our current resource page Here
The KARA team is building an interactive, ai driven database platform for information and solutions. The demand for information and better solutions is high.
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KARA UPDATES are sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also SIGN UP HERE Send your comments, stories, & information important to KARA conversations about child abuse and child protection here: info@invisiblechildren.org with HELLO in the subject line. We are a volunteer organization and unable to answer all correspondence. We will notify you if your subject matter is included in KARA’s social media.
Become an advocate for abused and neglected children and send your favorite posts to your State Representative. Find them here. They make the policies that rule the lives of At-Risk children.
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In this podcast episode of Kids at Risk Action, Emma and Michael unpack the groundbreaking ACE Study—research that forever changed how we understand childhood trauma. They explore how early adversity doesn’t just impact emotions—it rewires the brain, alters the body, and shortens lives. With staggering statistics
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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
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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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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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”
DetailsIn this PODCAST episode of Kids at Risk Action, Emma and Michael expose the massive $14.1 trillion economic toll of untreated childhood trauma in America. They connect the dots between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and long-term impacts on health, education, and the justice system
Detailsdespite public rhetoric, America consistently underfunds, undervalues, and neglects the children it claims to protect. They expose how frontline workers like teachers, foster parents, and social workers are scapegoated while
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Both my parents were abused as children. Child abuse is epigenetic – like hair and eye color. My childhood went away when the abuse started. I lived in a constant state of fight or flight, freeze, or fawn and when there was no escape the only thing left was to FAIL. A child trapped in inescapable child abuse trauma fails all the time.
DetailsChild Fatality & Egregious Incident Reporting: A U.S. Overview America’s approach to exposing and understanding the gravest harms done to children—fatalities, near-deaths, torture, and catastrophic agency failures—reveals a nation deeply divided by geography, law, and political will. The result is a patchwork of minimal transparency. Some states shine a light on information that has been…
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free and discounted resources for foster and adopted children and families
Detailshow 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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how foster youth are systematically failed within America’s education system. They expose how constant school changes, untreated trauma, and misdiagnoses isolate these children, often pushing them into special education, overmedication, or even the juvenile justice system
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Today, Kids At Risk Action has two fully funded direct support programs for nonprofits to grow awareness and find support in their community. Share this with your nonprofit friends. In partnership with the nonprofit Seeds of Success, we’re offering two, high-impact programs designed to help your nonprofit organization increase donations, find volunteers, increase your capacity to raise critical awareness about child abuse in your community, and boost your chances at new grant opportunities:
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Medicaid and SNAP cuts will disproportionately harm poor people and communities of color across the United States, with devastating statistical impacts:
Medicaid Coverage Losses: Over 13 million Black and more than 19 million Hispanic individuals rely on Medicaid for health coverage, with nearly 30% of Black and Hispanic populations dependent on it,
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Nationally, cuts will deepen inequality, entrench generational poverty, and erode the foundation for future economic growth. This is not budget tightening—it is a deliberate dismantling of the infrastructure that keeps children safe and families stable. We will be a sicker, poorer, less educated, and less productive America, with the highest price paid by its most vulnerable children and the communities already struggling to survive.
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The combined cuts to child friendly programs will impact some states more than other. This article presents a snapshot of what different states will be experiencing. Send KARA information concerning what’s happening in your state (send to info@invisiblechildren.org with CUTS in the subject line).
California:
DetailsBetween DOGE cuts to child friendly programs and policies and the big beautiful bill, the cuts and service reductions described below will impact millions of children and families nationwide. In the foster care system alone, over 343,000 children are currently in care across the United States, with the largest numbers…
Detailsthe harsh realities faced by LGBTQ+ youth in the foster care system — a population far too often isolated, unsupported, and at devastating risk of homelessness, suicide, and trauma. They share staggering statistics, heartbreaking stories, and expose how
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Many reading this post may not be in the job you are doing this time next year. DOGE and other Federal policy changes have determined that the work being done for at-risk children and families is either wasteful or like DEI the wrong approach to public policy. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently stated that significantly less than 20% of funding cuts will be reversed
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ROI Early Learning programs returns include reduced crime for at-risk children. The evidence is robust across decades of research, program evaluations, and cost-benefit analyses.
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Compared to other government expenditures, early childhood programs are uniquely cost-effective. K–12 education spends ~$15,000/student annually with diminishing returns; prison systems cost $40,000/inmate yearly with high recidivism. Meanwhile, early childhood interventions like Head Start save $4.8B–$16.1B per
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Market-based scholarship programs like Minnesota’s Early Learning Scholarships (MELS) prove these returns are scalable. MELS provides vouchers to low-income parents, empowering them to choose high-quality programs. Result: an 18% inflation-adjusted public ROI—higher than the S&P 500’s historical average111210. The keys to replicating this success are: Targeting at-risk children: Returns exceed $17 per dollar in high-poverty neighborhoods7. Parent empowerment:…
Detailsthe harsh realities facing foster youth aging out of the system and the failures of Extended Foster Care (EFC) programs
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The extraordinary ROI of early childhood programs stems from neurobiological and economic synergy. During ages 0–5, the brain forms 1 million neural connections per second, creating foundational skills that dictate lifelong learning, health, and behavior56. Programs like Child-Parent Centers leverage this plasticity: at-risk children receiving enriched preschool and parent mentoring achieved $10.83 in societal benefits per dollar spent by age…
Detailshigh-quality early childhood interventions deliver the highest public return on investment (ROI) of any government expenditure
Detailsdive into the “ground truth” of the foster care system — exposing the often-unseen hardships children face even after being placed in protective care. Through heartbreaking stories like Alex’s and alarming statistics on abuse
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Childhood trauma, suicide and self-harm among American youth are at historic highs, with alarming increases among fosters, preteens, girls, LGBTQ+ youth, and children of color. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for ages 10–24, and nearly one in five high school students has seriously considered suicide in the past year. Rates of…
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the tragic case of six-year-old Eli Hart, who was murdered despite being known to Child Protective Services (CPS) and how a lack of transparency and accountability contributes to the ongoing crisis
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For the next biennium, legislators appropriated 40 million dollars to modernize Minnesota’s Social Services Information System. This will create more training, collection of child welfare data, clarity, transparency, and best practices throughout the “life of a case” and shine a light on how well or poorly programs and policies are working. This upgrade of our…
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the heartbreaking case of five-month-old Aaliya Goodwin, who died of positional asphyxia while under the care of her drug-abusing parents. Despite multiple reports of neglect, substance abuse, and unsafe conditions, Aaliya remained in the home due to systemic failures in Minnesota’s child protection system
DetailsSafe Passage For Children of Minnesota has helped bring the issue of transparency of child abuse death and near death into the light and Legislature in our State. In about three weeks, Minnesota will create a statewide child fatality and near fatality review panel to track cases of children dying and suffering egregious harm while…
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the alarming failures within the child welfare system, focusing on the story of Yanelin Montalvo-Valdez, a woman who grew up in foster care and faced immense trauma, only to be further failed by the system as an adult
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This is a dangerous time to be an abused child in America. Slash and burn politics and religious organizations are dismantling a large percentage of government and non governmental agencies keeping children safe. The COVID lockdown kept defenseless children in horrific circumstances without access to safety or healing for two years. Services before COVID and…
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47 years ago, the CASA volunteer Guardian ad Litem program came to Minnesota. At the time, some children were not able to have a CASA Guardian assigned because there were not enough volunteers to keep up with growing caseloads. This CASA remembers between 50 and 100 children throughout the year not having a CASA to…
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the staggering economic and societal costs of untreated childhood trauma, which exceed $12 trillion annually in the U.S.—more than half of the country’s GDP.
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What parents should do after a child’s suicide attempt? Answering caregivers’ frequently …
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tell our child abuse and child protection stories (over and over) and work to improve the programs, people, and institutions that impact at risk children.
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he tragic case of 8-year-old Tayvion Davis, who died after years of chronic abuse that included physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and severe maltreatment. Despite numerous reports to child protection services
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