Where to Find the Best Child Abuse Data and Help for At Risk Kids
Stop hunting in the dark. Explore the best national child abuse data sources plus frontline resources for CASAs, foster parents, educators, and policymakers.
From Reporting to Preventing: Community Action for Child Abuse Prevention in Minnesota
This list of Minnesota resources—and the note below—is taken directly from CASA Minnesota in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to reflect on what it really means to build safe, supportive communities where every child can thrive.
What Social Workers Can Do: Reclaiming Hope and Safety for At‑Risk Children
Child welfare social workers stand where children’s trauma meets family hardship and broken systems. This trauma‑informed guide shows how social workers can find invisible kids, demand real accountability, build strong teams, use mandated reporting with courage, support caregivers, protect themselves from burnout, and turn casework into lasting system reform.
Why Minnesota’s Youngest Students Are Turning Violent: Childhood Trauma in K–3 Classrooms
“157 staff injuries and 142 cleared classrooms in a single year raise a hard question: Why are Minnesota’s youngest students turning violent? This piece traces those outbursts back to unhealed childhood trauma—and outlines what K–3 schools, families, and policymakers must do differently if we want safer classrooms instead of more suspensions.”
National Volunteer Week: Why CASA/GAL Volunteers Matter for At‑Risk Kids in Minnesota
During National Volunteer Week, we’re shining a light on CASA and Guardian ad Litem volunteers in Minnesota—the trained community members who stand beside abused and neglected children in court, give them a consistent adult voice, and help judges make better decisions about safety, healing, and permanency.
The Youngest Children Face the Highest Risk — And Many Deaths Aren’t Counted
Babies and toddlers face the highest abuse risk, yet up to 60% of maltreatment deaths never appear on death certificates. Here’s what the data really shows.
CASA Volunteers & Child Abuse Prevention Month: Building Protective Factors for Children
April’s National Child Abuse Prevention Month reminds us that protecting children means more than responding after harm—it means building strong families, supportive communities, and systems that recognize warning signs early, with CASA volunteers turning those prevention ideals into reality for children in court by offering consistent advocacy for safety, healing, and stable homes.
From Classrooms to Homeless Shelters: How Our Choices Hurt Children
Compared to other advanced nations America treats children and the people who care for them as an afterthought and then acts surprised when our schools and child‑welfare systems are overwhelmed with troubled children suffering from health and mental health issues.
What You Can Do Series – What Social Workers Can Do
Social workers are the connective tissue of child protection, operating where trauma, helplessness, and institutional failure most acutely converge. Equal parts advocate, therapist, investigator, and bridge-builder, their roles are both the first line of defense and an agent of systemic change.
Child Abuse in America: Statistics Every Parent and Policymaker Should See
Data show 37% of U.S. children—and 54% of Black children—are reported to CPS. See the key child abuse statistics everyone should know.
America’s Child Protection Crisis: Last Week’s Most Alarming CPS Cases and Reforms
Each week, children are escaping brutal homes, being harmed in foster care, and caught in CPS systems that too often miss clear danger or punish families without proof. From multimillion‑dollar settlements and court battles in Texas, Washington, New York, and Illinois to new laws and policies that could reshape how abuse and neglect are investigated, this roundup highlights the most urgent child protection stories advocates, professionals, and concerned community members need to see right now.
Child Abuse, Foster Care, and Youth Self-Harm and Suicide
Research across foster care, ACEs, and maltreatment shows that abused and systems‑involved children face dramatically higher risks of self‑harm and suicide. This post walks through key studies and calls for concrete changes in child welfare policy and practice to prevent avoidable deaths.
The Physics of Child Protection in America
Child protection in America behaves like a complex system engineered for surveillance, not support. Poverty, racism, and weak safety nets keep generating the same tragedies. What would happen if we rebuilt it around children’s rights, prevention, and healing?
What You Can Do Series – School Counselors Can Do
School counselors are the vital bridge between struggling children and the support systems they desperately need. Positioned at the intersection of school, family, and community, they are often the first line of defense—sometimes the only one—against the silent epidemic of child trauma and abuse
Child Abuse Sad Stories & Statistics (1ST 45 days in 2026))
Child abuse doesn’t stop for holidays or election years. In just the first 45 days of 2026, sad stories and new statistics are already piling up. This post tracks those cases and numbers to show how many invisible children still need our protection.
Education 2026 – Educating At Risk Children (what tomorrow looks like)
Teaching in America in 2026 means managing trauma, violence, long COVID, and historic shortages—all while trying to educate growing numbers of abused and at‑risk children. Drawing on recent data from Education Week, NCES, and school counselors nationwide, this draft chapter from Childhood Trauma – America’s Legacy explores what’s really happening inside classrooms, why teacher burnout and vacancies are soaring, and what it will take to make schools safer and more humane for kids and the adults who serve them.
Texas Child Abuse Reporting
Children in Texas are dying in homes, foster care, hotels, and treatment centers that CPS already knew were dangerous. This post highlights recent child deaths, official DFPS fatality data, and the federal lawsuit that says Texas still cannot keep kids safe
Florida Child Abuse Reporting
Why Florida Child Abuse Reporting Matters: Florida’s child abuse and neglect is just one part of KARA’s reporting mission and our nation’s child‑death problem. Florida reviews hundreds of abuse‑related child deaths each year. This is an investigative report recently completed in Minnesota that needs to happen in all states.
CASA Volunteers Are Coming Back: Why Minnesota Children Need Them
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
Sweden vs United States: What Child Abuse Data Really Shows
Sweden cut child abuse and child death rates dramatically. The US has not. See what the data actually shows—and how you can push for Sweden level protection here.
New Jersey Recent Child Abuse Death, Egregious Harm & Child Protection Issues
New Jersey’s recent child abuse tragedies—from Ne’Miya Duncan’s death days after a welfare visit to two brothers killed in Hillsborough—show deep failures in DCPP’s ability to protect children. This post highlights specific deaths, lawsuits, and state fatality data that reveal a child protection system still in crisis.
LGBTQ Foster Care, Suicide, & Ground Truths (podcast #3 in KARA’s foster care series)
the 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
California Recent Child Abuse Death, Egregious Harm & Child Protection Issues
Recent California cases show children dying in foster homes, day care, and families long known to CPS, exposing egregious child protection failures. This post highlights specific deaths, audits, and multimillion dollar settlements that prove these are systemic problems, not isolated tragedies.
Thank You for Being Part of the KARA Community
Thank you for reading and sharing the KARA blog. Your attention to child welfare issues helps bring visibility to children who are too often unseen and unheard. Every post you read, share, or discuss strengthens this movement for safer, healthier lives for abused and neglected kids. We’re grateful to have you in the KARA community.
Child Death and Public Non Disclosure (podcast)
Listen to KARA’s child welfare podcast on child death and public non-disclosure. Learn how secrecy laws and closed child protection records hide patterns of failure when children die—and what real transparency and accountability should look like.
INVISIBLE CHILDREN (their stories) audiobook – listen free here
Listen to the powerful Invisible Children audio book and hear firsthand how our institutions fail abused and neglected children and learn what we can do to change the system. Hear the heartbreaking stories from CASA and guardian ad litem volunteers about children moved through multiple foster homes, children jailed instead of treated for trauma, and…
Free and Discounted Resources for Foster Youth
free and discounted resources for foster and adopted children and families
The Cost of Children Waiting for Their Voice In Court (Guardian ad Litem)
Hundreds of children in Minnesota’s child protection system are waiting for a guardian ad litem – the only independent voice they have in court. Every extra month in foster care deepens trauma and drives up costs. This article explains how many children have no GAL, what it costs in dollars and human suffering, and why restoring and expanding CASA/GAL programs is both a moral and fiscal imperative.
Child Safety and MAAFPA Tensions
MAAFPA’s stated goals emphasize preventing unnecessary removals and preserving African American and other disproportionately represented families, while the Safe Passage data show rising deaths—largely from neglect, substance use, and domestic violence—often in cases where CPS already knew the family.
He Carries His Passport Everywhere Now (from a Minneapolis Teacher)
A Minneapolis teacher describes a 17 year old who carries his U.S. passport everywhere after ICE raids—showing how immigration enforcement terrorizes children, families, and classrooms.
Child Death and Public Non Disclosure (podcast)
Listen to KARA’s child welfare podcast on child death and public non-disclosure. Learn how secrecy laws and closed child protection records hide patterns of failure when children die—and what real transparency and accountability should look like.
Minnesota Family Preservation Law and Child Safety: When “Keep Families Together” Puts Children at Risk
Minnesota’s African American Family Preservation Act aims to reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare. But underfunded “family preservation first” policies can leave abused children in dangerous homes or unsafe kinship foster care, with deadly consequences documented in Safe Passage fatality reports.
Redefining Normalcy In Child Protection (from orphan trains to protection to ?)
Legally, there were no protections for children in the home or orphanage at the time (nor do they have legal status today). What became of orphan train children varied from finding loving homes to sex abuse and slave labor. Over an estimated 150,000–250,000 children rode these trains making this the largest child migration in U.S. history.
Direct & Collateral Damage of ICE Raids on Schools and Daycare
Imagine being a child watching armed officers dragging children and teachers from your school and the chaos of citizen protesters risking violence to stop it. These attacks are destroying the fabric of your community and will make your next days, weeks, and months of classroom learning full of fear that it will happen again.
Targeting children in or around schools to enforce immigration laws is a profoundly traumatizing attack on children and ethical failure of a society’s duty protect minors.
The Multiple Meanings of Child Neglect in Law (& what it means to families)
Parents unable to buy food for their child because of poverty are different from caregivers leaving their babies without food or care by absence, or because they are incapacitated by substance abuse or are the kind of parents who spend all their food money on drugs.
This parental distinction is also true for caregivers unable to bring their babies and toddlers in for medical appointments or court appearances. The difference between parents that would if they could and those that simply are too dysfunctional because of severe mental health or substance abuse issues are stark.
Holding the Line For Children In Need of Protection
What is it like to do social work, child protection, or nonprofit work with at‑risk children and families in this climate? How do you avoid being worn down by the steady drip of misinformation, negative media, and viral “anti‑CPS” narratives that are hitting workers and agencies hard?
Deep Dive Into “Child Neglect” & CPS Deregulation
Current federal and state conversations about CPS are moving in two, conflicting, directions: a push by advocates to sharply limit “family policing,” reduce mandatory reporting, and narrow or remove “neglect” in law, and an opposing concern from child protection and public health experts that weakening these protections without robust alternative supports will increase lifechanging child abuse and trauma for millions of America’s most vulnerable children.
Dissecting President Trump’s Child Protection Executive Order (share this widely)
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.
Child Neglect & Substance Abuse Study
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.
Child Well-Being in the U.S. vs Other Rich Countries: Poverty, Mortality, and Violence
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.
Happy New Year – 2026 Projections & Plans + Meet KARA People (short videos)
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,
MN Children, Institutions, and Politics
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.
Millions of Abused Children, 2 Powerful Programs, 1000’s of Volunteers—and Little Public Awareness”
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…
WHY DO YOU GIVE?
“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.
When Family Preservation and Deregulation Kill Children: Safe Passage Fatality Data
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…
What Happens if “Child Neglect” In Child Protective Services Is Removed or Diminished
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”
Responding to Richard Wexler’s Child Neglect Imprint News Article
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
Christmas Wish From a Child Protection Worker
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.
Enhancing Child Protection Awareness on Wikipedia: Cavendish University Uganda
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
What Child Neglect Does (and how long it lasts)
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.