Foster Care

37 Stories

The roots of mental health start younger than you think

When you throw a rock in a pond, it creates ripples. It spreads - disrupting the water further and further away from the point of entry. The experience of trauma or adversity -- especially in early childhood -- can also have a lasting ripple effect on a person’s life.
Libby Denkmann

Liz Jones

Sarah Leibovitz
Washington state's new solution for foster parents and child care

Every year, Washington state struggles to find placements for hundreds of the about 8,000 children in foster care. One problem is that a lot of licensed foster parents in Washington state can’t take in kids under 5 at all.
Eilís O'Neill
KUOW's Swimming Upstream

KUOW's three-part series "Swimming Upstream" details the mental health-focused journey of one Seattle-area family through crisis.
Liz Jones
A family’s newfound resolve is tested — again: Swimming Upstream

After a major setback, a family’s will to keep up life-saving routines is put to the test.
Liz Jones
Breaking a cycle of generational trauma: Swimming Upstream

A couple lost custody of their daughter after sinking deep into drug addiction. But an unanticipated event prompted them to turn things around.
Liz Jones
A family’s mental health journey out of crisis: Swimming Upstream

A family was ripped apart by drug addiction. Now, they're picking up the pieces one day — and several mental health-focused strategies — at a time.
Liz Jones
National

Decades after foster care, she learned she was owed benefits. Where did the money go?

After reading an investigation by NPR and the Marshall Project, former foster youth are asking what happened to their benefits — and the government isn't helping.
Alexandra Arriaga
Case of missing Washington 5-year-old highlights secrecy around CPS cases

There are more questions than answers in the case of a missing former foster child from Grays Harbor County. Five-year-old Oakley Carlson has been unaccounted for since February of last year. Police say her parents aren’t cooperating with the investigation. Oakley’s former foster mom questions why Oakley was sent back to live with her parents after more than two years in foster care. The governor's office and the Department of Children Youth and Families won't answer questions about the case citing privacy laws and the ongoing law enforcement investigation.
Austin Jenkins
'I was raised to be an animal, and that's what happened.' Arthur Longworth's long, troubling path toward redemption

‘There's an enormous amount of realization these days, an appreciation for the unbelievable rates of incarceration among young people, either while they're in foster care or immediately afterwards.’
Kim Malcolm

John O'Brien
“Don’t take my silence as weakness.” A teen shares her experience in the foster care system

There are currently more than 400,000 children and teens in foster care in the United States. Kemijah Slaughter was one of those children. As a senior in high school, Kemijah is empowered to tell her story on her own terms.
Kemijah Slaughter

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