Sevier County, Utah CPS Under Fire After Children Removed Following Accidental House Fire
SEVIER COUNTY, UTAH — A child welfare case involving Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services is raising serious questions about poverty penalization, due process, visitation restrictions, delayed case planning, and whether the system spent more separating a family than it would have spent stabilizing them after an accidental fire.
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Killed at Six, Buried in the Backyard, Unnoticed for Four Years: The Failure That Let Kennedy Schroer Disappear
Six-year-old Kennedy Schroer, born Natalie Garcia, was tortured and killed by her adoptive mother in 2020 and buried in the backyard. No one knew for nearly four years. Inside the collapse of post-adoption oversight. (160 characters)
She Died in the State’s Care. Illinois Still Won’t Say What Happened to Mackenzi Felmlee.
Mackenzi Felmlee, 18, died in her Illinois foster home after four years in state care. One assigned caseworker had eight orders of protection against her — and DCFS hired her anyway.
Children Removed First. Due Process Later. NYC ACS Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Emergency Family Separations
A federal lawsuit alleges NYC ACS routinely removed children without prior court orders, bypassing due process and disproportionately impacting families of color.
The Research They Don’t Want You to Read
RESEARCH & DATAKids Taken ‘For Their Safety’ Face Higher Abuse Risk in Foster CareWhat the data actually shows about abuse inside the system.Read the research ›
POLICY & FUNDING$30 Billion a Year: Where Foster Care Money Actually GoesThe per-child cost breakdown and where taxpayer money ends up.Read the research ›
SYSTEMIC ISSUESMedical Kidnapping: When a Hospital Visit Ends With CPS Taking Your ChildThe pattern, the landmark cases, and how families protect themselves.Read the research ›
RESEARCH & DATA3 in 4 Foster Care Removals Are ‘Neglect,’ Not Abuse — and Poverty Is Driving ItFederal data shows how often being poor gets treated like being dangerous.Read the research ›
RESEARCH & DATAAre Kids in Foster Care Dying at Higher Rates? The Data No One Wants to ShowChild deaths in foster care vs. the general population, side by side.Read the research ›
SYSTEMIC CRISISWhen the System Loses Kids, Traffickers Find ThemAn estimated 60–70% of child trafficking victims came through child welfare.Read the research ›
ACCOUNTABILITYFalsified Records, Destroyed Evidence, Zero Accountability: CPS Workers ExposedCaseworkers in Colorado, Texas and Washington caught falsifying records.Read the research ›
SYSTEMIC CRISISDrug-Free Parents Are Failing State Drug Tests — and Losing Their KidsFrom Georgia’s lab scandals to a $1.3M DOJ settlement.Read the research ›
INSIDER ACCOUNTSFormer CPS Workers Speak Out: What They Saw Inside Will Shock YouInvestigators, caseworkers and whistleblowers on the incentives and bias inside.Read the research ›
FAMILY DESTRUCTIONHow CPS Turns Parents Against Each Other — and Who Gets HurtCoerced safety plans and divide-and-conquer tactics, explained.Read the research ›
JUSTICE DENIED‘Just Comply’: How Public Defenders Are Failing Parents in CPS CasesOverworked, underpaid, too often indifferent — and families pay the price.Read the research ›
JUDICIAL CRISISFamily Courts Are Factories — and Your Judge’s Temperament Decides Your FateHearings last minutes. Here’s what really decides whether kids come home.Read the research ›
NPR: Children With Disabilities Are Dying in Foster Care the State Promised Would Help
Christian Williams’ parents gave up custody to get him mental health care. He died in an Arizona DCS group home without insulin. NPR says he is not alone.
Evansville Mother Sues Foster Parents After Medically Fragile Son, 3, Dies in Care
Leon was 3, had a trach and a feeding tube, and needed round-the-clock care. Days after Indiana placed him in foster care, his mother says, that care failed.
Louisiana Foster Child, 6, Dies of Meth Intoxication; Foster Mother Charged
A 6-year-old in Louisiana foster care died of methamphetamine intoxication in August. The foster mother is now charged with negligent homicide, and the state has explaining to do.
$4 Billion, and Still Counting: Inside the Largest Child Sexual-Abuse Settlement in U.S. History
LA County approved a $4 billion settlement for thousands abused as children in its foster shelter and juvenile halls – the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
Marks “Consistent With Compression”: Washington Documented a Foster Child’s Abuse for Years — and Left Her There
Washington social workers documented a foster child’s neck marks, bare room and removed bed – then left her in the home for years, a 2026 lawsuit alleges.
Rescued From Torture, Abused Again.
Six Turpin children were rescued from their parents’ torture, then placed in a county foster home that abused them again. A $13.5M settlement, explained.
Mississippi Wants Out of Federal Foster Care Oversight. Its Courts Are Still the Problem
Mississippi is asking a federal judge to end the Olivia Y. case even after a monitor found it met just 22 of 107 safety measures. A 2025 state Supreme Court ruling shows the bigger problem: judges can override kinship even when CPS objects.
Cherokee County DFCS Sent a Severely Autistic Young Man 800 Miles Away — After the Court Found “No Reasonable Efforts” Were Made
Records reviewed by FAN raise serious concerns about Cherokee County DFCS after a severely autistic young man was removed from family, sent to a Texas facility, and allegedly denied protections required under Georgia and federal law.
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