Updated Oct. 17, 2026: This story has been updated with the latest developments and sources.
The child welfare system says it removes children to keep them safe. Federal data released in 2026, a run of court rulings and a handful of new state laws show what is actually driving family separation. Mostly it is poverty, emergency removals made without a judge, and caseworkers who rarely answer for their misconduct.
The numbers come first. In federal fiscal year 2025, 175,008 children entered foster care, and 331,747 were in care on September 30, 2025. These are preliminary AFCARS figures the Children’s Bureau published in February 2026. Here are the failures behind them.
Neglect, not abuse, still drives most removals
Each child entering care is coded with the reasons for removal. In fiscal 2025, neglect was cited for 55% of entries (95,790 children). Physical abuse was cited for 13% and sexual abuse for 4%. Inadequate housing was a factor for 17,046 children and homelessness for 7,552.
The federal Child Maltreatment 2024 report, released in January 2026, shows the same pattern among confirmed cases. Of 532,228 children found to be victims, 63.3% experienced neglect only. In most states, “neglect” covers a family without stable housing, food or child care. FAN’s research explains how poverty gets recorded as neglect.
Some lawmakers are starting to write that distinction into law. Arizona’s HB 2041, signed in 2026 as Chapter 192, says a parent cannot be found to have abused or neglected a child for failing to provide food, clothing, shelter or medical care “solely due to a lack of financial resources.”
Georgia shows what happens without that protection. The state took children from poor families and then billed the parents for their foster care. A ProPublica and WABE investigation cited in a federal lawsuit found more than 700 cases from 2018 to 2022 in which children were removed solely because of inadequate housing and the parents were then charged fees. In September 2026, U.S. District Judge Tiffany Johnson ordered Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to stop charging parents erroneous fees for children no longer in care, and to stop enforcement such as license and passport revocation. The lead plaintiff was billed $472 a month, and her debt grew past $13,000. FAN covered the Georgia foster care fees injunction when it came down.
Children taken first, judges asked later
The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1972, in Stanley v. Illinois, that parents are entitled to a hearing before the state takes their children. In practice, most removals skip that step. A December 2025 investigation by The Imprint found that emergency removals made up 70% to 95% of foster care entries in parts of the country:
- Texas told The Imprint that all of its removals are emergency, ex parte removals.
- In Washington, about 96% of removals happened before parents could speak to a judge.
- In Illinois, 86% of entries since 2023 were emergency removals.
- In Fulton County, Georgia, every removal between September 17, 2024 and March 9, 2025 was filed as an ex parte emergency. In 72% of those cases, CPS itself indicated the children were not in immediate danger.
In New York City, parents and children filed a federal class action, Archer v. City of New York, on May 28, 2026. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) used emergency removals in more than half of its removals and took almost 1,500 children without prior court approval in a year. At the first hearing, judges found no justification for keeping children in custody in more than 25% of cases. About 90% of the families affected were Black or Latino. FAN reported on the NYC ACS emergency removal lawsuit the week it was filed.
The courts are starting to push back:
- In May 2026 the Second Circuit revived a father’s suit against ACS. The father, identified as K.W., says the agency took his newborn without a court order and left out of its petition that he had been caring for the baby. He did not regain custody for two years and eight months, amNY reported.
- On September 16, 2026, the Third Circuit allowed a New Jersey family’s claim against a caseworker over a warrantless home entry to go forward. See FAN’s story on the Third Circuit’s warrantless entry ruling.
- Georgia’s Supreme Court heard argument in September 2026 in the case of a Fulton County mother whose children were taken after DFCS admitted there was no emergency. Justices sounded skeptical of the state. A decision is pending.
Caseworkers who lie rarely pay for it
When a caseworker falsifies a record, a family can lose a child over a visit that never happened. The consequences for the worker are usually light.
In Indiana, former Ripley County caseworker Todd Click entered at least 10 false reports of home visits and family contacts and forged at least seven parent and caregiver signatures. That put five families and 11 children at risk, according to the Indiana Inspector General. Click pleaded guilty to forgery. On October 6, 2026, he was sentenced to 910 days, with 900 suspended to probation, and he can later petition to have the conviction reduced to a misdemeanor. FAN’s story on the Indiana caseworker who forged parents’ signatures has the details.
Click’s case fits a national pattern. FAN’s research on falsified CPS records documents similar cases in Georgia, Colorado, Texas and Washington.
Kin are still treated as an afterthought
Relatives are the safest landing place for a child who truly cannot stay home. Federal data show they carry a large share of the load. On September 30, 2025, 39% of children in care lived with relatives or kin. Yet 56,665 of those children were in unlicensed kin homes. Unlicensed homes are generally shut out of the federal foster care payments that licensed strangers receive.
Federal officials have known how to fix this for three years. A 2023 federal rule lets states license relatives under separate, simpler standards so they can be supported on equal footing. In May 2026, the Children’s Bureau said in IM-26-02 that only “more than 20” title IV-E agencies had been approved to use them. It urged agencies to make kin licensing decisions within seven days of placement.
States are moving slowly. Arizona now requires a search for relatives within 30 days of temporary custody and presumes relative placement is in the child’s best interest. Colorado (HB26-1314), Connecticut (HB5004) and Utah (SB 141) passed related changes in 2026, according to a Zero to Three legislative roundup. Laws mean little if judges ignore them. In Mississippi, FAN reported that a Jones County youth court judge denied a kinship placement despite the state’s own recommendation.
The federal government added an executive order in November 2025. Executive Order 14359, “Fostering the Future,” calls for a state scorecard that includes reducing “unnecessary entries into foster care.” The order creates no family preservation program and does not mention poverty.
Nearly every failure above starts with the same choice: removing children when the family needed help. If CPS is involved with your family, or you have records showing a caseworker or judge broke the rules, reach out to FAN for case help or send a confidential tip.
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