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Overpolicing Parents

How America’s CPS Dragnet Ensnares Families

An investigation in partnership with NBC News uncovers the unequal treatment of poor families and parents of color by the child welfare system.

Impact of Our Reporting
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Overpolicing Parents

Child Welfare Officials Have Searched Her Home and Her Son Dozens of Times. She’s Suing Them to Stop.

Despite no evidence a mother mistreated her child, New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services continues to enter her home without a warrant. She has filed a lawsuit, citing ProPublica’s reporting, arguing her rights are being violated.

Overpolicing Parents

Arizona’s Governor-Elect Chooses Critic of Racial Disparities in Child Welfare to Lead CPS Agency

Matthew Stewart will become the first Black leader of the Department of Child Safety, which ProPublica and NBC News found had investigated the families of 1 in 3 Black children in metro Phoenix during a recent five-year period.

Texas, New York Diverge on Requiring Miranda-Style Warnings in Child Welfare Cases

Native American Families Are Being Broken Up in Spite of a Law Meant to Keep Children With Their Parents

In Child Welfare Cases, Most of Your Constitutional Rights Don’t Apply

The “Death Penalty” of Child Welfare: In Six Months or Less, Some Parents Lose Their Kids Forever

For Black Families in Phoenix, Child Welfare Investigations Are a Constant Threat

How We Analyzed Child Welfare Investigations

Police Need Warrants to Search Homes. Child Welfare Agents Almost Never Get One.

Mandatory Reporting Was Supposed to Stop Severe Child Abuse. It Punishes Poor Families Instead.