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

New York Bans Anonymous Child Welfare Reports

by Eli Hager

June 20, 2025, 2:00 pm EDT

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

by Eli Hager

November 16, 2023, 8:00 am EST

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

by Eli Hager

December 30, 2022, 12:12 pm EST

11 stories published since 2022

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

by Eli Hager

July 5, 2023, 3:00 pm EDT
Native American Families Are Being Broken Up in Spite of a Law Meant to Keep Children With Their Parents

by Jessica Lussenhop and Agnel Philip, photography by Jaida Grey Eagle for ProPublica

June 15, 2023, 6:00 am EDT
In Child Welfare Cases, Most of Your Constitutional Rights Don’t Apply

by Eli Hager

December 29, 2022, 6:00 am EST
The “Death Penalty” of Child Welfare: In Six Months or Less, Some Parents Lose Their Kids Forever

by Agnel Philip and Eli Hager, ProPublica, and Suzy Khimm, NBC News, photography by Stephanie Mei-Ling, special to ProPublica and NBC News

December 20, 2022, 8:30 am EST
For Black Families in Phoenix, Child Welfare Investigations Are a Constant Threat

by Eli Hager and Agnel Philip, ProPublica, and Hannah Rappleye, NBC News, photography by Stephanie Mei-Ling, special to ProPublica and

December 8, 2022, 8:00 am EST
How We Analyzed Child Welfare Investigations

by Agnel Philip and Eli Hager, ProPublica, and Suzy Khimm, NBC News

December 8, 2022, 7:59 am EST
Police Need Warrants to Search Homes. Child Welfare Agents Almost Never Get One.

by Eli Hager, photography by Stephanie Mei-Ling, special to ProPublica and NBC News

October 13, 2022, 8:00 am EDT
Mandatory Reporting Was Supposed to Stop Severe Child Abuse. It Punishes Poor Families Instead.

by Mike Hixenbaugh and Suzy Khimm, NBC News, and Agnel Philip, ProPublica, photography by Stephanie Mei-Ling, special to ProPublica and NBC News

October 12, 2022, 8:00 am EDT