A selection of The Imprint’s most impactful stories from the past year
This year reporter Michael Fitzgerald produced “High Stakes, Silent Systems,” an Imprint review of 50 state policies and interviews with dozens of current and former foster youth, child welfare experts, officials and legal advocates. The project revealed a troubling lack of critical guidance when it comes to issues like sex education, birth control and the choice to have an abortion.
The result is caseworkers and foster parents who say nothing or rely on personal and religious values, even if they conflict with public health guidance and minors’ legal rights.
“The situation looks ripe for a lawsuit since, in some states, young people in foster care appear not to have the same rights to reproductive health care as their peers who are not in foster care,” said Amy Dworsky, of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, after reviewing The Imprint’s findings.
Further reporting on this series featured a unique coalition of former foster youth and health educators who came together to raise reproductive health awareness in Texas, and on research out of California that shows some progress, and some gaps on this issue.
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