A selection of The Imprint’s most impactful stories from the past year
Last year, Annie Sciacca reported for The Imprint on the precipitous decline of foster care entries in Texas, where changes to the definition of neglect were among the factors behind that trend.
This year, reporter Jeremy Loudenback examined a similar decline in the largest local child welfare system in the country: Los Angeles County. He documents a quiet but massive change in how the county responds to hotline calls, emphasizing early interventions aimed at heading off family crises before situations escalate to the point where foster care removals are on the table.
“My personal north star is if there’s any way for children to be safe with their family, that’s what we need to be striving for,” said Brandon NIchols, director of the county’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). “The data shows we’re going in the right direction.”
Los Angeles’ foster care population has dropped 46% in the past five years, pacing an overall state decline of 33%. These declines in the United States’ two biggest states are a major driver of an overall drop in the national foster care total.
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