Articles
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesTexas
Removals rose for the first time in three years. Four urban counties account for more than a third, and the rates tell a different story than the counts.
Tone: Hopeful.InspirationLouisiana
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesLouisiana
Tone: Hopeful.InspirationTexas
Tone: Explainer.Official ReportsNational
We don’t avoid hard topics. We do keep the mix visible, so heavy stories never run back to back.
21 articles
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesTexas
Removals rose for the first time in three years. Four urban counties account for more than a third, and the rates tell a different story than the counts.
Tone: Hopeful.InspirationLouisiana
At its 27th annual Adoption Celebration, DCFS honored 508 families. Fifty of the children were teenagers, up from 36 the year before.
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesLouisiana
4,487 children, 2,133 homes. In 54 of 64 parishes, fewer homes than children, and the biggest gaps are in Lafayette, Ouachita, East Baton Rouge and Caddo.
Tone: Hopeful.InspirationTexas
Of 9,876 exits from DFPS custody in FY 2025, nearly three in four ended with a parent or a relative.
Tone: Explainer.Official ReportsNational
After six straight years of decline, the national count rose slightly, partly because Washington State reported for the first time under the new rules.
Tone: Explainer.PreventionTexas
A real decline, a definition change, and a bigger number DFPS publishes separately: 86 infant deaths where bed-sharing was a factor.
Tone: Hopeful.InspirationLouisiana
In four years, the number of newly certified foster homes more than doubled. The need is still bigger, but the trend is real.
Tone: Hard data.Official ReportsTexas
DFPS investigated 581 child deaths and confirmed abuse or neglect in 124. Nearly three in four of those children were 3 or younger.
Tone: Explainer.ExplainedTexas
16,866? 17,623? 27,343? All three are official. Each answers a different question.
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesNational
They left care as legal adults, not to a family. Research from three Midwest states found 31% to 46% had been homeless at least once by 26.
Tone: Hopeful.InspirationLouisiana
Grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends are Louisiana's largest source of care, and 35% of certified foster families are kin.
Tone: Explainer.PreventionTexas
Drowning was the second most common cause of confirmed abuse and neglect deaths in Texas in FY 2025. It is also one of the most preventable.
Tone: Explainer.ExplainedTexas
Most Texas foster homes are verified by private child-placing agencies, and no public statewide total exists. That gap is itself a finding.
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesLouisiana
Youth leaving DCFS custody because of their age rose 65% between SFY 2023 and SFY 2025. Teens need families too.
Tone: Hopeful.Take ActionTexas
You don't need it all figured out. You need an information meeting and an agency. Here is the path, straight from DFPS.
Tone: Explainer.Official ReportsLouisiana
DCFS's annual snapshot switched to the calendar year. Here's what 2025 looked like, region by region.
Tone: Explainer.Data StoriesTexas
Adoptions are down by more than half since FY 2019. So is the number of children in care, and that context matters.
Tone: Explainer.Data StoriesNational
Adoptions peaked at 66,210 in FY 2019. Fewer children in care explains part of the drop, but not all of it.
Tone: Hopeful.Take ActionLouisiana
DCFS's “A Home for Every Child” campaign starts with a short registration form. Here's the path, from the official source.
Tone: Explainer.ExplainedNational
Texas says 16,866. AFCARS says 17,520. Both are right. Here's how to read federal and state foster care data side by side.
Tone: Hard data.Data StoriesTexas
The fewest in a decade, and still 772 young adults starting life without a permanent family.