by Christina Zschomler

Oregon
Oregon is facing heavy consequences and negative publicity in light of a recent lawsuit against the state’s child welfare system. Child welfare advocates filed the class-action lawsuit against the state, stating that the neglect and poor treatment of children within the Oregon foster care system is unacceptable. Governor Kate Brown claims that reforms are in place and that a board is being compiled to better supervise the child welfare system. This comes after journalists have exposed the state’s failure to report foster child deaths, caseworkers that engaged in sexual activity with each other while near their assigned foster children, and more.

Arizona
An Arizona family has plans to sue the federal government after being traumatized by family separation policy. After the family was called “stupid ­­­[expletive] animals” by a border agent, then promptly separated from each other, the father-and-son pair did not reunite for 70 days. This lawsuit follows an emergence of statistics that show family separations have continued despite the Trump Administration’s supposed halting of the practice. An additional five Guatemalan families have filed claims against federal agencies after facing separation from their children in Arizona.

Christina Zschomler is CWLA’s editorial intern. She can be reached at czschomler@cwla.org.