SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Read and share extraordinary stories from the frontlines of social change
Class Action Protects Maine Foster Youth from Dangerous Risks of Psychotropics
Psychotropics can be a meaningful and effective treatment for children with mental health conditions when administered appropriately, but administering them without informed consent, proper oversight, or review can lead to serious, and sometimes life-threatening, consequences. The reforms achieved in the settlement in Bryan C. v. Lambrew are paramount for protecting foster youth. The work of Children’s Rights has ensured that children just like Bryan C. are free of unnecessary and harmful prescriptions and that their voices are heard.
Class Action Advances the Welfare of 6,000 Foster Children in West Virginia
The West Virginia child welfare agency that was supposed to protect foster child, Jonathan, has failed. Last month, in a huge step forward, the case was certified as a class action, meaning that the case is now proceeding not only on behalf of Jonathan, but on behalf of all children in foster care in West Virginia. The children’s lawyers now have the opportunity to prove that children in the West Virginia foster care system are being subjected to an “unreasonable risk of harm,” which the state is constitutionally barred from inflicting on children.