This edition is devoted entirely to following-up the
outstanding Kansas City Star series
on the harm of foster care.
● The Star has a
round-up of reaction from public officials and others. Many public
officials tried to deflect from the heart of the problem by focusing on one
noncontroversial solution. After all, no one is against spending more to provide better educational opportunities
to foster children. But it’s hard to take advantage of those opportunities if
you don’t have a real home. Much more promising
is an effort by Iowa’s public defender, Jeff Wright, to expand high-quality
defense for families, so children don’t have to endure needless foster care in
the first place.
● NCCPR has an
op-ed column in the Star about
the one person who understands exactly how to fix the problems the newspaper
exposed: A Kansas City police officer.
● And in The Appeal,
Vaidya Gullapalli, senior legal counsel at The Justice Collaborative, links the Star findings to other stories
showing the racial and class bias in the system.