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This is the third installment in a three-part series on the child welfare system in Arkansas.

This legislative session, like many others before it, had its ups and downs. The children and families of Arkansas won some, but suffered some major losses as well. The Private Option, Arkansas’s version of Medicaid expansion, will continue to provide health coverage for low-income Arkansans, at least through 2016. However, changes are likely on the horizon. Our state’s […]

The uncertainty and instability of foster care can take an emotional toll on children, one that grows with time. Approximately a quarter of the children who entered the foster care system over a fi ve-year period stayed in foster care for one to three years. Arkansas is looking for ways to reduce the amount of […]

Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the Kids Count Data Book, a comprehensive, 50-state look at child welfare. Arkansas made gains in health coverage and education over the last year, but the child poverty rate went up to 29 percent. Those ups and downs are consistent with national trends, but what would it […]

Too many children enter foster care for a very short period of time. Removal from the home and placement in foster care can be a traumatic experience for a child, and the state is looking at ways to serve these children in their homes. Nearly one third (30 percent) of children who enter Arkansas’s foster […]

Critical Generation: Improving the Well Being of Children of Immigrants in Arkansas Any discussion of Arkansas’s future is incomplete without understanding the challenges faced by children in immigrant families. They account for the majority of growth in Arkansas’ child population in the last decade. This new population, mostly Hispanic and almost all U.S. citizens, presents […]

When a family member becomes involved in the Arkansas child welfare system, it can be a scary and confusing time for the child, the parents, and relatives. As a relative, you can play an important role in helping a child. Children who are removed from their parents or guardian do better when placed with family […]

Any discussion of Arkansas’s future is incomplete without understanding the challenges faced by children in immigrant families. They account for the majority of growth in Arkansas’ child population in the last decade. This new population, mostly Hispanic and almost all U.S. citizens, presents new opportunities in our effort to ensure that all children in Arkansas […]

The child poverty rate in Arkansas, now at 26.8 percent, is higher than the national average and shows a disturbing upward trend that’s likely to continue as the state experiences the effects of the recession. Over the last ten years for which data is available, the poverty rate has increased by just over two percent. […]