Children & Families

Last year, more than 50,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America crossed the Mexico-U.S. border looking for their parents or better opportunities. But the journey north can entail serious trauma and suffering. What are the long-term mental health issues such children face?

Twenty-one journalists from around the nation will receive reporting grants from the new Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being, the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and the National Health Journalism Fellowship.

Less than a decade ago, Native Hawaiians represented about a third of the children in Hawaii’s foster care system. Today, they comprise half the state’s foster population of 2,200. Why is that? And what initiatives show the most promise in helping reduce the disparity? A new series will investigate.

Every day as I drive to my office at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I pass homes with yard signs stating “Black Lives Matter and “I heart Ferguson,” but also, “We must stop killing each other,” a nod to the constant human stress, trauma and, ultimately, shortened life expectancy in these communities.

In Asian families, raising a child with autism spectrum disorder means not only piles of bills, long wait-lists and underfunded programs, but also a life of double isolation. What might be done to offer such families more support and services?

The concept of "toxic stress" has rapidly gained currency in recent years to explain the damaging effects sustained stress and instability can have on young children. Reporter Daisy Rosario is exploring how such stress impacts underserved communities, and how it might be addressed through services.

It's been a very eventful few weeks when it comes to the conversation on vaccines. California enacted one of the nation's toughest vaccination laws, and a new national survey out this week suggests the past year's measles and pertussis outbreaks have changed many parents' attitudes towards vaccines.

In Texas, alarmingly high rates of babies have been born with syphilis. It's since become clear that one of the causes is lack of sufficient prenatal care among some communities. The women receiving the least amount of proper medical care are often the ones who need it the most.

By all accounts Charles should have been a success – middle-class upbringing, positive extracurricular activities and a Boy Scout. His future was bright. The opportunities were endless. Instead Charles ended up in the criminal justice system, a long fall for an Eagle Scout. What happened?

In Florida, only one in three children receive adequate preventive care, and the state ranks 50th out of 51 states and D.C. in per-child spending. Reporter Maggie Clark will look into what happens when the nation's third-largest state starts "nickel-and-diming preventive care for children."