Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed a law aimed at speeding up adoptions of children languishing in foster care. In the process, it destroyed hundreds of thousands of families through the termination of parental rights.

One in three Black children in Maricopa County, Arizona, faced a child welfare investigation over a five-year period, leaving many families in a state of dread. Some parents are pushing back.

Each year, child protective services agencies inspect the homes of roughly 3.5 million children, opening refrigerators and closets without a warrant. Only about 5% of these kids are ultimately found to have been physically or sexually abused.

After the Sandusky child abuse scandal rocked Pennsylvania, the state required more professionals to report suspected child abuse. That led to a strained child welfare system and more unsubstantiated reports against low-income families.

Randy Settler’s family has spent generations fighting for their right to harvest salmon. But the federal government squandered its chance to recover the endangered fish before the onset of climate change. Now, Settler sees it all slipping away again.

It’s important to know that your charitable donation will be well spent and support the programs you care about. Here’s how to check on a nonprofit’s finances.

Tracing the fallacy of 911 call analysis through the justice system, from Quantico to the courtroom.

Black women in America are more than twice as likely as white women to have a stillbirth. Getting physicians to take their concerns seriously is one reason for this disparity, they say: “If you’re a Black woman, you get dismissed.”

A year after the deadly Marshall Fire drove thousands of Coloradans from their homes, the state’s densest communities aren’t preparing for the next climate-driven wildfire.

In 2021, the devastating Marshall Fire showed wildfire can strike Colorado in almost any place or season. Scientists now hope to glean lessons from it for communities across the West.

Experts say that more money is critical to improving the national system. Many states have developed creative solutions in spite of their limited funding.

This year, ProPublica investigated racial disparities in the child welfare system, the “wild west” of unregulated prenatal tests, junk science like 911 call analysis and more. Here are the best visuals from our investigations in 2022.

Diminished by climate change and overuse, the river can no longer provide the water states try to take from it.