OUR IMPACT
50,000 child victims helped. And counting.
Molly
Abandoned at birth, we fought for Molly. She now has a loving, adopted family.
*To protect our clients’ privacy, images are representative only.
HOW IT HAPPENS
True change is neither simple nor swift – that’s why we’re here.
Too many American children suffer brutality and death as a result of weak laws or poor compliance with good laws. We believe children should be safely and quickly reunified with family when possible, foster care should be temporary, and adoption, when necessary, should proceed without delay.
WHAT WE FIGHT FOR EVERY DAY
Improved educational opportunities for foster kids with disabilities.
Children with disabilities make up an estimated 50% of the care population. Our work enabled foster families to sign for special education services when parents ignore requests or cannot be found.
Arizona reform, HB2378, enacted into state law 2019.
With Mom Absent, Education Plan Stalls. Read article
Some Special Needs Kids Falling Through the Cracks. Read article
Reduced the time infants spend in foster care.
The bill requires child protection to maintain a goal to place infants into prospective permanent placement within one year. For a child under age three who has lived with a foster family for at least nine months, the law gives these caregivers increased consideration as the adoptive home. The provision recognizes that biological connections and attachment both matter, and decisions should serve the individual child.
Arizona bill, SB1473, enacted into state law 2018.
Office of Governor Doug Ducey press release, 2018. Read article
Law protects babies exposed to drugs. Watch video
Georgia’s related bill SB167, modeled after Arizona’s law and adopted a presumption that is in a child’s best interests to remain in the stable home environment where he or she has lived for 12 months. Enacted into state law 2019.
USA TODAY: Introduced related model legislation, The Family Stability Act. Read article
Reduced the time kids spend in foster care by requiring authorities to find relatives immediately, as soon as a child enters care.
Arizona bill, SB1473, required authorities to file information with the court within 30 days regarding attempts made to identify and notify adult relatives and persons with a significant relationship with the child. Enacted into state law 2018.
Georgia’s reform, SB167, was also enacted into state law in 2018. It introduced related model legislation, the Relative Search Act, to reduce time in foster care by strengthening the search for relatives on the front end and requiring relatives to make decisions within six months of notification or permit authorities to search for other permanent placements.
Sped up the adoption process for teens, cutting the wait from one year to six months.
Arizona bill, HB2378, enacted into state law 2019.
Isaac hadn’t had a mom in 13 years. When I tried to adopt him, he was told it was too late. Read article
Improved safety for children in imminent danger.
Includes protections for substance-exposed newborns, abandoned kids, and child victims of crimes by requiring the authorities to flag their cases for the judge.
Arizona reform, SB1473, enacted into state law 2018.
America’s flood of opioid orphans. Read article
Loophole in abuse, neglect statutes permits inaction to persist. Read article
Prioritized children’s individual interests.
Decreased arbitrary decisions by agencies to move children from stable, loving homes by providing clear, bright-line factors for courts to consider: Express wishes of the birth parent, willingness to maintain sibling contact and interest in adoption.
For a child under age three who has lived with a foster family for at least nine months, the law gives these caregivers increased consideration as the adoptive home. The provision recognizes that biological connections and attachment both matter, and decisions should serve the individual child. See our model legislation The Family Stability Act.
Arizona bill, SB1473, enacted into state law 2018.
Darcy Olsen: Don't let vulnerable children linger in foster care. Read article
Georgia bill, SB439, enacted into state law 2020, gives relatives and foster caregivers the opportunity to participate in court proceedings.
Providing a lifeline for kids in danger.
We serve abused and trafficked children at no charge in our Children’s Law Clinic, reaching hundreds of kids each year. We also offer free tutorials on the dependency process and the rights of families involved in foster care. More info
Protecting constitutional rights.
Violence against children is not merely a social issue, it’s a legal one. People who abuse children have stronger legal rights than the children they abuse. A judge put it plainly during a hearing for an abused baby, “Birth mother’s rights are Constitutional, but baby’s rights are only statutory.” The criminally accused have a constitutionally protected right to counsel, but children don’t. Abused children are not guaranteed attorneys in their own court cases, but all other parties receive counsel. And while a hallmark of the American legal system is the right to a public trial, abuse hearings routinely are held in the dark with records sealed, shielding public agencies from oversight, accountability and reform. Our public interest litigation seeks to redress these injustices by strengthening the life and liberty interests of children under the law. Read Amicus Brief
THE LATEST NEWS
Arizona home industry partners with Gen Justice to launch Keychain, a new charitable giving program for foster kids
August 11, 2020
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Government "mismanagement" fails another child
July 29, 2020
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Join our team
July 28, 2020
Gen Justice seeks lead litigator for Children’s Law Clinic.
More info
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Castle Hot Springs partners with Gen Justice to employ aging out youth
July 28, 2020
More info
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Georgia unanimously adopts critical reform for foster kids
July 22, 2020
Georgia Governor Kemp signed into law today a unanimous reform to help kids in foster care by permitting relatives and foster caregivers to participate in court proceedings.
More info
in the media
IN PRINT
There's a better way to do foster care
The Problem with Foster Care
Why Does Arizona Send Children Back to Homes with Drug-Addicted Parents?
Child Deaths Preventable with Greater Transparency of Agencies
Generation Justice Wins Inaugural Peterson Prize at ALEC States & Nation Policy Summit
$250,000 Grant Will Protect the Rights of Foster and Adopted Children
Georgia's Foster Care Reform Bill: Blood Relatives Shouldn't Always Have Legal Preference
Georgia's foster care bill models the new Arizona law and puts the best interests of children first.
The Parents Passed a Drug Test. Should They Get Their Children Back?
8 Heartwarming Stories of Older Children Who Finally Found Their Forever Home
America's Flood of Opioid Orphans
The core problem is that children lack some of the basic constitutional rights that we cherish as Americans.
Hearings: With Mom Absent, An Education Plan Stalls
Arizona's foster children get a common-sense solution that removes the barrier to special education.
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