What We Can Learn From Child Welfare Class Action Lawsuits

On April 24, CSSP Executive Vice President Judy Meltzer was interviewed by Oregon Public Broadcasting for an episode of their program, Think Out Loud. The following is the segment description and the interview segment featuring Judy.

Nearly 20 years ago, Tennessee and its child welfare department faced a class action lawsuit on behalf of all the children in the state’s care. The state settled the lawsuit and spent 16 years implementing reform and demonstrating that the system was producing better results for children. Following news of a similar class action in Oregon and our series exploring Tennessee’s prevention approach to child welfare, we talk with Judith Meltzer with The Center for the Study of Social Policy. The Center recently released a case study of how Tennessee responded to its lawsuit.