Foster Kids Deserve to Be Heard. Stop Sending Them Back Into Abusive Homes.

No child should have to be abused, run away, or die before someone takes their cries for help seriously.

Imagine being a child who has already experienced trauma, neglect, or abuse. You’re removed from everything familiar and placed into the foster care system because you’re told it’s for your own protection.

Now imagine discovering that the place you were sent to keep you safe is another place where you’re being hurt.

You try to tell someone.

Nobody listens.

You try again.

You’re called a liar.

You’re labeled manipulative, defiant, or a problem child.

Eventually, you become so desperate that you run away.

And instead of asking what happened to make you feel that running away was your only option, the adults responsible for your safety focus on your behavior.

This is the reality some children face in foster care. And it needs to change.

I know because I was one of those children.

I spent nearly 10 years in foster care. I lived in approximately 30 different placements, and I know firsthand what it’s like to be a child trapped in an environment where you don’t feel safe, with nowhere to turn.

I know what it’s like to report mistreatment and not be believed.

I know what it’s like to be labeled a difficult child when all you’re trying to do is survive.

And I know what it’s like to run away from a placement because you feel like nobody is listening.

Children should not have to risk their lives just to escape an environment they were placed in for their own protection.

Foster care is supposed to protect vulnerable children. These are children who have already experienced instability, trauma, neglect, or abuse. Yet some find themselves placed in environments where they experience further harm.

And when they speak up, what happens?

Some are dismissed as liars. Some are labeled manipulative, defiant, or troubled. Some are punished for running away instead of anyone asking what made them so desperate to leave in the first place.

Not every foster home is abusive. There are wonderful foster parents and child welfare workers who genuinely care about these children.

But that does not excuse the failures that occur when children report unsafe conditions and nobody takes appropriate action.

A child’s safety should never depend on whether the adults responsible for them choose to believe them.

What we’re demanding

We are calling on state lawmakers and child welfare agencies across the United States to establish and enforce stronger, independent protections for children in foster care.

Specifically, we are demanding:

Independent investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect. When foster children report abuse, neglect, food deprivation, threats, or unsafe living conditions, their concerns must receive a timely, impartial assessment by someone independent of the placement and any staff whose actions are being questioned.
Mandatory safety reviews before returning runaway foster youth to placements they report as unsafe. Running away should trigger questions about a child’s safety, not automatic assumptions about their behavior. When a child reports danger, an independent assessment and appropriate protective measures should occur before any return decision.
Confidential, accessible reporting options. Every foster child should have a safe way to report mistreatment outside their foster home or assigned caseworker, without fear of retaliation.
Accountability when reports are ignored. Agencies must document allegations, record the actions taken, provide appropriate follow-up, and establish independent oversight when serious safety concerns are mishandled.
Protection against retaliation. Foster children should never be punished, threatened, or subjected to unnecessary placement disruptions simply for reporting mistreatment or asking for help.
Why this matters

I cannot change what happened to me as a child.

I cannot undo the years I spent feeling helpless, unheard, or unwanted.

But I can use my voice to fight for the children who are still living through those experiences today.

Since sharing my story, I’ve heard from people who were in foster care decades before me and children who are still in the system today.

Different generations, yet so many of the same heartbreaking experiences.

How many generations of foster children have to tell the same stories before we finally do something about it?

We need to stop treating traumatized children like they’re the problem and start holding accountable the systems and adults responsible for protecting them.

These children deserve safety.

They deserve dignity.

They deserve to be heard.

And most importantly, they deserve to have their concerns taken seriously and properly investigated.

Please sign and share this petition. Help us demand a child welfare system that protects children instead of silencing them.

Because being removed from an unsafe home should never mean being placed into another one.

And no child should have to risk their life just to be heard.