SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Read and share the extraordinary stories from the frontlines of social change
Impact Fund Spring Grants Support Women, Kids, and People of Color Seeking Justice
In our spring grantmaking cycle, we granted $131,500 to support three impact lawsuits across the country. Our new grantees are doing incredible work to protect the rights of foster youth, challenge the racially biased use of surveillance technology, and prevent gender discrimination in insurance pricing. We are grateful to be supporting these important cases—these are the compelling stories behind them.
Class Action Advances the Welfare of 6,000 Foster Children in West Virginia
The West Virginia child welfare agency that was supposed to protect foster child, Jonathan, has failed. Last month, in a huge step forward, the case was certified as a class action, meaning that the case is now proceeding not only on behalf of Jonathan, but on behalf of all children in foster care in West Virginia. The children’s lawyers now have the opportunity to prove that children in the West Virginia foster care system are being subjected to an “unreasonable risk of harm,” which the state is constitutionally barred from inflicting on children.