When covering the complicated, often opaque web known as the child welfare system, it can be easy to forget the first word of that phrase: child. It’s imperative that we don’t.
Reporters should center kids and families in ways that give them agency and avoid retraumatizing them, at least to the extent that’s possible. That means thinking about welfare and children holistically, taking into account their short- and long-term mental well-being.
Here are three other lessons reporters should know about covering topics like child abuse and neglect, the foster care system and keeping families together.
1. Question everything
And that includes whether to call it the “child welfare system” or “child protective services” at all.
The stated goal of said system is to protect children from harm. But research shows kids who come out of foster care often struggle as adults.
Officials will say they don’t judge poverty as neglect, which underpins most investigations. And yet, parents will find their inability to secure work used against them in dependency court, as states funnel money to foster care and group homes rather than extending help to struggling parents.
When using official language, reporters can add context on agencies’ family separation policies or how race impacts their implementation to flesh out why some with lived experiences bristle at the common terminology. Diving into works by National Coalition for Child Protection Reform director Richard Wexler and sociology professor and author Dorothy Roberts can lay the groundwork for that approach.
Under the looming pressure of a deadline, it can be tempting to oversimplify a story for readers and cut out details reporters are afraid of getting wrong. But that’s a disservice to families and their complicated stories.
2. Cover the system outside of crisis
Reporters who have covered joy and resilience within their cities’ immigrant hubs are likely having an easier time finding out how the federal deportation crackdown is impacting those communities. It’s the same in child welfare reporting: Reporters can fall into the trap of only covering the system when something horrific or traumatic has happened.
News organizations can always do this better.
In auditing your organization’s past coverage, take stock of how many stories just recount the worst abuse and death cases imaginable without connecting back to a larger, contextualized narrative or solution. That has real effects: “Foster care panics” happen when extensive media coverage of child deaths drives increased abuse and neglect allegations and sometimes unnecessary family separations.
Find a way to check in more often. Ask community-based advocates and social workers if they’ve had any wins lately. See if there are cases where the system is working — or a family fought to make sure it did.
It doesn’t have to be all rosy. Accountability journalism means knowing what child services agencies’ reported goals are and how they’re meeting them. Reporters can dig into statistics and support findings with lived experiences that center the families most impacted by ambitious promises.
And don’t think the only stories that matter are the sweeping narratives and white whales. Aim to write consistently and often, building a body of work you can share with sources to demonstrate your commitment to the beat.
3. Build trust and expand your network
Reporters are always pressed for time. But telling stories without exploiting people sometimes requires slowing down.
Instead of always having a story pitch in hand, meet with academics, researchers, advocates and other sources just to talk. Tell them you’re there to learn first and write later.
When pursuing a specific story, don’t assume a phone interview will last 30 minutes — or that you’ll be calling at all. Meet sources in person and give them the hours they need. Start off the record if you have to. Fully explain to sources, especially people with experience in the system, what kind of questions you want to ask, how they’ll be identified and where the story could appear.
Don’t assume families won’t want to talk or that you’ll need to use their lawyer as a mouthpiece. As long as you fully explain the risks, let people make their own decisions about what they want to share. In a system that can divorce people from their agency, be patient and let them take their autonomy back.
Remember why you’re doing this work — and ensure the stories you write reflect that mission.
Maya Lora was part of Poynter’s 2026 Covering Child Welfare Cohort. You can learn more about the program here.
