“It would take years before Molly and Heaven would learn that neither of them was ever in the foster system. Instead, caseworkers had diverted them to what some scholars call ‘hidden foster care’ or ‘shadow foster care,’ in which the legal protections of the formal system disappear.”
families
The Vaccine Tore Her Family Apart. Could a Death Bring Them Back Together?
“Laurel Haught moved out of her own home to escape her unvaccinated daughter. Now they are facing a funeral, the coming holidays and the divide splitting many American families.”
Without Paid Leave, the South’s COVID School Policies Cause a Terrible Trickle Down for Families
“Schools are at the epicenter of local and state COVID-19 protocols, using families—and children—as political bargaining chips.”
Let’s Not Talk About Estrangement
“I’ve always had the sense that my mother’s side of the family is, in fact, diminished by my uncle’s absence. Or at least diminished in their quiet response to it.”
Waiting for Alice
Nick and Nora had Asta. Why can’t we have Alice?
Making Something Out of Nothing With a Scratch and a Hope: The Ballad of Shovels and Rope
“We had nothing to lose,” Cary Ann said. “Fuck it. Band. Family. Let’s give it a shot. . . . Handshake, spit on it. If it gets too nasty we’ll cut and run.”
Rural California Feeds the Nation, But Too Many Rural Residents Can’t Feed and House Themselves
In a fertile valley that boats an $8 billion agricultural economy, the people who work the fields and in processing plants rarely enjoy the economic security that the fields’ corporate owners do.
My Brown Dad Voted for Trump
Anjoli Roy struggles to understand the conservative father she dearly loves.
B is for Bastard
As a boy, after the trauma of learning he is not his father’s biological son, Brian Gresko finds his sense of himself is shattered.