22% Fewer Louisiana Children Receive SNAP Benefits
Issue: 6/18/2026 What explains this? Louisiana sees 22% drop in the number of children receiving SNAP benefits • Louisiana Illuminator
A History of Chemical Agent Use Against Children in Louisiana
Issue: 6/18/2026 Louisiana’s past holds some of the nation’s darkest stories of the use of chemical agents on children who are detained or incarcerated. This history covers three eras: indiscriminate use (through 2007), banned (2007-2024), poorly controlled use (2024 to the present).
In a series of articles, we take and support three positions: 1) the definition of “chemical agent” in the Louisiana OJJ licensing standards for juvenile detention centers is so broad that it creates real dangers for children; 2) if they will be allowed, then Louisiana must properly control the use of chemical agents against children; and 3) the well-being of Louisiana’s children would improve if our state provided therapeutic detention and rejoined the large majority of states by restoring the state’s 17-year ban against using chemical agents on children.
The first article is “A History of Chemical Agent Use Against Children in Louisiana.”
Senate Health and Welfare Affirms Rights of Children in Foster Care
News: 5/6/2026 We are impressed by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee’s quick work today in reporting Representative Delisha Boyd’s House Bill 584, with Amendment 3854 correcting what we believe was the House’s accidental vote on March 30, which restores the rights of children in foster care.
Not only does the current bill and amendment assure children in foster care will have luggage for their belongings, but it also reaffirms the Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights by expanding the age and changing the name to the Foster Children’s Bill of Rights, assuring that “Children from birth through age eighteen in foster care” have the enumerated rights.
It was heartening to see so much advocacy work arise quickly to support the Senate Health and Welfare’s correction today. Representative Boyd, members of the Health and Welfare Committee, and many advocates turned Louisiana’s good Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights into a better Foster Children’s Bill of Rights.
Louisiana Legislature is was Halfway to Terminating the Rights of Children in Foster Care
Open Letter: 4/18/2026 On HB 584 – Against the Abrogation of the Rights of Children in Foster Care
On March 30, voting 100 to 0, Louisiana’s House of Representatives passed HB 584 as amended, granting the privilege of a suitcase and simultaneously abrogating both the federally granted rights of children in foster care and the small collection of additional rights that Louisiana’s Legislature granted to children in foster care in 2021. After passage, 43 Representatives signed on as co-authors of HB 584. We believe most are unaware of the unreported actions of HB 584 as amended by Amendment 2819.
In a state that struggles to care well for children in foster care, Louisiana’s Legislature is now halfway to extinguishing the rights of these children and replacing them with simple privileges. We do not believe this is the Legislature’s desire.
It falls now on the Senate Health and Welfare Committee to correct HB 584. However, if the Senate Health and Welfare Committee approves HB 584 in its current posture and it becomes law, Louisiana’s current “Foster Youth’s Bill of Rights” (LA Rev Stat § 46:286.16 (2025)) will become “Privileges of Foster Youth.”
Louisiana’s abrogation of the federal and state rights of children in foster care will represent an entirely new philosophy in public child welfare. It will place Louisiana at odds with the Federal government and make our state an oddity among all states regarding the rights of children in foster care.
Louisiana Senate Health and Welfare Proposes Abolishing DCFS – Again!
Open Letter: 4/17/2026 On SB 462 – Troubled Arkansas State Police Child Abuse Hotline is Not a Model for Louisiana.
The Louisiana Senate Health and Welfare Committee is entertaining two different bills (Senator Regina Barrow’s SB 265 and Senator Patrick McMath’s SB 462) that would abolish the Department of Children and Family Services. Neither bill provides much more than a plan for the pieces of DCFS. Neither describes a way forward, only an end to the current structure. The authors of both bills indicate frustration is their motivation.
If DCFS is to disappear, then Louisianans and especially Louisiana’s children in foster care have a right to expect more than an end of life plan from the Legislature. Abolish DCFS and what follows? Have the termination plans been vetted? SB 462’s proposal that Louisiana copy the Arkansas State Police-managed Child Abuse Hotline seems weak.
Less than a year ago, all agreed that DCFS is essential child well-being infrastructure. Now, the department is targeted for termination. What changed? Is the Louisiana Constitution’s limit of 20 state departments a problem? When Senator McMath presented 100+ pages of amendments to his 5-page SB 462 during the Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting this week, he stated,
“So we pulled some some data, top ten states per one hundred thousand child homicide rates. Um the state of District of Columbia was the only one that exceeded us at 17.9. Louisiana was at the top of the list at 11.5. Again, not that all child homicides are a result of neglect upon the state, but that is a number that needs to change. I think we can all agree.”
Certainly, everyone in Louisiana agrees that our children should not be victims of homicide. What was not said and what the Legislature knows is that most child homicides in Louisiana are firearm-related.
In Louisiana, “children ages one to 14 were more likely to die from firearms.” (Page 8, first paragraph, “Homicide Deaths” in Child Death Review, 2024 Annual Legislative Report, Prepared by: Bureau of Family Health, Office of Public Health, Louisiana Department of Health. LDH is required by law to report to the Legislature on the unexpected deaths of infants and children ages 0 through 14, per Louisiana Revised Statute 40:2019.)
In the parcelling out of DCFS’s parts, Senate Bill 462 would transfer the management of Louisiana’s Child Abuse Hotline from DCFS to the Louisiana State Police. In his presentation of SB 462, Senator McMath pointed out that a state police-managed child abuse hotline has been successful in Arkansas.
But the Arkansas model has not been successful in Arkansas (or in any other state, for Arkansas is the only state with a state police-managed child abuse hotline).
News reports out of Arkansas in recent years describe a state police-managed child abuse hotline that is not working, a frustrated Arkansas legislature, and poor results on a legislature-required performance audit. The errors are in the news. For example, in one 2024 case the hotline took 29 calls about a single child over an 11-year period before the child was rescued.
Legislature Looks at Troubled Arkansas State Police-managed Child Abuse Hotline as Model
Open Letter: 4/16/2026 On SB 462 – Troubled Arkansas State Police Child Abuse Hotline Is Not a Model for Louisiana
Louisiana Senate Bill 462 proposed that Louisiana copy the troubled Arkansas model for Louisiana’s Child Abuse Hotline. Arkansas is the only state in the nation with a state police-managed child abuse hotline (states understand that child welfare is not law enforcement and vice versa).
Arkansas does not have a model that Louisiana should copy.
If one considers the last several years of news reports out of Arkansas (in once instance 29 calls were made to the hotline about one child over an 11 year period before the child was rescued), that state’s legislative activity to end the current model, and the recent performance audit of Arkansas’ troubled Child Abuse Hotline, which is managed by a division of the Arkansas State Police, it is clear that Arkansas does not have a model that Louisiana should copy.
We have sent an open letter to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee informing that Arkansas does not have a child abuse hotline that Louisiana should copy.
Read more: Open Letter on SB 462 – Troubled Arkansas State Police Child Abuse Hotline is Not a Model for Louisiana.
Governor Landry Ends DCFS Capture of Foster Children’s Survivor Benefits
Read about Louisiana Ending DCFS’ Capture of Foster Children’s Personal Benefits.
Commentary: 02/27/2026 Governor Landry’s recent Executive Order JML 26-021 likely surprised those unaware that Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services collects federal Social Security survivor benefits for foster children whose parents have died as state revenue. These survivor benefits are monthly payments made to the children of deceased parents who paid into Social Security during their lifetime. Generally, children are eligible to receive survivor benefits until their 18th birthday, or up to 19 if they are in high school.
Governor Landry’s Executive Order protecting children’s Social Security survivor benefits is long overdue in Louisiana.
Governor Landry’s Executive Order JML 26-021 correctly asserts that “these earned survivors’ federal benefits are the legal property of the child, not the State.” Also Senator Patrick McMath’s prefiled Senate Bill 33 is designed to ensure that children in foster care receive all the federal benefits they are entitled to from the Social Security Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs, including survivor’s or dependent benefits. In addition, going forward, SB 33 provides a clear process and requires proper accounting.
However, in our opinion, neither Governor Landry’s Executive Order JML 26-021 nor Senator McMath’s SB 33 go far enough. Neither requires that DCFS refund current and former foster youth the federal benefits Louisiana has previously collected in their names. The restoration of what states have already taken from foster children is a crucial step in acknowledging that earned survivors’ federal benefits are the legal property of the child, not the state.
if you have ever been a child in foster care, I encourage you to follow the guidance of The Marshall Project and seek your legal property.
Louisiana Legislature Questions DCFS Leadership
News: 12/10/2025 Lawmakers fear DCFS reorganization could cost Louisiana experienced child welfare workers, by Greg LaRose, Louisiana Illuminator, reports on the concerns of Louisiana’s legislators regarding changes at Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services.
LaRose reports,
“Its (DCFS) leader, Rebecca Harris, appeared Thursday before the legislature’s Select Committee on Women and Children and acknowledged that her top executives don’t have backgrounds working directly on child abuse and neglect. (Senator) Jackson-Andrews said that having no one among the department’s top six leadership positions with a background in child welfare is “alarming,” given the agency’s primary mission.”
Louisiana’s 2025 KIDS COUNT® Rank
News: 06/09/2025 From 2024 to 2025, the well-being of Louisiana’s Children slipped from 48th to 49th compared to children in other states. Louisiana has averaged 49th in the nation for 36 years, and a solid 49 for 2025 does not move the needle.
The chart below shows Louisiana’s annual rank among the states as reported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 2025 KIDS COUNT Datebook was updated on June 9.
Special Emphasis: Louisiana is Creating Ombudsman Services for Children
Child advocacy works! On June 7, 2023, Louisiana’s Legislature passed Senator Regina Barrow’s bill (SB137), creating the Louisiana Office of the State Child Ombudsman. This new office will open in January 2024 and have people who will hear the complaints of parents and caregivers about Louisiana’s services for children. Until now, Louisiana has lacked what most states have: an objective state official who hears, resolves, and reports on the complaints of children and parents related to state services for children. Creating an Office of Children’s Ombudsman is a significant step forward in creating Louisiana’s child well-being infrastructure.
An ombudsman is an independent official who investigates and resolves complaints made by members of the public about government agencies or organizations. Louisiana’s Children’s Ombudsman will investigate and resolve legitimate complaints made by or on behalf of Louisiana’s children and families about the services they do (or do not receive) from state agencies. To ensure the Ombuds’ independence, the Legislature placed the Office of State Child Ombudsman in the Office of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
Learn more about the work to create an Office of Children’s Ombudsman at our child advocacy website, CenterForChildWellbeing.com.
Louisiana’s Children Need Strong Advocates
Worse than the effects of coastal erosion on our state’s future is the relentless erosion of childhood in Louisiana. The erosion of children destroys lives today and damages Louisiana’s future.
Throughout Louisiana’s history, our children have lagged the nation. Compared to the persistent abrasion of their well-being, restoration efforts have not kept up.
Louisiana’s children who have no voice, no political sway, and not authority of their own, require strong advocates who engage in work to stop the erosion of child well-being in every area of their lives. Louisiana’s children need YOU!
Surprised? Louisiana Child Death Rate from Assault is More Than Twice the National Average
2021-02-15: Download first fact sheet in new series: “Louisiana, Is This Who We Want to Be? Child Deaths by Assault“
From 1999 to 2019, Louisiana’s child death rate from assault, 4.6 per 100,000, was more than two times the national average of 2.11.
Learn more: Louisiana Child Death Rate from Assault is More Than Twice National Average
KIDS COUNT? Yes. But Do They Count in Louisiana?
2021-01-18: New Advocacy Paper! KIDS COUNT? Yes. But Do They Count in Louisiana?: An Historical Bibliography of Louisiana Newspaper Headlines Regarding Annual KIDS COUNT Reports Since 1990
Looking for a handy report of more than three decades of annual headlines about Louisiana’s rank in the KIDS COUNT Data Books? For more than 30 years, Louisiana’s newspapers have faithfully reported our state’s annual rank for child well-being. KIDS COUNT? Yes. But Do They Count in Louisiana?: An Historical Bibliography of Louisiana Newspaper Headlines Regarding Annual KIDS COUNT Reports Since 1990, released by the Child and Family Advocacy arm of Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services, reports that the well-being of Louisiana’s children is – and has been – public knowledge.
Alarming Facts About Louisiana’s Children
Download our 4-pager that was recently in The Advocate and The Hammond Daily Star.
Why Louisiana’s Children Need Adults to Speak on Their Behalf
Louisiana’s children (23.4% of Louisiana’s citizens) are without a public voice of their own. Children cannot vote, have no political voice, do not make political contributions, and have no legal standing as adults do. Louisiana does not have an Office of Child Ombudsman.
Consequently, children’s needs are easily ignored.
The consequences of inattention to children’s needs have harmed repeated generations of Louisiana’s citizens.
Ranked 48th in the nation on child well-being in 2020, Louisiana’s children need strong advocates. Louisiana’s children need you! Join us in our work of advocacy which seeks to build and sustain a sense of urgency in Louisiana about the well-being of our state’s children.
Louisiana’s Children Lack an Ombudsman
Are you aware that Louisiana has no Children’s Ombudsman Office?
Did you know concerns on behalf of Louisiana’s children (ranked 49th in the nation for child well-being) are not systematically collected, evaluated, or reported to our Legislature or to the public?
Unfortunately, Louisiana lacks what most states do possess.
Louisiana does not have a Children’s Ombudsman Office to impartially address complaints about government actions or provide our elected officials with the information they require to make wise decisions on behalf of our children and families.
An ombudsmen as “an independent, impartial public official with authority and responsibility to receive, investigate or informally address complaints about government actions, and, when appropriate, make findings and recommendations, and publish reports.”
A Children’s Ombudsman Office is not a new concept. In fact, the National Conference of State Legislatures provides guidance to states interested in doing right by their children and has published a very helpful introduction to Children’s Ombudsman Offices.
The information from the National Conference of State Legislatures is at:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/childrens-ombudsman-offices.aspx
Understand the Needs of Louisiana’s Children
- Learn about the condition of Louisiana’s Children: By the Numbers.
- Read news articles about child well-being in Louisiana.
- Learn how you can prevent child abuse.