Michael Fitzgerald

New York

Senior Reporter at The Imprint

Reporting on child welfare and youth justice for @theimprintnews, formerly @pacificstand @newrepublic

Articles

Attorneys Withdraw Assault Charge Against Foster Youth Advocate

3 weeks ago | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald |John Kelly

Federal prosecutors have sought dismissal of a disputed assault charge against a well-known foster youth advocate, who U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace accused of violently shaking her hand while asking her to protect transgender youth, court records show.
NYC Stands Out for Tallying Foster Youth on Psych Meds

4 weeks ago | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald |Susanti Sarkar

Part 2 in The Imprint series Medicated in Foster Care: Who’s Looking Out? Read Part 1 here. Nearly one in four New York City foster youth ages 7 to 17 is placed on psychiatric medications — a powerful class of drugs including stimulants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics and antidepressants. In group facilities, it’s one in three, and there’s a growing number of school-age kids receiving multiple meds at once.
States Still Fail To Rein in Psych Meds for Foster Youth

4 weeks ago | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald

Part 1 in The Imprint series Medicated in Foster Care: Who’s Looking Out? Alicia Bissonette, a 21-year-old living among the lakes and foothills of western Maine, recalls her teenage years in foster care as a heavily medicated, crises-filled blur. After years of childhood abuse, she moved between numerous foster homes, treatment centers and hospitals.
Top NYC Child Welfare Official Joins Wave of Resignations, As Trump’s DOJ Seeks To Toss Criminal Charges Against Mayor

2 months ago | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald

Anne Williams-Isom — an influential child welfare leader who has overseen many of the city’s recent reforms — joined three other top officials in resigning from the administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams today. The departures are the latest defections since President Trump’s Justice Department moved to dismiss federal corruption charges against the embattled mayor.
Prominent Supporters Defend Foster Advocate Arrested in D.C.

2 months ago | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald |John Kelly |Madison Hunt

A well-known foster youth advocate appeared virtually in a Washington, D.C. criminal court today, after being arrested for allegedly violently shaking the hand of Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. James McIntyre, 34, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault. A trial date has not been set, but the parties appearing in court today scheduled another hearing for early April.
Biden Appointee Now Leads NYC’s Oldest Child Protection Group

Jan 21, 2025 | imprintnews.org | Susanti Sarkar |Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald

Aysha Schomburg’s recently concluded three-year tenure as one of the nation’s top child welfare officials is among the most historic: Child poverty and calls to Child Protective Services plunged to historic lows after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Digital redlining perpetuates health inequity. Here’s how we fix it.

Oct 31, 2024 | linkedin.com | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald

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After Fed Scrutiny, National CASA Repays Hundreds of Thousands

Oct 30, 2024 | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald

The Department of Justice has lifted a funding freeze it imposed on a national nonprofit overseeing court-appointed volunteers for foster children and recently renewed the popular charity’s funding. But the National CASA/GAL Association for Children has returned more than a quarter-million dollars in “unsupported, unallowable” spending of taxpayer funds as it enters its 19th month as a “high-risk” grantee, The Imprint has learned.
MN Joins States Allowing Adoptees New Access to Birth Records

Sep 11, 2024 | imprintnews.org | Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald

For decades, U.S. adoptions were steeped in secrecy — private arrangements struck between parents and caseworkers. Pre-adoption birth certificates sealed in government archives often left the origin stories of adoptees undisclosed and inaccessible. Finding long-lost relatives through DNA testing and social media have upended that legacy. But confidentiality laws across the country have not kept pace.
MN Kids of Color Are Most Likely to Live With White Foster Parents

Sep 10, 2024 | imprintnews.org | Colleen Connolly |Michael FitzGerald |Michael Fitzgerald |Farrah Mina

CLICK HERE to read about The Unique History of Transracial Placements in MinnesotaWhen she ran the African American Adoption Agency in Minneapolis more than two decades ago, Marquita Stephens helped develop a training program for foster and adoptive parents planning to care for kids of a different race. It involved a Bingo-like game. Agency staff handed prospective parents a scorecard, with boxes to mark after they answered a series of questions.