THE FIRST TIME Katrina Edwards was locked in a psychiatric hospital for children, she was sure a foster parent would pick her up the next day.
It was a spring evening in 2012 when Edwards, then 12 years old, was admitted to North Star Behavioral Health in Anchorage—the latest in a series of events that had turned her world upside down. That January, Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services had put her in foster care after she reported being sexually abused, according to court records. Edwards, who has a round face and a quick laugh, found herself living in the home of a woman in her late 50s. When Edwards mentioned thoughts of suicide to her foster mom, she told me recently, she hadn’t meant it literally; she’d meant that she was miserable and wanted someone to sit down and listen to her. Still, the foster mom called OCS, which instructed her to bring the girl to North Star.
Edwards sobbed and yelled in protest as she handed over her cellphone and jewelry and changed into blue scrubs and hospital socks. She refused to sign the admissions paperwork; an OCS caseworker did so instead, according to court documents. Her outburst continued as a staffer ushered her into the unit for adolescent girls.
“If you keep acting like this,” one girl warned her, “you’re gonna get booty juiced.”
Denne historien er fra September/October 2023-utgaven av Mother Jones.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September/October 2023-utgaven av Mother Jones.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Data Blockers- Overturning Roe didn't just bludgeon abortion access. It sabotaged science, too.
Overturning Roe didn't just bludgeon abortion access. It sabotaged science, too. In early May 2022, reproductive health researcher Liz Mosley was at a dinner celebrating her first day as an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine when the news broke: A leaked draft of the Dobbs decision revealed the Supreme Court’s plan to gut abortion rights in the United States—the “worst-case scenario,” as one dinner guest put it.
Growing Pains - Why are governors rejecting funds for kids' summer meals?
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children (EBT), the first new federal food aid initiative in decades, is a permanent extension of Congress’ Covid-era relief that sought to provide extra meals for more than 30 million school kids who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. But more than 10 million children will miss out this summer, according to the USDA. Thirteen other states—Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming—also chose not to enroll. And they all have something else in common: Republican governors.
Mission from God. Church And Statehood– A new Puerto Rican political party puts faith before status.
A new Puerto Rican political party puts faith before status. Puerto Rico’s churches, which in recent decades were mostly confined to private life, are now reshaping political dynamics. Proyecto Dignidad is a reflection of a broader populist global trend, and it draws inspiration from the Trump playbook and other domestic right-wing currents that helped him win over significant numbers of Latino voters in 2020.
40 Acres and a Lie
We compiled Reconstruction-era documents to identify 1,250 formerly enslaved Black Americans given land-only to have it returned to their enslavers.
The Conversion Therapist Will See You Now
The counselors once discredited for their "ex-gay" theories have rebranded. And now they're coming after trans kids.
"I Hope My Hindsight Will Be Others' Foresight"
A decade after Elliot Rodger's horrific massacre, his mother is on a quest to help threat assessment experts-and other parents-prevent the next tragedy.
RAGING BULL DONALD TRUMP'S PUGILISTIC SPOKESMAN HAS TAKEN CAMPAIGNING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF LOW.
IN late February, after Donald Trump had nearly vanquished the entirety of the Republican primary field, his spokesman, Steven Cheung, took aim at the one opponent still standing. \"Birdbrain, are you a liar or just plain stupid?\" he posted on X.
SAVED
Finding self-love after Christian conversion therapy
WHAT WE ARE OWED
Technology and genealogy have made the case for reparations specific-and undeniable.
PARADISE STOLEN
Black families were cheated out of their land on Skidaway Island. Now it's a wealthy white enclave