Font is an interdisciplinary researcher examining the impacts of the child welfare system and the criminal and juvenile legal systems on children and families. Her research primarily involves partnerships with state and local public agencies and the use of linked administrative data to inform agencies’ strengths, challenges and priorities for reform. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health and Arnold Ventures.
Sarah Font
Professor at the Brown School
Contact Information
- Email: font@wustl.edu
- Website: Website
Media Contact
In the media
Foster care, in CT and elsewhere, is getting a bad rap
There is no doubt that foster care sometimes falls short. But rhetoric from both ends of the political spectrum – calling non-relative placements ‘stranger care’, dismissing residential settings as unnecessary, and claiming children are removed because of poverty — is both inaccurate and counterproductive, writes Sarah Font.
The False Promise of “Kin-First” Foster Care
Kinship care is the right choice for many children, but it should not be a benchmark of success. Children’s well-being is the standard that matters, writes Sarah Font.
Illinois has shifted its priorities for dealing with child abuse — to the detriment of kids
The best way to keep children safe — and reduce investigations — is not to go upstream. Rather, we must train and support our child protection agencies to protect endangered children the first time a concerned relative, teacher or other community member calls the hotline, writes Sarah Font.
Why Missouri should stop shielding police misconduct from public view
Following the lead of other states, the Missouri legislature should modify the Police Officer Bill of Rights to allow for commonsense transparency, including disclosure and review of deidentified internal investigation record, write Sarah Font and Lindsday Bendell.
How ‘Harm Reduction’ Fails Families
No one is suggesting that a single positive drug test or instance of drug use should automatically trigger the removal of children from the home. But we must abandon the delusion that parents who are drug-addicted will enter treatment voluntarily before serious harm falls to them or their children, writes Sarah Font.
Senate bill aims to expose abuse at residential treatment centers for children
Sarah Font, professor at the Brown School