Child Welfare Litigation Fund

A new initiative to protect families, challenge injustice, and drive systemic reform.

The Child Welfare Litigation Fund is a new initiative of Justice Catalyst Access Fund, launched with an initial $1,000,000 investment from the Insita Group. The Fund is dedicated to advancing high-impact, strategic litigation to confront systemic harms in the child welfare system — with the broader goal of shrinking and reimagining that system to better serve children and families.

To apply for funding, please review this Request for Proposals.

If you are interested in supporting or investing in the fund through grants or PRIs, please contact accessfund@justicecatalyst.org

Fund Vision

The Child Welfare Litigation Fund is devoted to the proposition that families should be supported — not surveilled, criminalized, or unnecessarily separated. Through litigation, the Fund aims to:

• Reduce the footprint of the child welfare system and prevent unnecessary investigations

• Prioritize family preservation through support-based, not punitive, interventions

• Protect the constitutional rights of both children and parents

• Prevent the confiscation of benefits intended for children

• Reduce reliance on harmful congregate care placements

• End excessive government surveillance and overreach

• Challenge systemic racism and other discriminatory practices

Early Impact

In its first quarter, the Fund invested $500,000 in Justice Notes to support critical cases across the country. Recipients included four prominent national organizations with deep experience working on civil rights legal issues facing families harmed by the child welfare system. Examples of the groundbreaking work include:

• An investigation into the child welfare system’s widespread use of warrantless home searches, strip-searches of children, and unlawful family separations—practices that disproportionately harm low-income families. This work seeks to curb systemic constitutional violations, catalyze overdue reforms, and elevate public understanding of the harms inflicted by coercive child welfare practices.

• An ongoing investigation into the practice of charging indigent parents child support for children placed in foster care due solely to poverty, particularly inadequate housing. The investigation aims to expose systemic violations of constitutional rights and support litigation to eliminate burdensome child support debts that hinder family reunification.  

• A case brought to confront the systemic abuse and neglect of youth with disabilities. This case seeks to dismantle the pipeline that drives vulnerable children into incarceration, challenging practices such as isolation, denial of essential disability supports, and the failure to provide basic education and healthcare.

Fund Approach

We invite proposals for strategic litigation aimed at challenging systemic injustices in the child welfare system through an RFP. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis with quarterly deadlines.

Applications are reviewed by an advisory committee of subject matter experts who evaluate proposals based on impact, feasibility, cost, and alignment with long-term reform goals. This committee is made up of litigators, academics, advocates, and other experts from across the country.

About the Insita Group

The Insita Group is is a New York–based social impact fund investing in litigation, advocacy, and reform initiatives across the child welfare and criminal justice systems.