The Greylock group home in Springfield was supposed to provide safety and healing for vulnerable girls in state custody. Instead, it became a place of fear and abuse. From daily chaos and repeated staff misconduct to the indictment of staff member Xavier Cruz on charges of raping a 14-year-old resident, Greylock exposes a child welfare system in Massachusetts that is broken at its core. Despite 132 violations and confirmed abuse, the facility remained open until public outrage forced its closure. This is not an isolated scandal. It is a stark example of how systemic neglect, poor oversight, and profit-driven decisions leave children in harm’s way, not only in Massachusetts but across the country.

Massachusetts’ Department of Children and Families has long promised reform after each new tragedy, yet the cycle of failure continues. Children die, suffer neglect, or are torn from safe homes because of an agency that is broken at its core. The recent revelations about abuse inside a state-run group facility are not isolated scandals but symptoms of a nationwide crisis in child protection. From Massachusetts to California, Illinois to Texas, child protective services have left vulnerable children in danger and caused immeasurable harm. This article exposes how secrecy, negligence, and systemic dysfunction have made the system itself a threat to the very children it was created to protect.

A Florida family has been charged with aggravated child abuse after investigators say nine foster and adopted children were caged, beaten, and denied education.

Nearly 1,800 children vanished from Georgia’s foster care system between 2018 and 2022, with over 400 flagged as likely sex trafficking victims. Each disappearance is a failure that demands accountability.