Staggering caseloads, lack of services, overcrowded foster homes, and almost no adoptions were all evidence of the failures plaguing the D.C. child welfare system, which was then part of the Department of Human Services (DHS), when Children's Rights became involved in reforming the system. Once children entered the foster care system, they were unlikely to leave until they were old enough to be on their own.

In June 1989, Children's Rights initiated a massive reform effort by filing a class-action suit in federal court alleging DHS's failure to comply with the federal Child Welfare and Adoption Assistance Act, the U.S. Constitution, and various local statutes. In 1991, after a full trial on the issues in which Children's Rights presented overwhelming proof that the district had harmed children in its custody, District Court Judge Thomas Hogan issued a 102-page opinion declaring his "inescapable conclusion" that DHS had violated the plaintiff children's rights. Unfortunately, DHS made only minimal progress between 1991 and 1995, prompting the court to impose the drastic remedy of a receivership on DHS. That decision marked the first time in history that a child welfare system was placed under full receivership by a court because of its non-compliance with court-ordered reforms. In 2000 the new administration of Mayor Anthony Williams expressed that the District would change and be committed to reform if it regained control of the system. Among other plans, the District expressed commitment to form a new cabinet-level Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA).

In light of these commitments, the court terminated receivership in 2001 while putting the District on probation. The probation period ended in January 2003. Children's Rights and the Court Monitor will continue to watch CFSA's progress very carefully to ensure that the current administration stays its course of progress.