(Providence, RI) -- A non-profit advocacy group is announcing what it calls a victory for children in Rhode Island. The group, called Children's Rights, says a settlement agreement was approved in federal court in Providence on Wednesday in a longstanding class-action suit to improve practices and outcomes for children in state care. Children's Rights says some of the changes the state will implement include ending the practice of putting children in short-term shelters, reforming assessments, keeping siblings together and properly investigating allegations of abuse or neglect.