FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the Council for Children’s Rights?
The Council for Children’s Rights is an effective,
independent, non-profit agency dedicated to protecting
our community’s children formed through the 2006
consolidation of the former Council for Children and
the former Children’s Law Center.
What is your mission?
The Council for Children's Rights leads our community to stand up for every child's right to be safe, healthy, and educated.
What programs do you have?
Issues Based and Best Practice Research
Telephone Advice and Guidance
Case Advocacy/ Representation of Individual Children
Child Advocacy in High Conflict Custody Proceedings
Physician Advocacy Rotation with Carolinas Medical
Center Pediatric Residents
Class Advocacy to Influence Systems Change, Impact
Litigation
Student Defense Project to Protect Due Process Rights
in School Suspension and Exclusion Hearings
Community of Advocates to Build a Statewide Network
of Child Advocates
Public Policy Forum
Public Awareness and Public Education
Center for Children’s Defense
What can the Council for Children’s Rights do
as a collaborative agency that neither the Council
for Children nor the Children’s Law Center could
accomplish alone?
The consolidation of the Council for Children, founded
in 1979, and The Children’s Law Center, founded
in 1985, produces tangible benefits for more children
and families. This merger makes Charlotte home to the
largest and most comprehensive legal and advocacy program
for children in the country. By combining programs
and staffs the organization provides a more comprehensive
array of services to protect children. It also allows
us to leverage more assets — human and financial — in
support of our social mission, and most importantly,
there are more resources allocated to program operation
so that consequently more children in need are served
more economically.
How large is your staff?
We have 30 legal, advocacy, and professional staff
and a lean annual budget of ~$2.1 million (FY 2007-2008:
July 1 ’07-June 30 ’08). We are organized
into five teams: Individual Advocacy,
Systems Advocacy, Custody Advocacy, Children’s
Defense, and Advancement.
Why do children need your voice?
Children are powerless. They are not in a position
to effectively articulate their needs, confront systems
that threaten them, or create strategies to find
solutions. The Council for Children’s Rights
speaks for children when no one else will; we connect
children with adults who will care; we find them
the services they need in order to lead productive
lives; we fight for their rights. Each day the Council
for Children’s Rights works to address the
issues, injustices, and/or situations that shape
a child’s life for better or worse. Our experienced,
knowledgeable staff members know exactly who to call,
what to do, and where to go when a child’s
life is in crisis. We provide hope where others find
roadblocks.
How does your voice have power?
Our power stems from our independence from the government.
We do not accept governmental funding, thus allowing
us to provide children with a powerful, autonomous
voice without fear of losing our funding. It allows
us to confront systems, hold them accountable, and
get results for children who are often lost in the
complicated human services system. Our power is also
our experience and our reputation for doing whatever
it takes to keep children safe. We are uncompromising
advocates for children.
Who are the children you serve?
We serve the children of Mecklenburg County. The Council
for Children’s Rights’ target client
base consists of, but is not limited to children
who are involved with many parts of the youth-serving
system. The children that we serve often have a combination
of severe mental health issues, special education
needs, involvement with juvenile court and a history
of domestic violence, and physical/ sexual abuse
and neglect. Because of the complicated nature of
their lives, our clients are the children who fall
through the cracks because systems are not designed
to meet their needs. Though these are the majority
of our clients we serve any child in Mecklenburg
County who is in need of our assistance regardless
of race, gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
How does the Council for Children’s Rights get
its job done? Whom do you work with?
We do whatever it takes to make sure that children
are safe and their needs are met. This generally requires
us to work with the child, conduct research, make phone
calls, attend meetings, court hearings, build coalitions,
document, negotiate, and coordinate with various entities
to ensure that adequate and appropriate services are
provided as quickly as possible. We work with judges,
social workers, parents, school administrators, case
managers, doctors, and others to ensure that every
child has the opportunity to thrive.
What is your relationship with other child-serving
agencies? What makes you different from them?
Each day we work closely with the many agencies in
our community that work to serve and protect children.
However, there are several ways that we differ from
most of the agencies we work with. The majority of
child-serving agencies in the community are either
partially or completely funded by local, state, and/or
federal dollars, we are not. Because we are not government
funded we are free to speak out for children without
fear of financial consequences. In fact, many agencies
in the community depend on us to speak out when they
cannot. Also, the majority of child-serving agencies
in our community work to address specific issues that
affect children by providing a direct service to address
a specific problem. The Council for Children’s
Rights is not a direct service provider; however, part
of our job is to link our clients with the agencies
that do. Finally, the complicated nature of our cases
forces us to examine the entire history of a child
and all the issues that may affect them- educational,
emotional, economical, medical, social- to ensure successful
outcomes and appropriate solutions to help them improve
their lives. This allows us to effectively direct them
to agencies that provide the services they need. If
we discover that the services they need are not available,
we work to fill that gap.
How is the Council for Children's Rights funded?
With the exception of The Center for Children’s
Defense, we receive 18% of our funding from the United
Way. The remainder comes from individuals, foundations,
corporations, communities of faith, and special events.
The Center for Children’s Defense receives IDS
(Indigent Defense Services) funding on a fee per service
basis for their work as the public defender for children.
What is the state of Mecklenburg County’s children?
There are approximately 200,000 children in Mecklenburg
County alone, and of these: 28,000 have no health
insurance, 20,000 have mental health disorders, 13,000
have identified learning disabilities that affect
school performance, there were almost 20,000 school
suspensions last year (of that, 6 of every 10 black
males suspended), over 9,000 yearly reports of abuse/neglect,
over 1,000 in foster care, and 74 children (age 10-16)
sent to juvenile prison. (all local statistics)
How can I help the Council for Children’s Rights
help children?
You can support the Council’s
independent voice by contributing to our annual fund.
Click here to give now. We also have several volunteer opportunities. Educational
Partners assist parents with children in need of special
education services. Custody Advocacy Volunteers help
our attorneys make best interest custody recommendations
for children involved in contentious custody disputes.
We also use volunteers to help us in the office or
with our special events. Click here to let us know you would like to become a volunteer now. There are so many ways that you can help… just
remember that behind everything you do to help the
Council for Children’s Rights, there is a child
who will have a better life. Thank you. |
