Ira Lustbader, chief program officer for Children’s Rights, Anne Geraghty Helms, and Julie Gryce of DLA Piper join Dave Scriven-Young from ABA’s Litigation Radio to talk about the need for pro bono legal work and how lawyers and their firms can get involved to make a difference. Learn more about our work, our case in Ohio, and the importance of our pro bono partners in this episode.
This story, Advocates: Ma’Khia Bryant case shows relatives need same resources as other foster parents, was originally published by The Columbus Dispatch. Despite the ongoing threat of the pandemic, families gathered to celebrate the joys of the season. But many kinship caregivers in Ohio struggled to provide children in their care with basic stability and […]
A few years back I was asked by a thoughtful young woman why I never use a pronoun for god. My answer was – and is, because I try to speak about god the way god speaks to us – that god is not a static being, but rather a dynamic, restless force in our […]
Earlier this month the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that The Glen Mills Schools —shut down in 2019 after a child-abuse and cover-up scandal — is seeking to reopen under a new name. This is a school Children’s Rights knows all too well. Several years ago, prompted by ongoing reports of abuse, we conducted our own investigation […]
In a milestone for Milwaukee children in foster care served by Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families, a federal court has ordered that the agency can exit federal court oversight of a settlement agreement that resulted in major systems change and tangible results for kids. This now closed case is a prime example of how […]
Youth Assent to Psychotropic Medication in Foster Care is a Basic Human Right Originally posted on The American Bar Association, Human Rights Magazine, on October 12, 2021 “I was a zombie,” Jimmy said. “I was on seven psychotropic medications when I was 14 years old. I couldn’t eat. I had chest pain.” Jimmy knew even at […]
My wife Laurie and I are the rabbis of Congregation Micah in Brentwood, Tennessee – a spiritual community that adopted the words of Micah (6:8), the Biblical prophet and civil rights advocate, as our congregation’s message of equality and welcome for all: “Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with thy God.” The prophet’s words call […]
Fall was in the air early in September when the people of Southampton Village opened their hearts and their town to Children’s Rights and our Bricks for Kids sculpture. We couldn’t have felt more at home. The sculpture, crafted out of 35,000 toy bricks, celebrates the innocence and joy of childhood – and encourages conversations about the joy that […]
I had the opportunity to join my colleagues at this year’s National Association of Counsel for Children’s (NACC) conference, From Crisis to Innovation: Toward a Family-Centered Justice System, in Denver, Colorado on August 13. Traveling to Denver during the pandemic was a new experience. But being surrounded by experts in the child welfare, juvenile justice, […]
“We remain steadfast in our conviction that the law requires the same support to approved relative foster caregivers as it provides to licensed foster caregivers and look forward to advancing the merits of our clients’ claims in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. We believe the law commands it, and conscience demands it.”—Ira Lustbader, Chief […]
