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Welcome
to
ChildWelfare net
the online home of the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic,
a part of the Emory University School of Law.
What's New:
- 5/20/2010: Kenny A v. Perdue: Motion for Discovery on Diverted Cases Granted.
- 5/17/2010: AP: US Supreme Court Bars Life Sentences for Youths Who Haven't Killed.
- 5/14/2010: Supreme Court of Georgia Fellows - The Cold Case Project Video and Powerpoint® from the April Legal Academy are now in the Georgia Child Welfare Legal Academy Archive. No upcoming Legal Academy events.
- 5/6/2010: Barton Center Founders Featured in the Community Foundation's quarterly newsletter.
- 4/22/2010: Barton Center Report: Addressing the "Demand" Side of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: Review of Federal and State Laws for Prosecuting Offenders. This report, which was funded by the Georgia's Governor's Office for Children and Families on behalf of the statewide initiative to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children, explains that commercial exploitation of children generally occurs in combination with other crimes. Recognizing the interconnections between these crimes can lead to more effective prosecutions and lengthier sentences for those who exploit children.
- 4/21/2010: U.S. Supreme Court rejects enhanced fees in Kenny A case. In extremely rare circumstances, with "a reasonably specific explanation for all aspects" of the award, courts can award additional attorneys' fees in civil rights cases, but, in a 5-4 ruling, the justices rejected the $4.5 million enhancement in Kenny A v. Perdue. Read the SCOTUSblog Analysis. Read the opinion.
- 3/30/2010: DHHS ACF Releases 2008 Child Maltreatment Report: "... 2008 saw the lowest child victimization rate in five years. ... More than three million reports of suspected child abuse and neglect were received in 2008, involving six million children nationwide."
- 2/26/2010: Emory University School of Law seeks a director for the Barton Child Law & Policy Center.
- 1/28/2010: Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4) Released. "The NIS-4 estimate of the incidence of overall Harm Standard maltreatment in the 2005-2006 study year reflects a 19% decrease in the total number of maltreated children since the NIS-3 in 1993. Taking into account the increase in the number of children in the United States over the interval, this change is equivalent to a 26% decline in the rate of overall Harm Standard maltreatment per 1,000 children in the population."
- 1/22/2010: Kenny A: Period VII Monitoring Report Released. "The State sustained a high level of performance or made substantial progress over several periods on a number of outcomes and process requirements. ... However, there was slippage on a critical outcome: the rate of maltreatment in care. Likewise, finding permanency for children who have been in care a long time remains an on-going challenge. Finally, continued efforts are needed to ensure data integrity in the State's information system, Georgia SHINES." CR Press Release
- 12/2/2009: National Adoption and Foster Care Statistics Current through FFY2008.
- 1/26/2009: The 2007 Protective Services Data System Annual Report and other valuable DFCS publications are posted on the DFCS website.
- 8/29/2008: Georgia's 2007 Child & Family Services Review (CFSR) website is up.
- 3/13/2008: JUSTGeorgia: The Juvenile Code Revision Project: A Model Code for Georgia. Thank you and congratulations to the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division Juvenile Law Committee and most especially the reporters on this proposed model code: Soledad McGrath, Judge Velma Tilley, and Professor Lucy McGough for 3 years of hard work.
- ... and, as always, our daily media updates.
Who We Are ...
The
Barton Clinic was established in March 2000 to address
the need in Georgia for an organization dedicated to effecting
systemic policy and process changes for the benefit of the
children in Georgia's child welfare system. The clinic helps
Georgia serve neglected and abused children by providing
multi-disciplinary, child-focused research, training, and
support for practitioners and policymakers charged with
protecting Georgia's children.
Located at Emory Law School, the clinic collaborates with
Emory's School of Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Medicine
and the Center for Violence Studies, as well as other Georgia
colleges and universities.
The
origins of the Barton clinic are in the School of Law's
Child Advocacy Project, which began in 1992 and provides
summer internships in the field. The establishment of the
year-round legal clinic with a full-time director was made
possible by a generous grant from the Barton Foundation.
The clinic's activities and priorities are directed by an
Advisory Board to ensure that a
broader spectrum of professions and organizations contribute
to and are informed about the work of the Clinic.
What We Think ...
The
mission of the clinic is to promote and protect the
well-being of neglected and abused children in the state
of Georgia and to inspire excellence among the adults
responsible for protecting and nurturing these children.
What We Do ...
The
clinic operates as a student legal clinic, accepting
students from Georgia law schools and other graduate programs
in fields related to child advocacy. Students in the clinic
do not provide direct representation of children, but instead
focus on research and advocacy projects that affect how
Georgia courts and agencies handle child welfare cases.
A main facet of the clinic's research-based approach is
operating as a statewide resource on child abuse and neglect
issues through its web site,
ChildWelfare.net.
The site contains diverse information including items on
Georgia's Office of Child Fatality Review, Georgia's
DHR Policies and Procedures manual, the child advocacy work
being completed by the Barton Clinic, and how to subscribe
to electronic mailing lists that discuss Child Protection
and Juvenile Justice issues.
Students
further their clinical education in a required
partner course,
Advocacy for Children in the 21st Century: An
Interdisciplinary Approach to Policy Development.
In the summer, the Barton Clinic joins forces with the
Department of Family and Children Services to
sponsor internships in the field of child advocacy,
which serves to assist those practicing in
the field as well as train future professionals.
If you would just like to ask a question or make a comment,
please send mail to
info@ChildWelfare.net.
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