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.
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.
net
the online home of the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic,
a part of the Emory University School of Law.
