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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:
- 2/3/2010: Implementation of Open Juvenile Courts Video and Powerpoint® from January's Legal Academy are now in the Georgia Child Welfare Legal Academy Archive. Upcoming Legal Academy events: Making Reasonable Efforts through Effective Case Planning on 3/3/2010 and Judge Robin Nash Lecture on 4/1/2010.
- 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.
- 11/19/2009: 2010 Legislative Priorities. This document summarizes the legislative initiatives that the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic, in cooperation with our advocacy partners, will focus on during the 2010 Session of the Georgia General Assembly.
- 11/2/2009: Robin Nash Fellowship Program. The Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic at Emory University School of Law has a one year (8/2010 to 8/2011) post graduate fellowship for recent law school graduates to work with the clinic on issues of child neglect and abuse.
- 8/24/2009: We have seven new papers related to the Child Protection and Public Safety Act in our 2009 legislative section.
- 8/20/2009: Karen Worthington Wins National Advocacy Award. Karen Worthington, director of the Barton Clinic, received the 2009 Outstanding Legal Advocacy Award from the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) for her efforts to fight for children's rights in Georgia.
- 3/23/2009: Family Preservation in Georgia: A Legal and Judicial Guide to Preventing Unnecessary Removal to State Custody. This Guide addresses the laws and policy that determine our state's involvement in families where abuse or neglect has been reported and when DFCS is proposing to remove the child from the home. It is intended for judges and legal practitioners as a guide to the removal process in the State of Georgia.
- 1/26/2009: The 2007 Protective Services Data System Annual Report and other valuable DFCS publications are posted on the DFCS website.
- 9/17/2008: The US House passed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (HR 6893).
- 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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