The Council for Children's Rights provides high-quality representation for thousands of children in our community. But many more children need your support. Help us invest in children by unlocking their potential -   

  make a gift to the Council today. 

The Council unlocked potential for over 2,500 kids last year. Some of the ways we served the community included:

• Educating over 3,700 people in the community about the issues facing children, and enlisting many to help find solutions to these issues.
• Expanding the successful Holistic Juvenile Representation program to serve more children. This program, fashioned after the nationally recognized Systems of Care model and piloted in Mecklenburg County in 2009 by the Council, works to wrap support around first time offenders so they can realize their potential, and ultimately not be charged with a second crime.
• Implementing Guardian Ad Litem representation for children in custody through delinquency; children who had previously fallen through the cracks of the juvenile justice system.
• Leading the community in the 55 for 5 Campaign, which worked with the School Board and county commissioners to save funding for early education for approximately 3,000 children.

Unfortunately, we are unable to help every child in our community that needs help. With over 234,000 children living in Charlotte, there is so much more we can do with YOUR HELP. For example:

• Almost 16,000 more children are living in poverty than in 2007.
• Last year there were over 6,800 reports of child abuse and neglect.
• Of the 6,000 children in Charlotte with developmental disabilities, fewer than 2,000 received early intervention services to identify and address developmental delays.
• There was a 50% failure rate for grade level reading and math scores for economically disadvantaged 3^rd graders.
• Mecklenburg was one of six counties that showed a decrease in graduation rates. In fact, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools had the lowest graduation rate in the region,  72.2%.  Yet, CMS also has some of the region's highest graduation rates at individual schools.  This means there is a huge disparity between schools in our county.  

The Council provides high-quality representation for children in our community. The challenge is that we do not have the ability to serve every child in need. Here are just a few examples - and the opportunities that accompany them: 

As you can see, the challenges are significant; but we at the Council for Children's Rights believe that each child in our community deserves every chance to succeed. Join us on this journey as we help children unlock their potential - make a gift today.

My Best,

Brett A. Loftis, J.D.,

Executive Director, Council for Children's Rights

There are hundreds of law firms serving adults in Mecklenburg County consisting of over 4,400 attorneys...there is one law firm serving all children in Mecklenburg County.  We do it with 13 attorneys.