|
|
 |
|
|
|
KidsCounsel
Important News from Center for Children's Advocacy April 2009 |
|
|
Welcome!
Center for Children's Advocacy's
first online issue of KidsCounsel News
We have a lot of important information to share with you, and our new online format will help us be in touch more easily.
This issue includes an update on Sheff - as the case turns twenty this month; stories about our clients; upcoming events and seminars; and legal information on topics of importance to attorneys and child advocates.
This is a difficult time for us. We lost significant foundation funding when one of our generous donors folded due to the Madoff scandal, and cutbacks in Connecticut Bar Foundation funding have forced us to make recent staff cuts. This loss of revenue unfortunately occurs in an environment where the needs of vulnerable children continue to increase and our help is needed more than ever.
Please consider helping us continue our work during these difficult times by making a donation to Center for Children's Advocacy. Remember, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month!
|
 |
Progress? Sheff turns Twenty |
|
|
Two decades of hard-won progress toward giving Hartford's schoolchildren desegregated, equal educational opportunity will be unraveled if the budget submitted to the General Assembly by Gov. M. Jodi Rell is approved.
Thousands of schoolchildren have attended city schools as the Sheff v. O'Neill lawsuit, filed April 27, 1989, went through several court battles to win for them the right to a
better education. But despite the victory in the state Supreme Court more than 12 years ago, the state's efforts to guarantee these students their constitutional right to an equal educational opportunity have been fitful.
It took another trial more than a year ago, a third mediated settlement agreement by the parties, approval by the legislature and a court order last June before a Comprehensive Management Plan - a blueprint for change - was finally developed by the state to implement progress.
There have been extraordinary gains over the past eight months . . . But the governor, in her latest Sheff-related budget requests to the legislature, would stall
this positive trajectory. read more
|
|
Upcoming Events and Seminars |
|
|
Sheff 20th Anniversary Event
April 27, 2009 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford
Featuring Susan Eaton, author of The Children in Room E4
The Effect of the Economy on Children's Legislative Issues
Burroughs Community Center, Bridgeport Senator Musto, Chair, Select Committee on Children
Carolyn Signorelli, Chief Child Protection Attorney
Brian Mattiello, Director of Strategic Initiatives, DCF
Josh Michtom, Attorney, Center for Children's Advocacy
|
|
DCF Distributes New Legal Rights Materials to Youth |
|
|
New Legal Rights Publications from Center for Children's Advocacy are Distributed to Hundreds of Connecticut Youth
CCA recently released two very important legal rights publications that are being distributed by the Department of Children and Families to youth throughout Connecticut.
Life after Lock-Up, an easy to understand legal rights book that assists youth returning to their schools and communities from detention, residential placement or the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, was written and published by the Center for Children's Advocacy. The Department of Children and Families is distributing this important book to help youth with the challenge of successful school and community reintegration. read more
I Will Speak Up for Myself: Your Legal Rights in Shelters, Group Homes, STAR Homes and Residential Treatment Facilities, includes a legal rights question and answer book and a DVD on the legal rights of youth living in congregate care. CCA's newly revised book was requested by the Department of Children and Families for distribution to every youth entering group facilities in the state. read more
|
|
Our Kids, Their Stories |
|
|
Baya*, born in Nigeria, lost her mother when she was six months old.
Baya was cared for by her maternal grandmother, but when she was eight, her grandmother died and her father, whom she had never met, arranged to bring her to his home in the U.S. to take over her care.
Within a short time, both her father and stepmother were physically abusing her.
Following custom, other members of the Nigerian community intervened and assumed Baya's care. Baya's father turned over her documents and ceased all support and contact with her.
Baya always assumed that there was no way she could get legal status in this country and never sought assistance to address the matter. She became an exceptional student, earning money during high school by winning writing competitions, becoming valedictorian of her class, and receiving a full scholarship to a very prestigious university.
Just before her 18th birthday, Baya mentioned her situation to someone in the international student office at her university, who referred her to the United States Commission on Refugees and Immigrants. read more
* name and descriptive information have been changed to preserve our client's confidentiality |
|
Important Information for Attorneys and Advocates |
 |
|
Pending State Legislation
Center for Children's Advocacy is active on legislative issues that impact child abuse, health, education and juvenile justice.
CCA Releases Important Report on
Latinas at Risk of Truancy
CCA's Education Consultant, Andrea Spencer, PhD,
and Olga Romero, PhD, release new report
Las Niņas Silenciadas:
Broken Links between Language, Culture and Learning
Judges Help Truancy Project at Burr and Quirk Schools
CCA's Truancy Court Prevention Project (TCPP) has been working in Hartford schools since 2004. Through a combination of case management services and legal advocacy, the TCPP helps remove barriers to school attendance. This year, Superior Court Judge Stephen Frazzini, Superior Court Judge Raymond Norko, and Appellate Court Judge Douglas Lavine are working with students at Burr and Quirk Schools to help them stay on track and stay in school.
New Case Law
|
|
Would you help? |
|
|
April is Child Abuse Awareness Month.
Please help by making a donation to
Center for Children's Advocacy.
|
|
Comments, Questions, Feedback? |
|
|
Center for Children's Advocacy
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
