Personalities and Profiles

  • PREPARING the Next Generation of Child Advocates: Let the Children Speak!

    A report on the Harvard Law/ABA conference.

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    Statutory Minimum Standards Needed

    Certainly child welfare services are a complex undertaking, and children and families' needs vary, so reaching consensus on enforceable minimum standards on certain measures might present challenges. Such standards are sometimes attacked as being artificial and even arbitrary, but the fact that standards might in some respects reflect compromise, including among professionals, does not mean that they could not be fair, particularly if they are based on research and data.

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    Using New Media to Fight Child Abuse and Neglect

    Despite the best efforts of child advocates, the "daily plight of the thousands of abused and neglected children languishing for years in foster care has never been taken up by Americans as a major public issue," according to communications consultant Geoffrey Knox. But Knox believes that the tools of new media may just be powerful enough to capture the attention of the American public and create a new generation of activists.

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    Never too late for a Christmas message of hope

    During the holidays, Marian Wright Edelman, the president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund posted a moving message, for all seasons, on the CDF site. It tells the story of a young boy who perhaps doesn't quite understand his role in a Christmas pageant, but understands better than most of us what Christmas is about.

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    Learning from other activists

    My dad was a life-long animal lover, and when he died recently, he asked me to make donations to several leading animal welfare groups. Since then, I have been struck by the vibrancy and effectiveness of the animal protection movement. I am sure I'm not the first to ask why there's not an equally vibrant and visible movement on behalf of neglected and abused children.