Lawyers for Children

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Lawyers For Children (LFC) was created in 1984 with the mission to advocate on behalf of children in foster care in New York City. [1] LFC also advocates for immigration rights, [2] mental health services, [3] and victims of child sexual abuse, [4] in addition to providing evaluations and education.

Lawyers For Children has represented more than 40,000 foster, adopted, and abused children and young adults. Lawyers For Children participated in the case Nicholson v. Williams, a class action suit "that forced the NYC Administration for Children’s Services to do case-by-case evaluations to determine if removal is necessary rather than automatic if a parent is a victim of domestic violence." [5] LFC has been recognized for its best-practices advocacy model in which attorneys are paired with social workers to represent each and every LFC client.

In 2008, the organization received the American Bar Association's Hodson Award for "sustained, outstanding performance or a specific and extraordinary service by a government or public sector law office". [6]

Related Research Articles

Child advocacy refers to a range of individuals, professionals and advocacy organizations who speak out on the best interests of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically seeks to protect children's rights which may be abridged or abused in a number of areas.

Child abuse Maltreatment or neglect of a child

Child abuse or child maltreatment is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to act by a parent or a caregiver that results in actual or potential harm to a child and can occur in a child's home, or in the organizations, schools, or communities the child interacts with.

Child protection Protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse

Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to ensure this is by giving them quality education, the fourth of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to other child protection systems.

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. When force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester. The term also covers any behavior by an adult or older adolescent towards a child to stimulate any of the involved sexually. The use of a child, or other individuals younger than the age of consent, for sexual stimulation is referred to as child sexual abuse or statutory rape. Live streaming sexual abuse involves trafficking and coerced sexual acts and or rape in real time on webcam.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, established in 1989, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization support group of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters in the United States. Barbara Blaine, a survivor of sex abuse by a priest, was the founding president. SNAP, which initially focused on the Roman Catholic Church, has 12,000 members in 56 countries. It has branches for religious groups, such as SNAP Baptist, SNAP Orthodox, and SNAP Presbyterian, for non-religious groups, and for geographic regions, e.g., SNAP Australia and SNAP Germany.

Brevard County, Florida tries to provide a number of unique services to help the aged, juveniles, the physically and mentally handicapped, and minorities.

Astrid Heppenstall Heger is a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine and the founder and Executive Director of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in East Los Angeles.

Children at Risk

CHILDREN AT RISK is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that drives change for children through research, education, and influencing public policy. Founded in 1989 in Houston, Texas and with an office opened in North Texas in 2011, the organization focuses on the well-being of children and educates legislators on the importance of key children's issues. While focusing on a variety of issues, the primary issues are human trafficking, food insecurity, education, and parenting. CHILDREN AT RISK also has a North Texas office in Dallas. Some of CHILDREN AT RISK's previous primary issues were juvenile justice, mental health, and Latino children.

Child sexual abuse, also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child, indecent exposure, child grooming, and child sexual exploitation, including using a child to produce child pornography.

Children's Institute Inc. (CII) is a nonprofit organization that provides services to children and families healing from the effects of family and community violence within Los Angeles. Founded in 1906 by Minnie Barton, Los Angeles's first female probation officer, the organization was first designed to help troubled young women who found themselves adrift in Los Angeles." The organization has since expanded its services to at-risk youth in Los Angeles who are affected by child abuse, neglect domestic and gang violence as well as poverty. CII is a multi-service organization that combines evidence-based clinical services, youth development programs and family support services designed to address the whole child and entire family. The organization provides various forms of trauma support—including therapy, intervention services, parenting workshops, early childcare programs and other support services offered in English, Spanish and Korean.

Research published from 2000 to 2020 illustrates increased prevalence rates of sexual violence against people with intellectual disabilities compared to the general population.:61 The World Health Organization funded a study that found 15% of the adult population worldwide have a disability, putting them at increased risk of physical, sexual, and intimate partner violence. Of that 15%, 6.1% or an estimated 7,008,716,704 adults worldwide have intellectual disability with 5.5% experiencing sexual violence. In another report, the WHO found that worldwide, children with intellectual disabilities experience a 4.6 times greater risk of sexual violence than those without disability. In the United States, The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in the National Crime Victimization Survey the rate of sexual violence for those with an intellectual disability is five times higher than for those without any disability. Both men and women with intellectual disabilities experience sexual violence that includes rape, sexual coercion without physical force, and sexual experiences without physical contact. Perpetrators of sexual violence are not only strangers but can be caregivers, acquaintances, and intimate partners. The perpetrator of the assault often determines if the crime will be reported.

Victim Rights Law Center

The Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC) is a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to victims of rape and sexual assault in Massachusetts and Oregon. Established in 2003, it became the first nonprofit law center in the United States solely dedicated to serving the legal needs of sexual assault victims. The VRLC mission is to "provide legal representation to victims of rape and sexual assault to help rebuild their lives and to promote a national movement committed to seeking justice for every rape and sexual assault victim." VRLC also seeks to transform the legal response to sexual assault in the United States.

Shari Karney

Shari Lynn Karney is an American attorney, incest-survivor activist, and bar exam test preparation company owner.

David A. Wolfe

David Allen Wolfe is an academic, psychologist and author specializing in issues of child abuse, domestic violence, children and youth. His work includes the promotion of healthy relationships through school programs, with a major focus on the prevention of child abuse and neglect, bullying, dating violence, unsafe sex, substance abuse and other consequences of unhealthy relationships.

Child sexual abuse laws in India have been enacted as part of the child protection policies of India. The Parliament of India passed the 'Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill (POCSO), 2011' regarding child sexual abuse on 22 May 2012 into an Act. The rules formulated by the government in accordance with the law have also been notified on the November 2012 and the law has become ready for implementation. There have been many calls for more stringent laws.

David L. Corwin is a board-certified psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, and forensic psychiatrist. Corwin has done extensive work into the long-term impact of child violence and abuse on health, and has promoted family support and treatment programs. Corwin has worked as a consultant, a lecturer, a trainer, and an evaluator of suspected or known child sexual abuse cases throughout many countries, as well as serving as an expert witness of child sexual abuse cases. Corwin has founded, directed or chaired groups that serve to advance prevention and protection against child violence and abuse, as well as furthering the education and research of the impact of child abuse.

Stephen Estey is a California attorney at law, the founding partner of Estey & Bomberger, LLP a personal injury law firm in San Diego, CA, and a child molestation victims attorney.

Safe Horizon

Safe Horizon, formerly the Victim Services Agency, is the largest victim services nonprofit organization in the United States, providing social services for victims of abuse and violent crime in 57 locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Safe Horizon provides social services to over 250,000 victims of violent crime and abuse and their families per year. It has over 800 employees, and has programs for victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking, as well as homeless youth and the families of homicide victims. Safe Horizon's website has been accessible for the Spanish-speaking population since 2012. Safe Horizon has an annual budget of over $63 million.

Hendrika Bestebreurtje Cantwell is an American retired physician, professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver, advocate for abused and neglected children, and parenting educator. She was one of the first physicians in the United States to work for a child protection agency, serving with the Denver Department of Social Services from 1975 to 1989. Her work there brought her in contact with an estimated 30,000 cases of suspected child abuse and she testified as an expert witness in thousands of court cases. An author of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and teaching manuals on the detection and treatment of child abuse, she has also conducted workshops and training programs for professionals throughout Colorado. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1990.

Sexual abuse in primary and secondary schools concerns child sexual abuse occurring in educational institutions from kindergarten through secondary education.

References

  1. "Our Mission". LawyersForChildren. Lawyers For Children, Inc. 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  2. "Immigration". LawyersForChildren. Lawyers For Children, Inc. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  3. "Mental Health Project". LawyersForChildren. Lawyers For Children, Inc. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  4. "CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE EVALUATION & EDUCATION PROJECT". LawyersForChildren. Lawyers For Children, Inc. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012.
  5. Nicholson v. Scoppetta, 116 Fed. Appx. 313, November 29, 2004.
  6. "Hodson Award". ABA - American Bar Association. The American Bar Association. Retrieved August 18, 2017.