April 2008 Congressional Briefing and Report Release:
“State Secrecy and Child Deaths in the U.S.”
First Star and the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law have jointly released a groundbreaking study on public disclosure of information concerning child deaths and near deaths in foster care in the U.S. The federal Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA), which provides every state with foster care funding, aims to protect the confidentiality of child victims. However, more often than not, it is the state and its agencies that are protected by shielding information about child deaths and near-deaths from public scrutiny. This report summarizes each state’s public disclosure laws and grades each state based on various criteria such as what triggers disclosure, how much information is disclosed, and exceptions to disclosure. The goal is to raise national public awareness of this alarming issue and ignite legislative reform efforts in poorly performing states. Increased transparency of dependency court proceedings and records will lead to greater accountability, consistency, and ultimately, to fewer children dying in foster care.
Campaign for a Child’s Right to Counsel
In April 2007, First Star published the first-ever National Report Card on Legal Representation for Children, a national report card evaluating all fifty states' statutory requirements to provide abused and neglected children with traditional attorneys in dependency proceedings. The results of our research were alarming – fifteen states failed, and another six received D’s. Responses to this highly publicized report led us to come up with solutions to address this problem. We drafted an initial Model Law for the Representation of Abused and Neglected Children to be used by poorly performing states who wish to improve their grades. First Star is excited to announce that our Model Law has been the basis for a new partnership with the American Bar Association to introduce a joint First Star-ABA Model Law at the ABA’s August 2008 Annual Meeting. This would mark a major movement in the children’s rights movement and would catalyze Right to Counsel reform efforts in many states. In addition, on the heels of our recent litigation victories in John G. and Perez-Olano, First Star has embarked on a targeted litigation campaign to draw further attention to the due process and constitutional elements of this important issue.
Multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence
Based at Columbia Law School, the University of San Diego School of Law, and the University of Florida Levin College of Law, First Star’s Multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence (MCEs) have been established to provide unparalleled multidisciplinary curriculum to wide array of professionals who work on behalf of maltreated children. The MCEs will offer accredited continuing education courses for professionals working in areas relevant to children and child protection – teachers, counselors, therapists, social workers, nurses and doctors, police officers, guardians ad litem, attorneys, and judges. A state-of-the-art distance-learning component will link the partner institutions, and make the curriculum available to individuals across the country. As best practices are discussed, analyzed and taught in MCE classrooms, faculty and students will lead the way in raising advocacy standards and preventing re-traumatization of child victims across the United States and worldwide.
National Institute of Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence at NIH
First Star is working with the Steve Nash Foundation on the creation of a National Institute of Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence (CAIV) within the National Institutes of Health. Such a project would bring unprecedented national research coordination, dissemination, and advancement on the many issues surrounding child abuse and interpersonal violence. In addition, the creation of such an institute could have an immediate impact on bringing issues of child abuse to center stage in Congress and in the public eye. The proposed project would be a shared one among First Star, the Steve Nash Foundation, and a diverse coalition of interested and related organizations. At this time, First Star is engaged in a preliminary outreach and research campaign to determine strategic partnerships and support for such a project.
Documentary Collaboration
First Star is collaborating with a London-based documentarian to bring about a full-length documentary film about the child welfare system in America and the children whose lives are touched by it. He aims to focus on five to seven children and base his coverage of the system on their dramatic and compelling personal experiences as they pass through it. The film will be shot in various U.S. cities, and he hopes to portray a variety of different jurisdictions in action. It will be shown in the U.S. and the U.K.
Child Abuse Book to Benefit First Star
Dr. Kathleen Reardon and Christopher Noblet have completed a manuscript entitled, ENABLING CHILD ABUSE: How American Policy Perpetuates Child Abuse and What We Can Do About It, which Sage Publications is scheduled to release in 2008. First Star has been engaged in dialogue with our partners and advisors to maximize the impact of the book and to ensure its resounding success.
First Star Web Campaign
First Star has begun to take our fight for children’s rights to the web, and have developed preliminary pages on MySpace and Facebook. We are also working with Los Angeles staff and partners to develop an online blog for former foster children who have aged out of the system, aged 18-25, to share their stories, writing, art, resources and inspiration with each other, and with the public if they choose.
2008 Presidential Campaign Survey
Election 2008 presents an exciting opportunity to make child welfare and legal protection for children prominent campaign issues by recording candidates’ positions and publicizing that information in the form of an online candidate platform summaries. We aim to secure commitments from candidates to support First Star’s agenda during their campaigns.
