WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 15, 2005) – First Star has announced that Columbia Law School and the University of Florida Levin College of Law will join the University of San Diego School of Law as collaborative partners in establishing the First Star Multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence (MCEs). The MCEs will teach child advocacy to the entire range of professionals responsible for the welfare of abused and neglected children across the United States, such as lawyers, judges, doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers and police officers.

"Children in the foster care and child protective services systems meet and interact with a sea of faces, all working to bring about a happy ending," says Peter Samuelson, cofounder and president of First Star. "But without understanding the multidisciplinary nature of abuse cases, these professionals are often at odds, engaging in senseless turf battles. The First Star MCE curriculum is designed to level the playing field so that the ultimate victor is truly the child."

First Star and its university partners are working to raise funds to endow the MCE program at Columbia, the University of Florida and the University of San Diego. The goal for each site is an initial $2 million. First Star is committed to bringing best practices to child welfare in America through the enhancement of laws that affect abused or neglected children and the systems that support them. First Star’s emphasis on “highest and best” practices and better outcomes directly benefits children in child protective services, family courts and foster care systems across the United States and plants the seeds for long-term change in the way our society treats children.

At the University of Florida, the First Star MCE will be administered through the Center on Children and Families, one of the fastest-growing programs at the Levin College of Law. The Center offers the Certificate in Family Law, which allows students to work with children through the law school's Child Welfare Clinic, the "Gator TeamChild" juvenile law clinic, family law externships, and fellowships that enable students to work on Friend of the Court briefs in cases related to children's welfare.

"Our mission is to make sure the interest of the child isn't lost in the workings of the legal system," said Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, director of the center. "When children become involved in the courts, they come into contact with a number of different agencies, each with a different goal. It's not uncommon for a single child to testify in a divorce case, a domestic abuse case, and a child abuse case. Our goal is to make sure each case is built around the needs of the child."

First Star is also working to establish Multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence at the University of San Diego School of Law and Columbia Law School. Each institution would serve as a regional center for teaching child advocacy to judges, doctors, lawyers, social workers and others in the child protective system.

Columbia Law School intends to draw on its long history of teaching child and family advocacy from an interdisciplinary perspective, engaging other graduate schools including social work, public health, and medicine in addressing the complexities of representing young people in multiple public welfare systems.

“Children are faced with myriad issues when the child welfare system intervenes in their lives,” said Jane Spinak, the Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic at Columbia. “The child's educational, health, psychological and emotional needs come to mind first. But as we establish a relationship with a child client, we uncover additional concerns related to immigration status, substance abuse, domestic violence, homelessness or criminal justice. Addressing these issues effectively as an advocate requires significant interdisciplinary learning.”

Based in Washington D.C., First Star is the preeminent national 501c3 organization dedicated to improving life for America’s most vulnerable children. First Star’s strategic approach incorporates four programs that work in tandem toward positive outcomes for victims of abuse and neglect: Research, Education, Public Policy and Public Awareness. With its emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach, First Start acts as a catalyst for long-term advancements in the prevention of child abuse, maltreatment, and neglect. First Star is a pro bono project of Sullivan & Worcester LLP.