First Star Inc

Second Edition State-By-State Report Card Shows Improving Grades in Some States;

Most Leave Children's Voices Muted in Legal Proceedings That Decide Their Fate

Stronger State/Federal Laws Needed

WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 - Most U.S. states do not adequately protect the rights of abused and

neglected children, leaving our most vulnerable citizens exposed to the vagaries of the juvenile court system

without adequate legal representation, according to a state-by-state study conducted by two national child

advocacy organizations.

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New Book Calls for Immediate Systemic Changes to Child Welfare Systems

To End Epidemic of Child Abuse

WASHINGTON DC (Nov.18, 2008) - A sobering new book, Childhood Denied: Ending the Nightmare of Child Abuse and Neglect, presents an urgent new agenda for the next President, the new Congress, and statehouses across the country to remedy the appalling problem of child abuse and neglect. Every year in America, nearly one million children are victims of abuse and neglect and more than 1,500 of them die - the result of a child welfare system that is in dire need of reform.

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First Star to Launch National Campaign to Strengthen State and

Federal Laws Protecting Abused and Neglected Children
 

WASHINGTON , April 24, 2007 - Nearly half of U.S. states fail to provide legal representation

for abused and neglected foster children, leaving them without a voice during judicial

proceedings that profoundly impact their futures, a new study found. The peer-reviewed study -

A Child's Right to Counsel: First Star's National Report Card on Legal Representation for

Children - was released today by First Star, a leading national child advocacy organization.

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