Council For Childrens Rights Inc

Education Advocacy (ELP):Education advocacy- the council 's attorneys and advocates serve as best interestadvocates for children who need services. These advocates work in the complex area of special education, mental health, child welfare (abuse, neglect and dependency), public benefits, domestic violence and human trafficking. The council receives almost all these cases by court order through the district court, and occasionally through community referrals from concerned parents, guardians,relatives or others who contact the council's office. the council helps clients navigate compels social services systems so they can receive appropriate services to meet their needs. when advocacy or other intervention efforts are unsuccessful, the council can use impact litigation on behalf of an individual child to ensure that the child's legal rights are protected. the council specializes in working with children who have complex needs in multiples social services systems, who are at risk of languishing and falling through the cracks.

Custody Advocacy (CAP):Custody Advocacy- the council serves as the court appointed best interest attorney to represent the best interests of children who are caught in the middle of highconflict custody cases. Using a combination of staff attorneys, volunteer attorneysand volunteer child advocates, the council ensures that the child's voice is heardand that the judge has all the necessary information to make a decision that is inthe best interest of the child. The council receive cases through court appointmentform a district court judge; the program operates only through a court-ordered feebased on the income of the parties. The council represents only the child- not the court or the parents.

System Advocacy (Research):System Advocacy- the council identifies gaps in services to children and promotesimprovement in those services so fewer children fall into crisis. We championimprovement both through our own communications and by encouraging others to joinour advocacy. the council seeks to influence the learners of local and stategovernments to adopt new policies and to improve existing laws so all childrenreceive effective and efficient services. The council informs the public about howsystems are succeeding and where systems are falling to provide the services ourchildren need to be safe, healthy, and educated. We encourage the community to joinus in action to celebrate successes and to advocate for the correction of failures.Research is the core of the council's improvement of services for all children. Our research work draws on a wealth of information to guide our adoption and implementation of the best practices for helping children to be safe, healthy and educated. First, we capture and analyze our direct knowledge of the legal and social systems serving children in our community and the firsthand data accumulated from more than 35 years of standing up for children. Second, we collaborate with our communitys children and the solutions that work. Finally, we apply research from outside resources to confirm indemnified needs and to validate proposed solutions.