The Children's Rights Litigation Committee (formerly the Task Force on Children) was created by the Section of Litigation to address the vast underrepresentation of children in all aspects of the legal system. The Committee endeavors to increase the number of children's legal projects and pro bono attorneys to represent children, along with providing training materials and programs in order to assist advocates in providing the highest quality of representation for children.

The Committee has the unique ability to help local groups who are interested in starting or improving children's legal programs. We have a working group of nationally known children's law practitioners who can assist groups interested in starting children's law projects by providing organizational materials that serve as a blueprint for establishing the program and by providing the expertise of members to assist the groups in designing their plans to meet the specific needs of children in their communities.

Additionally, the Committee provides assistance in the recruitment and training of volunteers, including:

1. Helping projects share training materials.
2. Providing experts for training when possible.
3. Assisting projects' outreach to potential volunteers through customized direct mailings (sorting the ABA membership list by zip code and practice area) and by publicizing trainings in ABA publications.
4. Recruiting volunteer attorneys at ABA conferences.

The Children's Rights Litigation Committee sponsors programs at the Section's Annual and ABA Annual and Midyear Meetings to train attorneys in the representation of children and to disseminate information about the plight of children in the legal system. The Children's Rights Litigation Committee also publishes a Directory of Pro Bono Children's Law Programs [PDF], presently in its fourth edition, which is a compilation of children's law programs across the country.

If you have or know of a resource that would assist other children’s lawyers providing representation in education, immigration, delinquency, or child welfare matters, please consider sharing the resource through the committee’s website.

Looking for a lawyer for a child? Our committee cannot provide legal advice or referrals to lawyers, but findlegalhelp.org may put you in touch with a lawyer who may be able to assist you. Click here for more information.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the state does not have the legal authority to divert the Social Security benefits of foster children to reimburse itself for the cost of their foster care when it is not in the best interest of the children.

Saying the Kansas Juvenile Justice Code has become "more akin to an adult prosecution," the state Supreme Court today ruled 6-1 that juveniles have a constitutional right to a jury trial.

Updated on January 16, 2007
The Directory contains listings of children's law projects including information about areas of representation, availability of manuals and literature, training sessions, and opportunities for volunteers. Also included are sections on law school clinics and resource centers.

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