Speaker Series on Children’s Rights

Posted by on February 16, 2009

In recognition of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Center for Children and Childhood Studies together with the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice and the Rutgers University School of Law is sponsoring a series of speakers and panel sessions focusing on several aspects of children’s rights.  The series will begin with an overview of issues associated with the concept of children’s rights presented by Professor John Wall of the Rutgers Department of Philosophy and Religion.  Subsequent panels will focus on a diverse range of subjects:  the rights of children whose parents are incarcerated; children’s rights in the juvenile justice and foster care systems; and immigrant children’s rights.  The series will close with a presentation on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children by Professor Barbara Bennett Woodhouse from the University of Florida College of Law.

All presentations will be held from 4:30 to 6:00 pm and all are welcome to attend.  Light refreshments will be served and locations for March and April events will be announced.

For additional information please visit http://children.camden.rutgers.edu

February
A Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents
Monday, February 23 – Room E403, Law School

Panelist:    Philip Genty, Professor, Columbia University School of Law
Ann Adalist-Estrin, Director, National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated
This panel will also feature a student who is a child of an incarcerated parent

March
The Rights of Children in the Juvenile Justice System
Thursday, March 5
Panelist:    JC Lore, Co-Director, Children’s Justice Clinic, Rutgers University School of Law
Sandra Simkins, Co-Director, Children’s Justice Clinic, Rutgers University School of Law
Lordes Rosado, Esq., Juvenile Law Center, Philadelphia

When a Child is Alone: The Rights of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children
Monday, March 23
Panelist:    Ilze Earner, Assistant Professor, Hunter College School of Social Work
Kaitlin Lord, Community Resource Developer, Lutheran Child and Family Services, Philadelphia
This panel will also feature a youth who is an unaccompanied immigrant

April
Children in Foster Care:  Rights, Reality and Remedies
Wednesday, April 1
Representatives from New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services; Children’s Rights, Inc., New York City; and the Support Center for Child Advocates of Philadelphia will discuss the rights of children in foster care.  The panel will also feature two former foster care youth.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children
Thursday, April 16
Speaker:     Barbara Woodhouse, David H. Levin Chair in Family Law and Director, Center for Children and Families, University of Florida College of Law