December 12, 2006
When a parent or a caregiver is charged with child abuse and
neglect, the goal of the proceeding is to determine what is best
for the child. But the children involved in those proceedings
often find the child welfare system to be confusing and difficult
to navigate. To help these children understand what is
happening to them, the Child
Advocacy Clinic at St. John’s University School of Law has
created “Timmy’s Story: Explaining the Child Welfare System to
Our Youth.” This informational brochure will be made
available to all children who are the subject of abuse and neglect
proceedings in New York City. Using simple text and colorful
drawings, the brochure is designed to introduce children to the New
York State Family Court child abuse and neglect process, while
alleviating some of their fears and reassuring them that there are
adults available to listen to them and to express their wishes to
the Court.
• Timmy’s
Story
The brochure was the result of a collaborative process between
the School of Law’s Child Advocacy Clinic and the Department of
Fine Arts at St. John’s University. The text was written by
Professor Theresa Hughes and law students Stephanie Tabone,
James VanDette, Kerry Jamieson, and Michael Kelly. The
artwork and design were created by Tim Rauch under the direction of
Professor Aaris Sherin. The project was supported by a grant
from the United States Department of Justice.
The Child Advocacy Clinic, founded in 2005, is a program within
the St. Vincent de Paul Legal Program, Inc. at the law
school. With a staff of law students under the supervision of
Professor Hughes, the Clinic provides multidisciplinary
representation to children who are subjects of child abuse and
neglect proceedings in New York State Family Court.
Contact information
St. John’s University School of Law
Child
Advocacy Clinic
8000 Utopia Parkway
Queens, New York 11439
(718) 990-2937
This project was supported by Grant #2006-JL-FX-K023 awarded by
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, office
of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.