United Nations Presentation on Child Welfare and Child’s Rights

9 June 2011

Jennifer De Mucci

The CoNGO Committee on Child Rights held its monthly meeting on 9 June from 3:30pm-5:00pm in the 7th floor conference room at UNICEF. This meeting marked the final gathering of the committee until September.

The meeting commenced with a presentation from guest speaker, Ira Lustbader, Esq. Mr. Lustbader is the Associate Director of New York-based Children’s Rights, a US advocacy group working to “reform the failing child welfare systems and fighting to enshrine in the law of the land every child’s right to be protected from abuse and neglect and to grow up in a safe, stable, permanent home.” Mr. Lustbader presented the grim picture of the current state of affairs within the United States in regards to the mistreatment of children within the foster care system. He reported there are over 3.3 million cases of reported abuse within the United States and 450,000 of these abused children are within the state run foster care system. He spoke of a case in which an infant suffered severe abuse within the foster homes and was in and out of foster care within 11 months. Another tragic case consisted of a severely abused foster child who moved from shelter to shelter and whose situation was ignored by case workers. According Mr. Lustbader, many of the problems which arise within the system are due to overworked and undertrained staffers who poorly monitor both the foster homes and facilities. Oftentimes, suspected abuse does not get investigated. Additionally, younger children are not matched within foster care based on their individual needs, and often separated from their parents or siblings. Moreover, basic education services are not available to these children, and many often end up homeless or incarcerated once they have aged out of the system at 18. The trauma from constant moving coupled with the trauma resulting from frequent abuse prevents many of these children from having a chance at a positive and healthy future. Following Mr. Lustabader’s presentation, the members of the committee were stirred by the emotional stories of children abused within the faulty child welfare system, yet also made hopeful at the fact that there is a team of dedicated individuals who are diligently campaigning to pressure the state to reform its policies of child welfare.

The remainder of the committee meeting focused on planning for upcoming events. Immediate focus is on the High Level Meeting of Youth to be held at the United Nations on July 25th and 26th. Committee member, Mahroo Moshari of the Manhattan Multicultural Counseling has organized a side event highlighting: “Youth Interfaith Dialogue for Mutual Understanding.” ATOP representative, Jennifer De Mucci has volunteered to aid Ms. Moshari in the organization of these side event which is in line with ATOP’s mission toward promoting meaningful dialogue amongst peoples of different faiths and backgrounds, empowering the youth, and instilling the value of sacred activism.