Dear Friends, There is nothing more tragic than the suffering of a child. Each year, approximately 120,000 Pennsylvania children receive child-welfare services. More than 3,000 children are victims of child abuse, and many more experience domestic or sexual violence that fall outside the official definition of child abuse. Over the last eight “Together we can begin years, more than 350 Pennsylvania children died as a result of child abuse. The Support Center for Child Advocates (Child Advocates) provides legal and social the transformation process in services to children in Philadelphia who have been abused and neglected and are the lives of the children who facing the uncertainty of the child welfare system. Appointed to represent children in some of the most complex cases in Philadelphia’s dependency and criminal courts depend upon and richly – sibling groups, kids in kinship care, medically-needy boys and girls, and young victims of sexual abuse – our caseload is ever increasing. We served 838 children deserve our help.” during our Fiscal Year 2010 and 873 during Fiscal Year 2011. Every one of the children has a story. When they come to us, it is one of trauma and pain, but through the dedication of our volunteer attorneys, and with the guidance of Child Advocates social workers and lawyers, these stories become tales of triumph. Although these numbers and needs are disheartening, we are fortunate that so many people in the community come together to make a difference in each child’s life. We are indebted to many for advice, support and advocacy, with whose help we can meet the needs of these kids and bring them a better chance for a happily ever after. Together, we can change the story. With the commitment of our talented staff and the perseverance of our loyal volunteers, together with the true benevolence of our individual, corporate and foundation donors, Child Advocates contributes to our community. Most importantly, together we can begin the transformation process in the lives of the children who depend upon and richly deserve our help. The following report covers the time period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011 (FY10 and FY11). With a side-by-side comparison, you can see our growth over this time period. We continue to increase our staff, provide more trainings, develop new initiatives and programs, and ultimately serve more children. We are able to achieve so much only with the support of hundreds of people throughout the community. We welcome you to get involved — join us in our work with children who have been abused and neglected and help us give them a chance for a safe and secure future. KATAYUN I. JAFFARI LEONARD A. BERNSTEIN FRANK P. CERVONE President Past President, 2007-2011 Executive Director Board of Directors Jo Rosenberger Altman Gail Greenspon Jane Robinson* Mark Stewart Montgomery, McCracken, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network UBS Financial Services Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP Walker & Rhoades LLP Beth Hanssens* Suzanne Root* Anthony Stover Kimberlee Washington Barr Sprout Attorney at Law Promo Marketing PricewaterhouseCoopers Rosemarie Hoslyn* Matthew Siegel* Audrey Talley Jeffrey Barrack De Lage Landen Financial Services Cozen O’Connor Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP Barrack, Rodos & Bacine Katayun Jaffari* David Silverman* Thomas Tammany Saul Ewing LLP Curley, Hessinger & Johnsrud Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, PC Leonard Bernstein Reed Smith LLP Katherine Kelton* Stuart Sklar Joe Tucker* ARAMARK CDI Corporation Tucker Law Group LLC Andrea Broad Karen Lessin William Stassen Ilene Wasserman* Jill Felix Colton* Independence Blue Cross Fox Rothschild LLP ICW Consulting Group Victoria Demo* Sherri Krensel* *Current Members Citizens Bank of PA Workplace Environments 2000 Joe DeSimone* Bruce Lev* Marcum LLP LevLane Staff Laurie Ayler* Sandra Lavini* Gary Deutsch* Raymond McCullough Frank Cervone* Marti Little* PNC Bank, NA Pennsylvania Convention Center Xia Chen* Rebecca Mainor Christopher Dunne Janie Mershon* A.B. Clarke* Patricia Marino-Bongiovanni Cooper, Morrison & Dunne Attorney at Law Pascalina Delmas* William McHale Kathleen Egan* Edward Ohlbaum* Kristyn DiDominick R. Allison Modica Radian Guaranty Beasley School of Law, Temple Alexandra Dolan* Gina Morrison* University Debra Fickler* Muhammida El Muhajir* Moira Mulroney* Villanova University Kathy Ochroch* Pamela Ende* Chandra Palmer* Ronald Fisher Blank Rome LLP Devon Ferguson* Milagros Roca* MillCrest Law LLP Charles Persing* Marguerite Gualtieri* Jodi Schatz* A. Nicole Friant* Benderson & Company LLP Mary Ann Hearn Sonja Smith* Duane Morris LLP Jill Porter* Beth Herdmann* Noreena Sondhi* Shafiquah Hudson* Naketa Thigpen Amy Fox* Shannon Prown* Barry Kassel* Tracey Thomasey* RAF Industries, Inc. Navigant Consulting M. Christine Kenty* Liz Wagner* Mark Gittelman* Elizabeth Reeves* Paul Kupferschmidt *Current Members PNC Bank, NA Global Human Resources Chapter One Leadership Council Chair Megan cheers like mad as her Honorable Jane Cutler Greenspan (Ret.) JAMS Arbitration, Mediation and ADR Services brother Chris throws out an incredible Members first pitch. He turns to face her and Honorable Lynne M. Abraham Leonard M. Klehr, Esq. Archer & Greiner Lubert-Adler Partners, LP his smile beams through the sheets of Dr. Steven M. Altschuler Susanna E. Lachs, Esq. rain like sunlight through clouds. As The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Leslie Anne Miller, Esq. Leonard A. Bernstein Leslie Anne Miller, LLC amazing as it is to be a guest of the Reed Smith LLP Jim Murray Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, it’s Sheldon M. Bonovitz, Esq. Jim Murray Ltd. Duane Morris LLP James Redeker, Esq. even more remarkable that these Christopher E. Dunne, Esq. Duane Morris LLP Cooper Morrison & Dunne Honorable Michael R. Stiles two children should find themselves Kenneth C. Frazier, Esq. Philadelphia Phillies Merck & Co., Inc. where they are today. But with the Nancy H. Fullam, Esq. help of our family of friends and The Fullam Firm, P.C. Dr. Richard J. Gelles, Ph.D. supporters, Child Advocates was University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice able to change their story. Lynne Honickman The Honickman Foundation Ron Jaworski ESPN About the Support Center for Child Advocates Every day we see the devastating evidence of children suffering. The need is as great as ever for support, advocacy and protection of youth who are too often forgotten by the system. However, we also see that the tireless efforts and unending generosity of our staff and supporters throughout the region can truly change the story for the children we serve. We witness countless examples of a child’s ability to triumph over adversity. Support Center for Child Advocates, founded in 1977, is the country’s oldest and largest pro bono legal and social services agency for children. Our mission is to advocate for abused and neglected children in Philadelphia with the goal of securing a permanent, nurturing environment for every child. At Child Advocates, we team specially trained volunteer lawyers with experienced child advocate social workers and staff attorney consultants to provide legal and social services to child victims of abuse and neglect through a “whole child” representation model. As the children’s lawyers, we stand with them to protect Chapter Two Starting the game with their rights in any legal proceeding. As their advocates, we ensure that their medical, educational, behavioral health and all other basic needs are met. strikes against them. Our dedicated Board of Directors provide diligent fiscal and programmatic oversight and serve as our ambassadors in the community. Hundreds of generous When Child Advocates meets Chris donors and lay volunteers help to promote our work through special events like and Megan, the children have been the Child Advocates Golf Classic, Holiday Toy Drive and the Philadelphia Bar Association 5K Run/Walk. bouncing from house to house for Since we began our work, Child Advocates has trained more than 4,000 attorneys several years, staying with relatives who contribute pro bono services valued at more than $4.6 million annually. and in a succession of foster care homes. Their father is in and out of prison. Their mother is incapable of caring for them. For the past three years, they have been in the care of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. Child Advocates Accomplishments in Fiscal Years 2010 - 2011 The number of children served by Child Advocates has risen significantly over the last two years. As compared to prior years we have seen a dramatic increase primarily due to the recognition of the quality of our work (resulting in more court appointments and requests for services) as well as our increased staff size which allows us to respond to the needs of more children. Which comes first – the need for services or our capacity to respond? We see no signs of slowing down, but we are fortunate to be able to rely on the support and generosity of so many people. Together, we can change the story. Chapter Three Turning the game around. Clients, Volunteers and Outcomes Each year, hundreds of dedicated volunteer lawyers join our staff social workers Supported by their Child Advocates to represent children who have been abused and neglected and require legal representation in the Philadelphia court systems. team, Staff Attorney Marti Little and • In Fiscal Year 2010 we represented 838 children. That number grew to 873 Volunteer Attorney Patricia Eynard in FY11, an all-time high in the more than 34 years of agency service. Each year approximately 330 volunteer attorneys donate more than 31,000 hours of Pepper Hamilton, Megan and providing the equivalent of $4.6 million in legal services. Chris make the painful decision to • The majority of our children are served through the Child Protection Program, using our “whole child” model where we team volunteer lawyers with masters ask the Court for a termination of level social workers to address the legal and social service needs of the client. This work was supported by grants from the Independence Foundation, Horace parental rights, which is granted.