Social workers and others advocate for children’s rights

When New Jersey graduate social work student Wendy Logan was 13 years old, she wrote a letter to a judge, begging him to let her stay in the foster care system rather than with her mother, the Statehouse Bureau reports.

Logan said that her mother was addicted to drugs and alcohol. During her childhood, she failed two grades of school because she had to stay home and care for her younger siblings. The student said she was always hungry and constantly hit by her mother.

When Logan went to family court, the judge told her to wait in the hall, the news outlet reports.

"Nobody ever heard me or asked me to come into court or asked my opinions. I felt really devastated," Logan told the news outlet.

Today, in New Jersey, only children ages 10 and older are allowed to attend family court proceedings. However, many child advocates, like Logan, are fighting to let kids of all ages express their opinions.

Currently, many chapters of Advocates for Children are fighting to allow children to have more of a say during family court, their websites state.  

POSTED BY: ec_admin - July 8th, 2011 at 03:51pm ( 0 )