Focused on the legal challenges facing vulnerable children, the Children's Rights Summit gathers child advocates, academics, law firm lawyers, in-house counsel and other experts to examine critical questions about how children can overcome challenges in the law. We examine barriers to children's rights and brainstorm ways new technologies and innovations should be applied to address them.
Here are some benefits when attending:
Gain Insights From Thought Leaders
Learn practical tips and strategies from life long advocates and luminaries in the children’s rights field, government, and private practice. Engage in discussion about “big picture” issues and be part of the solutions!
Build Your Pro Bono Network
Whether you’re an in-house corporate counsel looking for dynamic pro bono work to tackle with like-minded peers or professional children’s rights advocates looking to expand your network and develop your skills, this event is equal parts brainstorming, information-sharing, networking, and collaboration.
Earn CLE and CPE Credits
Our CRS programs provide general CLE credit in California, Illinois, New York and Texas. Participants requesting CLE for other states will receive uniform CLE certificates.
Be Part of Cutting-Edge Pro Bono Opportunities
From helping street youth around the world navigate complex government systems to fighting for LGBT+ rights, dozens of exciting pro bono projects come out of CRS each year, ranging from large-scale work for in-house corporate teams to one-off projects suitable for solo practitioners.
This year, our work together explored several ways that systems can be improved if we view them from the perspective of what practically works to empower and support young people. It inspired us all to engage even more deeply in the realization of rights for children and youth.
- In My Shoes, the simulation from Youth Experiential Learning Lab, helped many of us – both those experienced as well as those new to the work – understand the perspective of young people navigating a system that often feels like it was not designed to help youth succeed. Thanks to Brian Blalock of the Youth Law Center and Baker McKenzie’s own pro bono lead, Angela Vigil.
- A riveting keynote from Karabo Ozah reminded us of the terrific journey South Africa has taken in the few decades since apartheid, to establish a system of child rights laws that are the envy of many nations and how we have to work to assure they are respected and implemented. Only then can the law continue to evolve to secure the rights of children.
- Children in Criminal Justice – Detention: We examined ways that international and domestic law establish excellent standards, but implementation is failing to secure those standards. Special thanks to Stanley Malematja and the Centre for Child Law. See more materials.
- Violence Against Children – Sexual Exploitation: We learned devastating statistics for the prevalence of harmful sexual behaviors across so many communities and discussed strategies to improve the system of justice aimed at addressing them. We are grateful to Marita Rademeyer and the team at Jelly Beanz. See more materials .
- Access to Education for Children With Disabilities: We began to understand the challenges of differently-abled learners, especially those with sight challenges and the laws and structures that are preventing them from accessing education and learning in many forms. Thanks to Demichelle Petherbridge and the amazing team at SECTION27 and see more materials.
As a preparatory meeting for the World Congress on Justice With Children, we were able to isolate key issues that can be considered for the global agenda from our convening in South Africa. For more insight on the World Congress, go to www.justicewithchildren.org.
Some of our work will be shared to assist in the preparation of General Comment #27 on Access to Justice to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Read about the General Comment.
Tremendous thanks to our planning committee members and presenters throughout the day. View the full team members and photos from the Summit!
Our 10th annual Children's Rights Summit was hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco, with an option to join virtually. This year, we lifted up some of the most important issues that the child rights community has focused on through a decade of Summits.
- In My Shoes, the Youth Experiential Learning Simulation helped many of us – both those experienced as well as those new to the work – understand the perspective of young people navigating a system that often feels like it was not designed to help youth succeed. Special thanks to the Bigglesworth Family Foundation for making that possible.
- Mental health was a focus because, as we learned from experts at the California Children's Trust and the Youth Law Center, children in systems are lacking the community-based resources that the system could provide if great advocates work to secure them.
- Benefits and social services can be the glue that holds an older youth's life together but only if every community takes advantage of the ways to secure those benefits for the most vulnerable children, as we learned from experts at the Public Law Center and the Youth Law Center.
- Education is where most children should spend the majority of their time and energy, but we learned from advocates from the Youth Law Center and Equal Justice Works that this requires advocacy to stop push out and discrimination against black and brown children, and engagement and enforcement of laws to meet the needs of youth experiencing homelessness.
- For LGBTQ+ children and youth, the landscape of laws and practices aimed to discriminate against them and harm them grows daily across the nation. It is only through support of important organizations in the fight against these dangers like Lambda Legal and their partners on the ground that will help reverse this course.
We look forward to our next Children's Rights Summit in 2024.
Our 9th annual Children's Rights Summit was hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco, with an option to join virtually.
The Children's Rights Summit brings together disciplines and talent from across the legal community, to envision and reimagine what justice for children could look like.
We take action to serve and to hone skills of those advocating for children so that we may better serve youth in our communities, empower young people to understand their rights, and work to ensure that our child justice systems help realize their rights.
Outstanding Speakers in Justice for Children
Former youth with first-hand experience in our justice systems, along with outstanding advocates changing the face of child justice, share their stories. Experts lead discussions with Summit participants about how we can all contribute to meet the needs of children in our communities.
Pro Bono Sprint on Children's Rights
Justice IS Action, the newest evolution of the Children's Rights Summit brings together in-house counsel, children's rights advocates, law firm lawyers and technology experts from around the nation to engage in meaningful discussions about the legal needs of vulnerable children. These collective voices, joined by youth who have survived our legal system, will work together to find rights-based solutions to bridge the social gap that envelop these children and their communities.