I am a retired legal aid attorney. Over my nearly 40-year career, I had extensive opportunity to observe the impacts of poverty on children.
At the outset of my career in Northern Kentucky, I had the good fortune to meet and get to know Kim (Brooks) Tandy. At the time, Kim was working to open a Runaway Youth Shelter in Covington, at the same time that I was running for the Covington City Commission.
A number of residents in the neighborhood where Kim was seeking to establish the Shelter opposed having it there. Several of them asked me, when I campaigned in their
neighborhood, what I thought about the shelter being located there. I said what I truly believed: I thought it would be in great service to the community.
I lost a lot of votes in that neighborhood. But I remained firm in my belief that Kim was providing great and important leadership in efforts to better the lives of children.
In the years ahead, Kim carried those efforts forward and established the Children’s Law Center (CLC). I served on its Board of Directors for a number of years. The important work of the Center in holding law enforcement agencies accountable for their treatment of children resonates with me still—from challenging conditions in juvenile detention facilities to advocating for children whose rights were violated.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, I served on the Covington School Board. We frequently dealt with difficult situations involving kids who acted out in school, many of which resulted in disciplinary actions—some severe. The Center represented some of those children. I remember telling Kim I wished they would represent more of them, as most went unrepresented. I'm glad to know that today, they represent far more.
This history demonstrates why I so strongly support the Children’s Law Center. It is the premier organization that advocates for children’s rights, and that has over time addressed successfully some of the most severe and intractable problems facing children in our society. For those who are looking for a way to support the next generation, I encourage you to direct your support to CLC. The legal issues that too often remain invisible for children have significant, long-term impacts on each young person’s ability to grow up and become productive, successful citizens.
I believe we are all shaped by our DNA and our parenting—that is, the conditions of our childhood greatly influence the adults we become. And that addressing the needs of children at the outset of their lives, when there is the maximum potential for positive development, is a critically important aspect of creating a stronger and more humane community.
I am proud to support CLC. I encourage you to learn more about its work. I am confident that if you do, you will feel the same conviction I do.
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Author: Col Owens, CLC former Board member & long time donor