American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law

The Center promotes access to justice for children and families. Our team of attorneys and core staff work on a diverse portfolio of national, regional and local projects in the children’s law field throughout the country. Center projects are unified by two complementary goals: improving legal representation and improving the legal systems that impact children and families.

In 1978 the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division created the ABA Center on Children and the Law. From modest origins as a small legal resource center focusing exclusively on child abuse and neglect issues, the Center has grown into a full-service technical assistance, training, and research program addressing a broad spectrum of law and court-related topics affecting children. These include child abuse and neglect, adoption, adolescent and infant/toddler health, foster and kinship care, juvenile status offenders, custody and support, guardianship, missing and exploited children, and children's exposure to domestic violence.