  Start at home!
Speak out politically!
Join an organization!
Help with petition projects at Child Advocate.org!
Mentor or volunteer!
Become a foster or adoptive parent to children in the foster care system!
Work in a related field!
Use your talents for a good cause!
If you witness or suspect child abuse, intervene!
Become Involved
© 2000-2003 by Laurie A. Couture, M.Ed, LMHC
Start at home!
The most important step to becoming a child advocate is to cherish, love, nurture and advocate for the children in your own life. Develop a mutually respectful relationship with the children in your life, and practice positive, non-violent discipline at home or in your classroom. For more information on positive discipline, visit the Positive Parenting Information menu, or explore the resources listed at Resources and Links.
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Speak out politically!
- Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper about overlooked child advocacy topics.
- Write letters to your politicians about the need for better legal protections for children, including a need for a ban on school and domestic corporal punishment.
- Speak out at PTA, school meetings and city/town meetings about the problem of school teachers denying children use of the toilet.
- Speak out at PTA, school meetings and city/town meetings about banning school corporal punishment if it is legal in your school district.
- Research politicians before you vote, and vote for politicians that are most likely to support children’s rights.
- Start a rally in your community if there is a community child advocacy issue that needs to be addressed.
- If you are politically savvy or are willing to learn, consider drafting a bill to end school or domestic corporal punishment in your state.
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Join an organization!
Research child advocacy organizations on the internet, find one that supports your ideals and join! For some places to explore, visit Resources and Links. If you are bold, start your own organization!
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Help with petition projects at Child Advocate.org!
If you are comfortable with the idea of publicly discussing the problem of caretakers who deny children use of the toilet, then we could use your help! In conjunction with Jordan Riak of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE), Laurie A. Couture is working on an ongoing proposal to help raise awareness in the mental health and medical professions about the problem of caretakers who deny children use of the toilet. Assisting with this project would be on a volunteer basis. Assisting with this project would require you to make contacts with physicians, pediatricians, urologists and gastrointerologists in order to generate signatures for a petition. If you are comfortable with speaking to medical professionals about this subject, and are willing to make some phone calls and visits to medical professionals, then please contact Laurie A. Couture at childadvocacy@hotmail.com, stating your name, age, state, contact information and why you have an interest in this project. Sorry, there are no other volunteer opportunities at Child Advocate.org at this time.
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Mentor or volunteer!
- Become a Big brother/Big Sister.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: www.bbbsa.org
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada: www.bbsc.ca
- Contact your state child protective services and inquire about mentoring a child in state custody.
- Contact any independent living programs, residential, detention or group homes in your area, and inquire about mentoring a child in care.
- Research on the internet and locate child advocacy organizations that could use your help.
- Call your state department of social services and ask about local volunteer organizations or programs that could use your help.
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Become a foster or adoptive parent to children in the foster care system!
In the USA, there are thousands of children in the child welfare system that are in desperate need of a temporary or permanent home. The majority of these children have been removed from their biological families due to severe abuse, neglect or abandonment.
The majority of waiting children in state custody are between the ages of 6-18. Most prospective adoptive families are eager to adopt infants and toddlers, causing it to be very difficult to find homes for older children, especially boys and older adolescents. The problem of finding homes for waiting children is also compounded by the difficult emotional and behavioral problems that many of these children can exhibit due to their histories of trauma and multiple foster care placements. However, with stable, committed, loving caregivers, many traumatized children can begin the healing process necessary to become reciprocal members of a loving family.
Foster parents can provide a child with a temporary home until it is safe for the child to return to the biological home, or until an independent living program or adoptive home can be found for the child. Foster parents are paid a stipend to cover the child’s living expenses. Adoptive parents can provide an abused, neglected or abandoned child who is unable to return to the biological family with the ultimate gift: a permanent family to love and care for him or her. There are generally no adoption fees when adopting children in state custody. Parents adopting children with disabilities may be eligible for financial assistance.
Note: There are training and legal requirements that prospective foster and adoptive families must meet in order to be eligible to foster or adopt. The entire process, including matching up with a child, can take from 6-12 months.
Adopt.org www.adopt.org
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Work in a related field!
There are multiple careers that are in need of strong child advocates. In order to research careers in the child advocacy fields, and to find out degree and educational requirements, contact your state university, interview people in the fields in which you have an interest, contact your state social service agency or research careers on the internet. Many of these careers will require an educational internship, which will provide you with hands-on experience. Here are a few career ideas:
- Child care provider (Educational requirement: High school education to be a helper; Bachelors degree for some teaching assistant positions; Master’s degree and licenses for positions as head teacher, director)
- Residential/Group home worker (Educational requirement: High school education for child care positions, Bachelor’s degree for most staff positions; Master’s degree for director’s positions)
- Case worker - Hospital or community human service agency (Educational requirement: Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree, depending on the type of agency and state)
- Social worker (Educational requirement: Bachelors degree for some entry level social work positions; Master’s degree and license for most positions)
- Child and Family Mental Health Counselor (Educational requirement: Master’s degree and licenses)
- School Adjustment/Guidance Counselor (Educational requirement: Master’s degree and licenses)
- Child and Family Psychologist (Educational requirement: Doctorate degree and licenses)
- Child Psychiatrist (Educational requirement: Medical Degree and licenses)
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Use your talents for a good cause!
- If you have a special talent, skill or provide a service to the community, donate your skills and services to kids in state custody (Tutoring; visits with animals; apprenticeships; art and photography lessons; skateboard lessons; sports or fitness lessons; computer lessons; free haircuts; free snacks and pizzas; free tickets to sporting events, movies, concerts, amusement parks; fundraising help, etc.).
- Use your writing skills to write letters to politicians or draft a bill to strengthen child protection laws.
- Use your public speaking talents to speak out at political events, PTA’s, city/town meetings, etc. about child advocacy issues.
- Use your organizational skills to form a child advocacy organization or a task force to target a child advocacy issue in your community.
- Offer professional pro bono services to the community (legal, technological, medical, mental health, etc.) to further child advocacy efforts.
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If you witness or suspect child abuse, intervene!
- If you suspect that a child may be experiencing some form of abuse or neglect, immediately contact your local state child protective services to file a report. You can obtain the number by searching through the human service section of your phone book, or by contacting the information operator. If you feel that the child is in immediate danger, contact the police or dial 911. In the meantime, do what you can to support, protect and shelter the child until help can be obtained.
- If you witness child maltreatment in public: If it is safe for you to do so, consider intervening in a calm and non-threatening manner by saying something such as, "Please don’t hit your child", or "It can be difficult to shop with kids when they get tired and bored, but hitting won‘t help make it easier for you", or "I can see that you are really frustrated, but you don’t need to hurt your child to show them how to behave in the store". If you are a mandated reporter of child abuse and neglect, state, "I’m a mandated reporter of child abuse and neglect and if you hit your child again I will call store security/the police". If you feel that it is unsafe to intervene, or if you feel the child is in danger, seek out store security or call the police. Please understand that if you choose to intervene, the parent is likely to respond to your attention by swearing at you, telling you to mind your own business or by becoming belligerent. However, your intervention may make a difference in the life of a child who is unable to obtain help in any other manner.
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