Children’s Rights Council

Mission Statement

The Children’s Rights Council (CRC) is an internationally recognized leader serving divorced, never-married and extended families and at-risk youth for more than 20 years. CRC promotes a society where laws, attitudes and public opinion affirm that “The Best Parent is Both Parents”®. Organized to serve the public purpose of advocating the healthy development of children, it is the mission of CRC to minimize the emotional, physical and economic abuse, neglect and distress of children and the development of at-risk behaviors following relationship breakups between parents involved in highly conflicted marital disputes. By guiding, informing, and coordinating alternative methodologies to parents, educators, health and human service professionals, faith-based counselors, legislators, and the public at-large, CRC is able to help reduce divorce and strengthen families through custody reform; parental mediation and training; conciliation and access; parental financial and educational support systems; legislative revision and court briefs.

Description

Incorporated in 1985, the Children’s Rights Council is an international leader in the advocacy, development and delivery of services and information addressing rights and responsibilities in the “best interest” of children. An established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CRC is headquartered in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area with 60 chapters in 39 states (including the District of Columbia) and international affiliates in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and Sierra Leone.

CRC also operates 40 Child Access Centers (Safe Havens) partnering with community & faith-based organizations in 13 states and Washington, DC to provide neutral drop-off and pick-up of children, and supervised access (visitation). Whether a chapter or center, all CRC operations are dedicated to helping children by promoting family formation, reducing divorce and strengthening families through custody reform; parental mediation and training; conciliation and access; parental educational support systems; legislative revision and court briefs to lessen the occurrence and effects of divorce and relationship breakups among parents in conflict.

With extensive experience working in concert with courts, government agencies, private foundations, community/faith based organizations and grassroots initiatives, the Children’s Rights Council has remained in the forefront of access (visitation) and child support issues; served as a catalyst for the Welfare Reform Act of 1996; and provides up-to-date research on custody laws and child support rules affecting parents across the nation. The core of CRC’s many accomplishments and strategic advantages to successfully advocate for children is a comprehensive history of governmental relationships and grassroots networking that form the basis of a national system of information and referral dedicated to helping relieve emotional suffering, abuse, neglect and economic distress for children of parents involved in persistent and highly conflicted disputes.