Child Advocates, Inc.

What does it mean to live in a home free from abuse or neglect? It means *everything* to the thousands of Indiana children we have served?for more than 40 years who have been placed in the child welfare system due to abuse in their homes. Recently, a case involving several siblings in the system was referred to our Mediation and Facilitation attorneys. Through this unique legal service, we help families and guardians resolve conflicts surrounding where children will live after they leave the child welfare system. Our goal is to move children out of the system?sooner and into a safe, permanent home. In this case, the siblings’ mother had been murdered and their father was not available to care for them. There was animosity and conflict between some of the relatives, which disrupted permanent plans for the children. Our Mediation and Permanency Facilitation attorneys worked with the Department of Child Services, others in the child welfare system, and the families to seek a resolution. ?After difficult conversations, tears, apologies, and forgiveness, everyone involved in the siblings' lives accepted a plan to move forward.? They agreed to let the children remain in the stable home where they had been living after they lost their Mom. And all of the parties involved in their lives agreed that the siblings would stay involved and connected to both sides of their family. In the end, they put the children and their future first. As child advocates, this is why we do what we do. We have the amazing opportunity to help children find a permanent home where they can experience healing, safety, and love. We fight for justice, equity, and well-being for each and every one of them. This is who we are. #childadvocacy #childadvocates #children #childwelfare #childabuse #childabuseprevention #legalservices #attorneys #nonprofit

?100,000 children.? That is how many children Child Advocates has served over the last 40 years. Today, we reach across Indiana to serve vulnerable children and youths and help build a better future for them. ??Learn how we have broken new ground with our legal services for children who've been placed in the child welfare system after facing abuse or neglect at home. ??Get information about our free educational services for children who are struggling in school, and see how we are interrupting racism for children. ??And hear from a few youths themselves about how our services have impacted their lives. We champion children and families by advocating for access to justice and equity and fostering well-being for children. This is who we are. Learn more about what it takes to be a child advocate in our new video, below. #childadvocate #children #childwelfare #justice #equity #wellbeing #fosterchild #abuseprevention #education #legalservices #advocacy #nonprofit #philanthropy

Today is a special holiday: Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It is a day to recognize the contributions, resilience, and culture of the descendants of people who first inhabited the Americas. They include American Indians and Alaska Natives. As child advocates, we advocate for justice, equity, and well-being for every child, including those in Indigenous communities. Every child matters. We hope you will take this opportunity to learn more about the issues facing Indigenous communities on this day of honoring them: https://bit.ly/4dLjZva #indigenous #indigenouspeoplesday #nativeamericans #AmericanIndians #alaskanatives #holiday #children #equity #diversity #wellbeing

No nonprofit is an island. We succeed partly due to the generosity of partners, sponsors, and other funders who make it possible for us to serve communities. We are deeply grateful to the Indiana Bar Foundation for its recent grant for Indiana organizations whose mission is to provide civil legal assistance to low-income Hoosiers. The Indiana Bar Foundation awarded $4.4 million to 12 different organizations, and we were honored to be among them. Child Advocates offers legal services to help children?who've been placed in the child welfare system find a safe, permanent home free from abuse or neglect. One of our unique services is the Direct Representation program, the only one in the state offering older children a free, in-house attorney to advocate for their legal rights in court and what they want for their future. Our CEO, Phyllis Armstrong, says, “Our work for vulnerable children would not be possible without the support of grantmakers such as foundations, corporations, or government agencies. We have helped more than 100,000 Indiana children in need with a variety of services during the last 40 years. We are grateful to the Indiana Bar Foundation for helping us continue to do this transformational work for children and youths.” To learn more about Child Advocates’ services, click here: https://lnkd.in/dDTxjVn9 #funder #philanthropy #grantmaker #nonprofit #legalservices #attorneys #justice #equity #wellbeing #childwelfare #fosterchildren #children #childadvocacy

*Nice little update today from Citizens Energy Group regarding how many people it served at this event which we profiled below, yesterday. Its Community Resource Day went from serving 150 attendees *last* year to serving more than 1036 attendees *this* year. This is impact!: (Yesterday's post): More than 244,000 households in Central Indiana are either facing poverty or at risk of it. So Citizens Energy Group held a Community Resource Day this past weekend to connect people to resources they need to thrive, and Child Advocates was there! Our CEO, Phyllis Armstrong, and one of our Educational Liaisons, Kay Christensen, interacted with event attendees to share information about our services which center on advocating for equity, justice, and well-being for children and youth in the child welfare system and in the community. ?? Those services include free educational liaisons who help improve educational outcomes for children who are struggling in school. ?? Unique legal services for children, including immigrant children, who are in the child welfare system due to abuse or neglect. ?? And “Interrupting Racism for Children” workshops for anyone in the community who wants to help build a better world for every child. Learn more about all of our services here: ?https://bit.ly/3XbYtut #poverty #communityservice #childadvocacy #nonprofit #justice #equity #wellbeing #children #communityengagement #communityservice

We had a blast at our recent "Trivia Night" with a full house of attendees at the VisionLoft in downtown Indy and some wonderful donations supporting the vulnerable children we serve. Our annual event raised $36,000 from sponsors, teams, and event donations. That gift helps us continue advocating for children in the child welfare system and in the community as we champion justice, equity, and well-being for each of them. We want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended and supported our work, and that includes all of our sponsors, board members, businesses, and staff. We also share some highlights of the event in photos, which include our CEO, Phyllis Armstrong, employees, and some of our Youth Against Racial Injustice (YARI) members. And it was good to see our former CEO, Cindy Booth, at the event as she continues to support our work. We also give a shout-out to Hambone Trivia, with Matt Hammond, for making the evening fun and testing our knowledge on 'trivial' topics. And we thank all of our attendees and supporters for being child advocates. We succeed because of the support of a compassionate community. #fundraiser #philanthropy #charity #sponsors #childadvocacy #childabuseprevention #education #mentalhealth #justice #equity #wellbeing

What would nonprofits be without the people and businesses who invest in them? Child Advocates would not be able to help many of the vulnerable children we serve without the investment of caring sponsors and partners in our community. So we want to give a shout-out to Citizens Energy Group, Merrill Lynch, Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, Hall Render, RJE Business Interiors, KSM (Katz, Sapper & Miller), and Scannell Properties for supporting our annual 'Trivia Night" fundraiser coming up this Thursday. We will have a great night at the VisionLoft Stutz, in downtown Indy, as teams from area businesses and other sponsors guess trivia while supporting children in need across Indiana who face abuse, trauma, and other life challenges. Nonprofits cannot do this work alone. We appreciate all of you so much and so do the children we serve! Thank you all! Learn more about our work: https://lnkd.in/ezePs2zx #sponsors #charity #philanthropy #business #fundraising #nonprofit #childadvocacy #justice #equity #wellbeing #children

The reports are heartbreaking. As many as two million adolescents, ages 10 to 19, attempt suicide each year in the United States. 25% of them die. And suicide is the second leading cause of death for children and young adults, causing more death than any single major illness. September is National Suicide Prevention Month. As child advocates, we want to remind children, youth, and their families that there is help available, including the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It serves people who are facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, and more. Just call 988. Or, go to this link to get more information about the 988 Lifeline from Indiana State officials: https://lnkd.in/gd42yfk5 There is nothing more important than those we love. Please seek help, today. #suicideprevention #suicide #children #youth #mentalhealth #health #wellbeing #childadvocacy

Child Advocates was ‘on the air’ for a community conversation?recently, sharing important information about one of our unique services that helps children, who've been placed in the child welfare system due to abuse and neglect, find a safe home sooner. We talked to Tina Cosby, the host of Radio One’s Community Connection show which airs on 1310 AM “The Light.” In 2024, reports show that Indiana foster children wait an average of 1,017 days to get adopted. They stay in the child welfare system about 39% longer than the national average of 730 days for children. Child Advocates introduced Mediation into the child welfare system in Marion County many years ago to help address that problem. How does it work, and how does it impact children's lives? You can learn more from our CEO, Phyllis Armstrong, and Kelly Myhls, our director of Mediation. The conversation starts about an hour into the show at 59:20: https://bit.ly/47bkj4T #childwelfare #childabuse #childabuseprevention #mediation #fosterchildren #justice #equity #wellbeing #childadvocacy

Without employees, businesses could not succeed. We hope you know how vital your talents, skill sets, and initiative are to your workplace. We wish you a Happy Labor Day, and we hope you are relaxing and enjoying this special day to celebrate you because you deserve it! We appreciate our staff of child advocates and all of you. ?????? #HappyLaborDay #LaborDay #Employees #Celebrate #RelaxAndEnjoy #business #work #childadvocacy