Center for the Human Rights of Children

Illinois has been home to native people for centuries. Yet, beginning with European settlement and continuing with modern day mistreatment these groups have been so thoroughly displaced and disregarded that reference to them in Illinois is generally limited to museums, historic sites, and college mascots.             Illinois takes its name from the group of native […]

When Congress and the President failed to fund the government, leading to a partial shutdown beginning December 22, 2018, they also neglected to sign a bipartisan reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), resulting in its expiration. The law that expired included grant programs such as the Consolidated Youth Program (CYP), which provided advocacy, […]

Universal Children’s Day, celebrated annually on November 20th, commemorates the date when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is universally recognized as the most far-reaching human […]

Over 130 million girls worldwide are currently being denied an education. While the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right to an education for all children, the girl child is often denied this right due to poverty, discrimination, violence, and cultural practices. October 11th marks International Day of the Girl Child. The […]

June is National Healthy Homes month and a perfect time to think about how substandard housing impacts the health and well-being of children and to reflect on a strategy for addressing substandard housing in our community. Millions of families throughout the nation struggle to secure safe, healthy and affordable housing. This is especially true for […]

Illinois’ elected officials are failing in their basic and, arguably, most important responsibility: passing a balanced state budget. Its failure to do so is causing increasing harm to its most vulnerable citizens—children. On March 15, Youth Service Project (YSP), a youth serving organization located in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood for the past 40 years, suspended […]

In Detroit, MI, water shut-offs have become extremely common in homes due to failure to pay the bill. Over the past several months, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has been disconnecting water services from around 3,000 customers per week. These customers are ones who have not paid their water bills in two months. It is estimated at […]

Welcome to the Center for the Human Rights of Children’s blog.  We want to engage readers about critical issues facing children, including child trafficking and exploitation, parentless and unaccompanied children, and the impact of environmental toxins on children.