Barton at 25

Barton at 25

The Barton Child Law and Policy Center promotes and protects the legal rights and interests of children who are involved with the juvenile court, child welfare, and youth justice systems. The Center’s work is directed by Emory Law faculty and performed by law and other graduate students who provide holistic legal representation to youth clients at trial and in administrative proceedings, support appeals to protect the right to family integrity, and advance system reform strategies. On December 11, 2025, The Barton Child Law and Policy Center celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special, commemorative program. 

The program featured remarks from Emory Law Dean Rich Freer and Georgia State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver 72L, with Jerry Bruce, Director of the Georgia Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, serving as keynote speaker. Together, they highlighted the Center’s enduring commitment to advancing children’s rights through legal advocacy, policy development, and public education.

It was an evening of celebration, reflection, and gratitude—recognizing the people and partnerships that have shaped the Barton Center’s work over the past 25 years and continue to guide its mission forward.

Two Catalysts 

On January 15, 1998, five-year-old Terrell Peterson was murdered by his siblings’ grandmother in Atlanta. Terrell Peterson’s death was covered by Time Magazine, 60 Minutes and the Oprah Winfrey Show. The systemic and preventable failures in the child welfare, court, and medical systems that contributed to his death motivated people in Georgia to reform the systems responsible for protecting Georgia’s most vulnerable children. Two people who were moved to action were Michelle Barclay 90N 96L and Andy Barclay 07G. They used their share of the proceeds from the sale of their family farm to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to create the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic at Emory Law.

In a Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta story, Michelle was quoted as saying, “Students enrolled at Barton work on current legal and policy issues impacting the courts and agencies that handle child abuse, neglect and juvenile delinquency. The Barclays have been very active at Barton and have gleaned much from their interaction with the clinic staff. 

“Money without professional standards will leave just as many kids at risk. The key is advocating for standards and training that ensure justice and safety for every child,” says Michelle. Since its beginning, Barton has helped reform child welfare through advocacy, media relations, research and learning opportunities. In fact, its fellowship program has helped build the next generation of influential child advocates.”

Andy Barclay, added: “So I was looking at the quantities that measure our system and its safety and family integrity. That's what we're after, and we want to maximize both of those.  And this effort did that, and I think we were the first state to cut our foster care roles by that much.”

The Plan

The Barclays wanted to make a lasting contribution to Georgia’s child welfare system and believed the best return on their investment would be to invest in people. One way to change systems affecting children is to infuse the systems with large numbers of highly motivated, specially trained people whose first professional priority is improving the lives of children. An academic institution is the perfect place for investing in people, so Barclays chose to enter a partnership with Emory Law.

Emory Law was a natural partner because of Dean Howard O. "Woody" Hunter’s commitment to the summer child advocacy program started by Jan Pratt and Anita Mann in 1992 and the complementary resources of the university including the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing. Emory, however, lacked one important component of a multi-disciplinary children’s law center: a school of social work. This need was filled through a partnership with the Georgia State School of Social Work that allowed the Barton Center to serve as a field education site for Master of Social Work students.

Hunter supported expansion of the summer child advocacy program into a full-fledged interdisciplinary center with students and faculty from across the university. He generously provided office space and other resources to Founding Director Karen Worthington 94L in the fall and winter of 1999-2000 to develop a plan and proposal for the Barton Center. The proposal was a collaborative document developed with input from many youth justice and child welfare leaders in Georgia and across the country. Hunter approved the proposal, and the Barton Center officially opened its doors on March 1, 2000.

The work of the Barton Center has developed organically, with requests and suggestions from people in the field and input from faculty, students, and advisory committee members. The student opportunities, structure, and programs of the Center have expanded, contracted, and evolved in a similar manner.

In 2010, Worthington left the Center, passing the torch to current Director Melissa Carter, who has been an active participant in the work of the Center throughout her career. Carter served as Georgia’s Child Advocate before Dean David F. Partlett appointed her as director of the Barton Center. Many positive changes were achieved for children in the first decade of the Barton Center’s existence, but there is much work still to be done. The need for the Barton Center’s leadership, expertise, and students and fellows is as great as ever, and the Barton Center remains committed to improving the lives of Georgia’s most vulnerable children.

Stephen Reba, co-director of the Appeal for Youth Clinic, said, “So I think by far our biggest impact that we've had is a 2013 case that we litigated called State v. Moore.  In that case, we filed a post conviction motion challenging the legality of our clients life without parole sentence juvenile at the time, and essentially arguing that Roper v. Simmons, the 2005 case that outlawed the death penalty for juveniles, retroactively applied to Georgia's sentencing statute that, as a prerequisite, required death penalty notice before a life without parole sentence could be imposed.” The appellate work on this case eventually invalidated all juvenile life without parole decisions in Georgia for juveniles, making them eligible for the parole process.

Carter opined, “I think the Barton center today is a lot of things. I think, and I hope, maybe the Barton center today is, at many levels, fulfillment of the vision that gave rise to its beginnings. And we do it now, though, more established, with the confidence and the experience and the expertise of 25 years."