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Barton Child Law and Policy Center

The Barton Center promotes and protects the legal rights and interests of children involved with the juvenile court, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems; inspires excellence among professionals; and prepares emerging practitioners for successful and rewarding child advocacy careers. The center accomplishes its goals through the provision of holistic legal representation to youth, public policy and legislative advocacy, community outreach, and professional education.

The Barton Child Law and Policy Center’s clinical offerings include the Public Policy and Legislative Advocacy Clinic, Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic, and the Barton Appeal for Youth Clinic.

The Barton Center also sponsors the Emory Summer Child Advocacy Program, the Know Your Rights Project, the Child Welfare Legal Academy, post-graduate fellowships, community outreach, and professional education opportunities.

The Barton Center serves as a resource to the Georgia and national child advocacy communities through its website and listserv that highlight current issues and provide access to research and advocacy tools.

To visit the Barton Child Law and Policy Center community website, go to the Barton Center website.


Contact Shree'ca Lott, Program Coordinator for the Barton Center, with any questions.

Email: shreeca.lott@emory.edu

Barton Center

Goals

  • To train students to become skilled, ethical, and reform-minded professionals;
  • To provide highly effective advocacy for court-involved youth;
  • To teach students how to think independently, synthesize facts and legal principles, and plan litigation, policy, and legislative strategies;
  • To improve Georgia’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems;
  • To develop a student’s ability to analyze the substantive law and apply it to the practical advocacy, policy, and legislative experience;
  • To teach litigation and negotiation skills in a real world environment;
  • To help improve students' presentation and writing skills; and
  • To teach students to excel in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment.

Barton Clinics

Student work in the Barton Child Law Center's legal clinics may include the following:

  • Interviewing clients and witnesses;
  • Writing a policy brief, fact sheet and talking points on a current children’s law issue;
  • Developing a trial strategy;
  • Performing legal or statutory analysis
  • Writing a legal memo or a motion;
  • Participating in legislative hearings;
  • Filing motions and appeals in clients’ cases;
  • Contributing research and writing in appellate and amicus curiae briefs;
  • Briefing elected officials and government policy makers on relevant matters;
  • Drafting and analyzing legislation and legislative amendments;
  • Writing research papers and related public education documents;
  • Attending meetings of state agencies, children’s advocates and children’s lawyers;
  • Working with partners to develop strategies for legislative and public policy changes;
  • Developing and presenting training modules for child advocates.
  • Educating judges and lawyers about juvenile justice issues.

2025 ESCAP Schedule

Emory Summer Child Advocacy Program (ESCAP) provides students from Emory and around the country with a summer opportunity to experience child advocacy in action. See the 2025 program schedule here