Levin College of Law

Mission

The mission of the Center on Children and Families is to promote the highest quality of advocacy, teaching and scholarship in the areas of child & family law and policy.

We believe that children, as the least powerful of our citizens, are most in need of high quality advocacy. They must depend on adults – parents, teachers, doctors and lawyers – to vindicate their rights to protection from abuse and to overcome barriers to education and health care. Children cannot lobby for legislation or retain high-powered lawyers and costly experts.

While great strides have been made in educating family lawyers, we believe that too few professionals have the breadth of training necessary to advocate effectively for children and their families.

Our Center is committed to filling the need for high quality advocacy by creating programs and resources that bring an interdisciplinary, evidence-based and child-centered approach to issues of children’s law and policy. Through its Certificate in Family Law, Family Advocacy Clinic, Gator TeamChild Juvenile Law, Annual Conferences, Publications, and Student Fellowships, the Center on Children and Families is training a new generation of advocates for a new era.

Goals

The Center’s goals are:

1) to promote quality scholarship on issues of importance to children and their families,

2) train a new generation of advocates for children and their families,

3) educate children about their rights and responsibilities in a free society, and

4) promote interdisciplinary and child-centered methods for studying systems serving children and their families.

Contact

Director

Shani King, Associate Professor
Center on Children & Families
University of Florida Levin College of Law
P.O. Box 117625
Gainesville, FL 32611-7625
(352) 273-0951 / Fax (352) 392-2606
Kings@law.ufl.edu

Emeritus Director

Nancy Dowd, David H. Levin Chair in Family Law
Center on Children & Families
Levin College of Law
P.O. Box 117625
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-7625
(352) 273-0930 / Fax (352) 392-2606
Dowd@law.ufl.edu

Program Coordinator

Heather M. Flynn, CP
Certified Paralegal, Family Advocacy Clinic
Office Manager, College of Law Clinics
Program Coordinator, Center on Children and Family
flynnh@law.ufl.edu or CCF@law.ufl.edu
(352) 273-0613 / Fax (352) 392-0414