National Association of Counsel for Children

NACC advances children’s and parents’ rights by supporting a diverse, inclusive community of child welfare lawyers to provide zealous legal representation and by advocating for equitable, anti-racist solutions co-designed by people with lived experience.

Every child, parent, and family is well-supported in their community and has equitable access to jus

Goal One: NACC will promote excellence in legal representation by expanding and diversifying certified Child Welfare Law Specialists and by delivering excellent training informed by constituent voices and DEI.

Goal Two: NACC will build community by increasing and modernizing support to a growing and diverse membership, establishing student chapters, and lead convenings to advance policy initiatives.

Goal Three: NACC will advance justice for children and families by collaborating with people with lived experience to co-design child welfare policy, file amicus briefs, and engage members in local advocacy.

Internally, in the last 18 months, NACC expanded our leadership team and developed a supervision learning group to ensure consistency with the mission and vision and to provide support to our growing team, which includes three individuals with lived experience in foster care. NACC has increased its professional development budget annually for all staff. NACC's Executive Director was recently selected to join a women's leadership network called CHIEF and the organization is investing in this professional development and networking opportunity. Externally, NACC supports leadership development in the child welfare legal community. NACC is developing the 2nd edition of the Child Law Office Guidebook, to provide resources on best practices in leadership and children's law office management.

NACC adapted to external changes in the past year by doubling down on our commitment to race equity, diversity, and the co-design of programs and services with persons who have lived experience in foster care or the child welfare system. NACC engaged in a strategic plan review with Community Wealth Partners to update NACC's mission, vision, and organizational goals consistent with this commitment. NACC also engaged in a second round of race equity training with Race Matters Institute, to ensure our growing team had the education, resources, and support to advance our updated mission, vision, and goals. NACC takes a strong stand on policy positions and in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion and we will continue to support our team to do this. NACC has also been impacted by rising inflation and travel expenses, which, in addition to the pandemic, we also attribute to the 25% reduction in projected attendance at NACC's national onsite conference. NACC strives to keep costs low for attendees, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. We will continue to balance the costs and benefits of both onsite and in-person training, convenings, and events.