About Us
The Center for the Rights of Abused Children has given 500,000 children across America a better tomorrow.
Our Mission.
To protect children, change laws and inspire people—to ensure every abused child has a bright future. We envision a day when all of America’s children have the opportunity to live in safe and loving homes.
“The Center for the Rights of Abused Children is playing a leading role in the essential task of improving the nation’s laws to serve children’s vital interests.”
Professor Elizabeth Bartholet
Harvard Law School
Our Leadership
Darcy Olsen is an advocate for children who has devoted her life to strengthening rights for abandoned and abused kids. The seeds for the Center for the Rights of Abused Children were planted in 2010 when Darcy felt inspired to foster. “We have newborns sleeping in social service offices,” the social worker told her. “If you could open a crib, we’d appreciate it.” So, instead of fostering a teen as she’d planned, Darcy left the hospital cradling an infant with neonatal abstinence syndrome. In a few short years, she’d fostered ten.
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Intensely motivated by his time fostering children who’d been abused and neglected, Tim sees his work to ensure children have a constitutional right to counsel as a matter of life and death. As such, he’s particularly proud that in 2021 the Center for the Rights of Abused Children secured the rights of all children in Arizona’s foster system to be represented by legal counsel.
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Ann Tredway is a nonprofit leader who works to ensure all abused and abandoned children are safe, and she is passionate about living out her faith in the service of all children. As the executive director at the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, she oversees the operations and fundraising necessary to help hundreds of thousands of abused and abandoned children across America.
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J. Kendall Seal is a lawyer dedicated to reforming the American legal system to ensure children in foster care are given a fighting chance and the loving family they deserve. Kendall spearheads the creation and development of research, reforms, and public policies to protect children in foster care at both the state and federal levels. Kendall believes the world needs more homecomings, and he is inspired by courageous young people and their foster families who demonstrate grace, grit, and resilience in the face of a system that denies their voices in the process.
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Debi Ghate is passionate about protecting the rights of all individuals, especially those of children who are most vulnerable in America today. As the Vice President of Partnerships at the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, Debi develops partnerships with philanthropists, individuals and other non-profits committed to helping abused and abandoned children live in safe, loving homes.
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Tom Jose is a lawyer who protects the rights of abused children throughout the foster care process and beyond. Tom heads up our one-of-a-kind pro bono Children’s Law Clinic, where he represents abused children, foster parents, kinship placements, and biological parents in dependency and severance proceedings to ensure that the state respects their rights. He litigates to protect the rights of abused children throughout the foster process and beyond. Tom also represents transition-aged youth in a variety of matters to give them their best chance at starting adult lives.
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Laura Major is a life-long proponent of individual rights and freedom. At the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, Laura manages fundraising, donor-related outreach, and organizes operational activities to facilitate the impact of our mission.
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Kileen Lindgren has dedicated her career to defending individual rights in capitals, courts, and communities around the country. As Legal & Public Policy Programs Manager at the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, Kileen helps establish constitutional rights for kids, promotes transparency and accountability in the foster care system, and educates the foster care and legal communities about effective advocacy for abused children.
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Brad Galbraith is focused on developing public policies that improve the lives of abused and abandoned children across the United States. At the Center for The Rights of Abused Children, Brad is responsible for researching and writing laws that give children access to safe, permanent, loving homes. He became personally aware of the need for strong, child-centered advocacy and policy through his experiences as an adoptive father and public policy professional.
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Jessica Barnett is a researcher dedicated to advocating for the safety and future of America’s most vulnerable children. As a policy analyst at The Center for the Rights of Abused Children, Jessica is responsible for researching and promoting reforms that protect abused children in foster care.
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Christy du Mee is a paralegal with a passion for providing quality advocacy for vulnerable children. As a paralegal for the Children’s Law Clinic, Christy’s focus is on caring for the Clinic’s clients and assisting the Clinic’s attorneys so that together they can achieve the best outcomes for abused children.
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Award-winning Advocacy
Arizona Capitol Times Leader of the Year
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Adoption Excellence Award
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Angel in Adoption
