Center for Children's Advocacy

We are proud to participate in Give Local Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills this year!

Support the Center for Children’s Advocacy (CCA) and make a HUGE difference in the life of a child! Our legal services and systemic reform advocacy improve conditions for hundreds of low-income children and youth in Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills, and thousands across Connecticut.

CCA has fought for the legal rights of Connecticut’s most vulnerable children for more than a quarter-century, winning hard-fought support for children’s safety, health, and education. Now fast-moving measures at the federal level are harming children’s access to essential services and safety, with ongoing threats to critical funding and real-time destruction of civil rights enforcement capacity.

CCA has long strived to maintain a diversity of funding to support our work, necessary to ensure our independence and zealous advocacy for CT's children. But federal funding cuts pose an urgent threat to CCA and our ability to sustain our mission.

CCA remains committed to maintaining our direct service work and systemic advocacy during this perilous time, and strengthening our partnerships with valued members of our Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills community is key to this effort.

The Center for Children's Advocacy

CCA provides legal representation and advocates for system reforms to ensure at-risk children’s basic needs are met and they receive appropriate services from the juvenile justice, education, child welfare, health care, and court systems.

Our mission: To protect and promote the legal rights of Connecticut’s low-income children and youth so they have equitable opportunities for good health, a quality education and a successful transition to adulthood.

The Center for Children’s Advocacy was founded in 1997 on a $2,000 budget in borrowed office space over the boiler room at UConn Law School. In the 28 years since, CCA has grown to an organization with 28 staff and a $3.5 million operating budget. CCA now has offices in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport, and also serves low-income children in Waterbury, New Britain, Stamford, and Norwalk.

CCA is the largest children’s legal rights organization in New England.

"Every child deserves safety, dignity, and a voice. Your support helps the Center for Children’s Advocacy fight for justice and equity where it matters most — in schools, in courts, and in our communities."

- Valencia Goodridge, CCA Ambassador

Our Impact

Since our founding, we have accepted minimal state funding to ensure our advocacy on behalf of Connecticut's most at-risk children aligns only with their best interests and needs. We have provided individual legal services to thousands of children and youth, and brought about systemic reforms that have benefited many more. Last year, with support from our donors like you:

923 children and youth received legal services or advocacy

98% of cases addressing health-harming conditions were resolved or improved

280 children were helped through partnerships with healthcare and service providers

1,200+ professionals were trained to better identify and respond to children’s needs

This is real, measurable change not just for one child, but across entire systems. This is what your support during Give Local Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills 2026 makes possible.

One Child’s Story: "Jason"

 “Jason” was an elementary school student who had type 1 diabetes. Advances in diabetes care have developed Continuous Glucose Monitors, wearable disks that measure blood sugar levels without fingersticks and transmit the data to a smartphone. These devices improve children’s health and ability to participate in regular activities with their peers. Black and Latinx children have lower rates of use of CGMs than White children, and it is important to remove barriers to use to reduce disparities. Jason’s mother had obtained a CGM for him and it was set up for use with a smartphone that Jason carried with him. Because he was a young child, he needed an adult to help him read and respond to the results on the app. However, Jason’s school refused to even look at the CGM, and on one occasion when other students began playing keep-away with Jason’s phone, his teacher took the phone away and made Jason go home for the weekend without his phone, leaving him without access to the CGM results. Jason’s doctor referred him to CCA. Fortunately, CCA had worked with the Department of Justice to secure a ruling that schools were required to accommodate children with disabilities by reading the CGM and helping children respond to the reports provided by the CGM. 

CCA's Result:
CCA advocated for Jason with his school, and the school system agreed to assign a staff member to help Jason with his CGM. Jason was thrilled to be able to eat lunch with his peers, and had a much more positive attitude about attending school.

Why Your Support Matters

Supporting CCA during Give Local Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills 2026 ensures that chil…