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Mission & Position Statement

The mission of Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential.

As guiding principles in accomplishing our mission, AACF adopts the following statements. In short, the principles relate to the simple beliefs that every child is entitled to grow up in a family; that every child is entitled to a safe and stable home; that every child has a right to grow up healthy; and that every child is entitled to an education.

Juvenile Justice
Service Delivery

FAMILY SUPPORT
We Believe:
*    Society has an obligation to protect children and hold them safe from harm, physically, economically and emotionally.
*    Basic needs of children should be met through the cooperative efforts of families, communities and government. These family needs include food, health care, housing, clothing, child care and education.
*    The family is the basic unit of support for children. Wherever possible, the natural family environment should be preserved and enhanced. When this is not possible, a permanent solution should be sought as soon as possible.
*    The special needs of children should be met in the least restrictive environment possible. Special services should be offered to keep children with their families.
*    If conditions warrant removing children from their families, the state should ensure that siblings are placed together; that the placement be in the child's home community; that the substitute home have appropriately trained and qualified foster parents; that the placement be of the shortest possible duration; that visitation between child and parent be scheduled unless deemed therapeutically dangerous; and that family reunification beattempted or adoption initiated as soon as possible.
*    Public policy should promote the economic well-being of families so they can care for their children.

HEALTH CARE
We Believe:
*    Adequate health care, including preventive services, should be available and accessible for all children and families.
*    Adequate nutrition should be available and accessible for all children and pregnant women.
*    Family planning services and quality prenatal, natal and postnatal care should be easily available.
*    All children should be immunized against preventable disease.
*    Interventions for families coping with substance abuse should be therapeutic and family-supportive.
*    Services for seriously emotionally disturbed children should be community- or home-based.

EDUCATION
We Believe:
*    Every child should be afforded an education that fits his or her needs. Schools should be centers of learning for all children.
*    Education is a lifelong process that begins at birth; therefore, child care and early childhood programs should address the appropriate developmental needs of their young participants. Developmentally appropriate education should be afforded to all children.
*    Parents are the primary teachers of their children. A partnership between parents and schools should be promoted and encouraged. Communities and governments have the obligation to support parents in their role as educators by providing parenting education, child care and early childhood education.
*    Education systems should support families by offering full access to early childhood education, education for special needs children and educational opportunities for adults.
*    School districts should meet Arkansas goals and strive to meet the national education goals.
*    All schools should establish discipline policies that preclude corporal punishment.

JUVENILE JUSTICE
We Believe:
*    Children and youth should be adjudicated separately from adults, and the system of correction and rehabilitation should be separate as well. Only   under extreme circumstances should juveniles be certified to stand trial as adults.
*    Criminal penalties for children and youth generally should not be equivalent to those imposed on adults.
*    Youthful offenders should be served in small, community-based rehabilitation programs rather than in large institutions.
*    Children and youth have the right to legal representation anytime their custody is at risk of changing.
*    While there are some children and youth who are dangerous to themselves and to the community, the majority of young offenders do not fall into this category. Any state system of juvenile services must respond to the needs of those juveniles; however, it is the state's greater responsibility to provide rehabilitative services for the majority of youth who are less serious offenders and for whom intervention could prevent future criminal activity.

SERVICE DELIVERY
We Believe:
*    Community-based, family-centered, coordinated services deliver greater results that centralized services.
*    The state should be held accountable for the delivery of services that are mandated. The state should also periodically evaluate said programs for their effectiveness.
*    Services should be offered in an accessible, affordable and coordinated way, so that families' greatest needs are met. This requires that funding and coordination of services be flexible enough to meet the needs of all children and families.
*    Public funding for a comprehensive array of children's services should be a priority.
*    Funds should be dedicated to prevention programs at the community level in health, education and family support.
*    Children's services, whether managed by the Department of Human Services, Department of Health or Department of Education, should meet minimal health and safety standards, including recognized child/adult ratios as stipulated in state standards and licensing requirements.