Child Welfare Reformer Dorothy Roberts at The City Club of Cleveland

CLEVELAND, OH—Dorothy Roberts, Kirkland and Ellis professor at Northwestern University Law School, will discuss the glaring racial disparity in the nation’s child welfare system—why it exists, the harm it causes and how it should be addressed—at noon on Friday, July 22, 2005, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Researchers estimate that about half of all cases referred to child protection services involve families on welfare. In Cuyahoga County, almost 70% of children in protection services are African American although African Americans make up only 28% of the population.   

Roberts is author of “Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare� and “Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty,� which received the 1998 Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America.

Roberts serves on an expert panel overseeing foster care reform in Washington State and as a board member of the National Black Women’s Health Imperative and the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. From 2002 to 2003, she was a Fulbright scholar at the University of West Indies, Trinidad-Tobago. Prior to joining Northwestern, Roberts was a professor of law at Rutgers University, a visiting professor at Stanford and a fellow at Harvard’s Program in Ethics and the Professions.

Tickets for this City Club Friday Forum are $15 for members and $25 for non-members. Lunch is included. Reservations are required within 24 hours of the event. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.

On Thursday, June 21 at 2 p.m. at Case Western Reserve University’s Schmidtt Hall, Roberts and a panel of community and state leaders will speak at a symposium to raise awareness and public will to impact the problem of racial disparity in child welfare. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Contact Lisa Sheers at 216.881.5304 to register. Hosted by the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Families and Board of Commissioners.

Established in 1912 to encourage new ideas and a free exchange of thought, The City Club of Cleveland is the oldest continuous free speech forum in the country, renowned for its tradition of debate and discussion. The City Club’s mission is to inform, educate and inspire citizens by presenting significant ideas and providing opportunities for dialogue in a collegial setting.

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Missy S. Toms
Director of Membership & Marketing
The City Club of Cleveland
850 Euclid Ave., 2nd Fl.
Cleveland, OH 44114
216.621.0082
888.223.6786
F: 216.621.0129
mtoms [at] cityclub [dot] org
To become a member or make a reservation, visit us at www.cityclub.org.

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