New Chapter: Advocacy

I hope this finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe as we navigate through these uncertain times. As you know, for more than a decade, I’ve dedicated my legal practice to family law.  However, my true passion has always lied in my advocacy work, representing children of abuse and neglect. Many are even victims of our fragile and inefficient social system designed to protect them.

My advocacy work has not been easy. The hours are long, the fight is ruthless and the details of each case are horrific enough to cause many people to lose their faith in humanity.  But more humanity is exactly what this world needs right now. I have spent years searching for a way to utilize my experiences in and out of the courtroom to recruit more community soldiers to help us win this war against children. The reality is, not being an advocate is not an option. It is without doubt, our most important responsibility.  We need to protect our vulnerable youth from evils and injustices not lurking  in dark allies or desolate parts of the city, but in YOUR neighborhoods, schools, churches and communities.

As we know, knowledge is power.  It is impossible to report abuse when you may not even know what it looks like.   With the isolating nature of the pandemic and many schools once again suspending in-person learning this fall, mandatory reporters like teachers, coaches, nurses and social workers have been faced with a unique and frightening challenge: how do we know if our children are safe if we can’t see or talk to them? The answer is simple, we all need to be mandatory reporters. 

It is this ethical dilemma that has driven me to launch a new chapter in my career.  While I will continue my advocacy work both in and out of the courtroom, I am dedicating a separate arm of my practice to prevention.  Through consulting and training with universities, school systems, businesses, law enforcement and non-profits, my mission is clear:  To educate and empower these institutions through my real-world experience with victims, perpetrators, the justice system, families and survivors.  By empowering our community, we build strength---effectively creating a fortress between abusers and the abused. 

This training is essential.  Knowledge is crucial.  Advocacy is the foundation of a safe community. I invite you to visit my website www.lisakanebrown.com.  There, you will find more information on the structure of my training and consulting sessions and how they can elevate our collective awareness.  I humbly ask you share this letter and my website with leaders, policy makers and educators in Montgomery County, the Philadelphia area and throughout the Commonwealth. Our children our depending on all of us.

With warmth, gratitude and hope,

Lisa Kane Brown