Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago
Mission
The Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago (CRFC) works with elementary and secondary schools to develop critical thinking skills and engage in responsible civic action. CRFC is a national leader in the design and implementation of quality law-related education (LRE) programs for local, national, and international projects. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, CRFC was founded in 1974 as part of the Constitutional Rights Foundation in Los Angeles and became an independent 501(c)(3) organization in 1990.
Goals
- To provide elementary and secondary students from diverse backgrounds with opportunities to learn first hand about legal and political issues, and about their rights and responsibilities;
- To provide teachers with professional development emphasizing essential Constitutional and legal content, interactive teaching strategies, and alternative forms of assessment;
- To develop and promote innovative teaching materials that contain multiple perspectives on important public issues to support student classroom and field experiences; and
- To recruit and prepare lawyers, judges, police officers, governmental officials, and other outside resource persons to work with teachers and students to present a realistic view of our system.
Recent Achievements
Deliberating in a Democracy (DID). A five-year international program that links high school students and their teachers in six sites-Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania, and the metropolitan areas surrounding Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC-through deliberations with each other and with policymakers on current issues that represent tensions between liberty, equality, and safety.
Youth for Justice. The national coordinated law-related education program supported by the United States Department of Justice to meet the needs of at-risk youth and their communities. CRFC works in collaboration with other national LRE organizations and a network of State LRE Centers to provide leadership for sustainable, high quality LRE programs and materials, training, and technical assistance to educators, students, and parents in schools and in community and juvenile justice settings.
CRF National Teach-In. Over 10,000 youth at 100 sites across the nation participate in this program of students teaching students about tensions that arise between safety, liberty, justice, and equality using lessons posted on CRFC's website.
Illinois Youth Summit. Inaugurated in 1995, the Summit promotes awareness, investigation and civic action by high school students on current public policy issues affecting youth. The program brings together students from across Illinois to work with community leaders and to share recommendations with policymakers. Over 1,500 students participate annually, with more than 5,000 additional youth involved in a student-led issues survey and service activities. Students selected mandatory voting, federal surveillance powers under the USA PATRIOT Act, and same-sex marriage as issues for the 2005 Summit.
Equal Justice Under Law. Classes of Chicago and suburban students act as justices and policy analysts as they study a recent case before the U.S. Supreme Court, meet at a day-long conference to deliberate the case, and then apply their deliberations to a current public policy issue in Illinois. Guided by a study group of Chicago and suburban teachers, the program serves as a national model of professional development for improving teaching and learning in law-related education. Recent topics have included drug testing in schools and the "three strikes" sentencing model for repeat offenders.
Lawyers in the Classroom. CRFC partners teams of attorney volunteers with teachers in Chicago and the greater metropolitan areas to help students understand their rights and responsibilities under the law using CRFC's curricula. Nearly 200 attorneys work with over 100 teachers to reach more than 5,000 students annually.
VOICE (Violence-prevention Outcomes in Civic Education). Now in 20 states, this 50-lesson curriculum introduces fourth and fifth grade students to how our government works through lessons in law-related education, mediation, and service learning. A related project, Primary VOICE, extends the program into the lower grades using powerful literature to increase students' understanding of governance, responsibility, and service.
Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC). To address the disproportionate percentage of racial minorities that come in contact with the criminal justice system, CRFC convened a national symposium in 2004 featuring presentations by researchers, OJJDP staff, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Cook County Juvenile Court for teams from the YFJ network to disseminate the information in their own states. Classroom lessons and resources to address DMC are on the CRFC web site.
Contact Information
Nisan Chavkin
Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago
407 South Dearborn Street, Suite 1700
Chicago, Illinois 60605-1119
Phone: (312) 663-9057
Fax: (312) 663-4321
Email: crfc@crfc.org email
Website: http://www.crfc.org