Child advocacy organization expands into NWA
Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is giving kids in Northwest Arkansas a voice.
The Little Rock-based agency opened its first office outside central Arkansas on Thursday with plans to develop and deepen relationships in Northwest Arkansas. The new satellite branch is located inside the Jones Family Resource Center, 614 E. Emma Ave., Suite 127 in Springdale.
“We’ve been working for several years to open an office in Northwest Arkansas,” Tara Manthey, AACF communications director, said. “We’re celebrating our 30th birthday this year and thought it would also be a good time to celebrate the grand opening of our new office.”
AACF is a statewide, nonprofit child advocacy organization established in 1977. Its mission is to ensure that children and families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives, while realizing their full potential.
The Northwest Arkansas office will operate under the leadership of Laura Kellams, who will serve as executive director. Kellams is a former reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has lived in Northwest Arkansas for 20 years and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot about public policy through my work as a reporter for the past 11 years,” she said. “I think I can use what I’ve learned for a good cause.”
As part of her new job, Kellams plans to embark on a listening tour of Northwest Arkansas, gathering insight from child advocates, policymakers and families. She will also work with staff in the Little Rock office on AACF’s goals.
“We try to listen to some of the issues and problems for children and families,” Kellams said. “Then we try to turn that into advocacy for policies that make children a priority.”
In addition to leading reforms in juvenile justice, child welfare and education, AACF was instrumental in creating the state child health insurance program, ARKids First, and championed the recent expansion of high-quality preschool programs.
“We do a lot of education to teach people about what good policies could be,” Kellams said.
“We also act as a watchdog over some of the child welfare programs in the state. We make sure the state is doing well with foster kids, and we also watch (Department of Human Services) policies to make sure they work to help kids. Over the next few months, my main job is to go around to all the organizations and other folks in the community who care about kids and who have good programs and talk with them about some of the issues that are unique in Northwest Arkansas.”
Kellams said she plans to support the Arkansas Finish Line Coalition’s goal of getting health insurance for all children in Arkansas.
Currently, about 70,000 children in the state are without health insurance. Of those children, about 44,000 are eligible for ARKids First but haven’t signed on. Many who have signed on with the program don’t have a primary care provider.
As part of a three-year project, AACF has focused on enrolling eligible uninsured children and expanding coverage to include more low-income families.
With its new office location, Manthey said the organization plans to better meet the needs associated with child advocacy research in Northwest Arkansas.
“There’s a large population in Northwest Arkansas that lacks a voice for lowincome children and families who need opportunities,” she said. “The new office will be an extension of the work we do in Little Rock. We have hopes that we will find a great need here.”
For more information, visit the Web site at www.aradvocates.org or contact Kellams at 927-9800.
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