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There probably hasnt been another human being who has worked harder for children than Hillary Clinton. Her work goes back to the early 1970s:
During her second year, she worked at the Yale Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development and working as a research assistant on the seminal work, Beyond the Best Interests of the Child (1973). She also took on cases of child abuse at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free advice for the poor.
she interned on child custody cases
She began a year of post-graduate study on children and medicine at the Yale Child Study Center.< Her first scholarly article, "Children Under the Law", was published in the Harvard Educational Review in late 1973. Discussing the new children's rights movement, it stated that "child citizens" were "powerless individuals" and argued that children should not be considered equally incompetent from birth to attaining legal age, but rather courts should presume competence except when there is evidence otherwise, on a case-by-case basis. The article became frequently cited in the field. [br /> During her post-graduate study, Rodham served as staff attorney for Edelman's newly founded Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as a consultant to the Carnegie Council on Children.
Rodham joined the venerable Rose Law Firm, a bastion of Arkansan political and economic influence, in February 1977, specializing in patent infringement and intellectual property law, while also working pro bono in child advocacy; she rarely performed litigation work in court.
Rodham maintained her interest in children's law and family policy, publishing the scholarly articles "Children's Policies: Abandonment and Neglect" in 1977 and "Children's Rights: A Legal Perspective" in 1979. The latter continued her argument that legal competence of children depended upon their age and other circumstances, and that in cases of serious medical rights judicial intervention is sometimes warranted.
An American Bar Association chair later said, "Her articles were important, not because they were radically new but because they helped formulate something that had been inchoate
Rodham co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a state-level alliance with the Children's Defense Fund, in 1977. . . . she successfully battled against President Ronald Reagan's initial attempts to reduce the funding and change the nature of the organization.
In one of the most important initiatives of the entire Clinton governorship, she fought a prolonged but ultimately successful battle against the Arkansas Education Association to put mandatory teacher testing as well as state standards for curriculum and classroom size in place.
She introduced Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth in 1985, a program that helps parents work with their children in preschool preparedness and literacy.
She was named Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983 and Arkansas Mother of the Year in 1984.
Clinton served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services (19881992) and the Children's Defense Fund (as chair, 19861992).
Along with Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, she was a force behind passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997, a federal effort that provided state support for children whose parents were unable to provide them with health coverage, and conducted outreach efforts on behalf of enrolling children in the program once it became law.
She promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses
In 1997, she initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which she regarded as her greatest accomplishment as First Lady.
In 1999, she was instrumental in passage of the Foster Care Independence Act, which doubled federal monies for teenagers aging out of foster care.
As First Lady, Clinton hosted numerous White House Conferences, including ones on Child Care (1997), Early Childhood Development and Learning (1997), and Children and Adolescents (2000), and the first-ever White House Conferences on Teenagers (2000) and Philanthropy (1999).
Along with Senators Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh, she introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games.
In 1996, Clinton presented a vision for the children of America in the book It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us. The book was a New York Times Best Seller, and
Clinton received the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 1997 for the book's audio recording.
Around 1994, Hillary Clinton received the Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center, in recognition of "her vast contributions in so many fields, especially honoring her work for women and children."
In May 1998, Clinton received the United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize for her work in health and social welfare, especially as it related to women, children, and families.
In April 1999, Clinton was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children of Chernobyl Relief Fund for her support of that Ukrainian organization's efforts regarding legacy effects of the Chernobyl accident.
In May 2005, Clinton received an honorary doctorate from Agnes Scott College near Atlanta for being a "defender of human rights" and "a resolute defender of the rights of women and girls."
SOURCE: Wikipedia
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