Karen Worthington Consulting was created out of a deep belief that adults have a collective responsibility to improve the lives of children and that all children are “our children.” Society’s obligations toward children are our shared kuleana. The multiple meanings of this Hawaiian word include “right, privilege, concern, responsibility, business, jurisdiction, authority, liability, interest, reason, cause, function,” aptly describing adults’ stewardship relationship with children.
Karen Worthington Consulting helps child advocacy organizations—non-profit agencies, governments, and foundations— implement research-based approaches to accomplish their missions effectively and efficiently. Karen Worthington Consulting also works to make child well-being a priority for elected officials and all Americans by publishing and presenting about how today’s decisions impact our children tomorrow.
Karen Worthington Consulting helps child advocacy organizations—non-profit agencies, governments, and foundations— implement research-based approaches to accomplish their missions effectively and efficiently. Karen Worthington Consulting also works to make child well-being a priority for elected officials and all Americans by publishing and presenting about how today’s decisions impact our children tomorrow.
Experience
Worthington is a nationally recognized children’s law expert working on behalf of court-involved children and children at risk of committing crimes or being victimized. She has written extensively on child welfare and juvenile justice matters and has spent fifteen years identifying research-based best practices and translating those research findings into laws, policies, and practices to improve outcomes for children.
Worthington was the founding director of the Barton Child Law & Policy Center at Emory Law School, a multi-disciplinary children’s law center dedicated to improving systems that work with court-involved children and their families in Georgia. From 2000 to 2010, she directed the activities of the Barton Center; supervised instructors, staff and students; and taught child advocacy classes at the law school and other units of Emory University. Her accomplishments with the Barton Center include raising over $2.5 million in grants, contracts, and donations; developing sustainable collaborations with government and non-profit partners; and mentoring many young professionals who are now influential leaders in the child advocacy community. From 2001-2005, Worthington also directed the Southern Juvenile Defender Center, a regional support center that focuses on juvenile justice issues and was located at Emory Law.
Prior to joining the faculty of Emory Law, Worthington worked at several government agencies in positions focusing on child advocacy, including serving as Director of Program Development and Management for Fulton County Juvenile Court, the largest juvenile court in the southeastern United States.
Worthington’s approach to child advocacy is greatly influenced by the three years she spent as a volunteer youth group leader, mentor, and community organizer with Sisters With Pride, a girls club in Herndon Homes, an Atlanta Housing Authority complex in Southwest Atlanta.
Worthington received her BA in creative writing with honors from Eckerd College and her JD from Emory Law. She lives in Kula, Hawaii, with her husband and two daughters.
Worthington was the founding director of the Barton Child Law & Policy Center at Emory Law School, a multi-disciplinary children’s law center dedicated to improving systems that work with court-involved children and their families in Georgia. From 2000 to 2010, she directed the activities of the Barton Center; supervised instructors, staff and students; and taught child advocacy classes at the law school and other units of Emory University. Her accomplishments with the Barton Center include raising over $2.5 million in grants, contracts, and donations; developing sustainable collaborations with government and non-profit partners; and mentoring many young professionals who are now influential leaders in the child advocacy community. From 2001-2005, Worthington also directed the Southern Juvenile Defender Center, a regional support center that focuses on juvenile justice issues and was located at Emory Law.
Prior to joining the faculty of Emory Law, Worthington worked at several government agencies in positions focusing on child advocacy, including serving as Director of Program Development and Management for Fulton County Juvenile Court, the largest juvenile court in the southeastern United States.
Worthington’s approach to child advocacy is greatly influenced by the three years she spent as a volunteer youth group leader, mentor, and community organizer with Sisters With Pride, a girls club in Herndon Homes, an Atlanta Housing Authority complex in Southwest Atlanta.
Worthington received her BA in creative writing with honors from Eckerd College and her JD from Emory Law. She lives in Kula, Hawaii, with her husband and two daughters.
Academic Appointments
Worthington is an Affiliate Faculty member with the Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution, College of Social Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, a Senior Fellow with the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory Law and a Global Affiliated Faculty member of the Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative at Emory University. From 2000 to 2010 she served on the faculty of Emory University School of Law as Director of the Barton Child Law and Policy Center. In academic year 2009, Worthington completed Emory University’s Inaugural Academic Leadership Program.
Awards and Honors
Emory Law School honored Worthington with the Emory Public Interest Committee Inspiration Award for Unsung Devotion to those Most in Need in 2011. In 2009, the National Association of Counsel for Children presented her with its highest honor, the national Outstanding Legal Advocacy Award. She has also received awards from Emory University, the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division, and the Georgia State University School of Social Work.
Nonprofit Board Service
Presenting award for Voices for Georgia's Children
Worthington is most proud of her efforts to increase the number of people and organizations working on behalf of children in need. She has been a founding board member and officer of the Interfaith Children’s Movement (founded in 2001), Voices for Georgia’s Children (founded in 2003), and the Georgia Association of Counsel for Children (founded in 2004). She also helped found the Georgia Coalition for Juvenile Justice. She has served on the Georgia CASA Advisory Board and the Emory Public Interest Committee Advisory Board.
Worthington serves as President of the board of directors for Imua Family Services, a Maui non-profit organization that provides child development and therapeutic services for families facing challenges related to their child’s development, behavior or disability. Worthington also serves as a board member of EPIC ‘Ohana and the Kula Elementary School PTA.
Worthington serves as President of the board of directors for Imua Family Services, a Maui non-profit organization that provides child development and therapeutic services for families facing challenges related to their child’s development, behavior or disability. Worthington also serves as a board member of EPIC ‘Ohana and the Kula Elementary School PTA.
Professional Associations and Service
Celebrating the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center
Worthington serves on committees for the State Bar of Georgia, the American Bar Association, and the National Association of Counsel for Children. She served on the Georgia Citizen Review Panel for nine years, served on the Georgia CAPTA work group for two years, and was on the Advisory Committee for Georgia’s first Child and Family Services Review.
Worthington is an active member of the Maui child advocacy community, serving as Coordinator for the Ho‘oikaika Partnership, a coalition of over 40 organizations and individuals working to prevent child abuse and neglect in Maui County. The Ho'oikaika Partners work with One Strong Ohana, a statewide public awareness campaign to prevent child abuse. In addition, in 2011 and 2012 Worthington served as a reviewer for the Hawai‘i Child Welfare Continuous Quality Improvement Project case reviews for Maui County.
She is a frequent lecturer at local, state, and national conferences, and was a faculty member at the 2005 World Congress on Family Law & Children’s Rights in Cape Town, South Africa. Worthington has testified before the Georgia Legislature and several state agencies concerning the rights of children and the needs of the people and systems who serve them. She is a trusted resource for reporters and editors with local and national news outlets.
Worthington is admitted to practice law in California and Georgia.
Worthington is an active member of the Maui child advocacy community, serving as Coordinator for the Ho‘oikaika Partnership, a coalition of over 40 organizations and individuals working to prevent child abuse and neglect in Maui County. The Ho'oikaika Partners work with One Strong Ohana, a statewide public awareness campaign to prevent child abuse. In addition, in 2011 and 2012 Worthington served as a reviewer for the Hawai‘i Child Welfare Continuous Quality Improvement Project case reviews for Maui County.
She is a frequent lecturer at local, state, and national conferences, and was a faculty member at the 2005 World Congress on Family Law & Children’s Rights in Cape Town, South Africa. Worthington has testified before the Georgia Legislature and several state agencies concerning the rights of children and the needs of the people and systems who serve them. She is a trusted resource for reporters and editors with local and national news outlets.
Worthington is admitted to practice law in California and Georgia.
Writing and Editing
Worthington has authored and edited a number of books, training manuals, policy papers, and other publications. Her most recent book is What is Right for Children? The Competing Paradigms of Religion and Human Rights, co-edited with Martha Albertson Fineman and published by Ashgate in 2009. Her most recent academic article is Responding to the Needs of Adolescent Girls in Foster Care, co-authored with Karen Baynes-Dunning, 20 Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy 321 (2013), reprinted with permission, originally published in the Winter 2013 Volume XX, Number 2 issue of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy. This article has served as the source of several presentations at national and regional conferences.
Worthington has authored and edited a number of books, training manuals, policy papers, and other publications. Her most recent book is What is Right for Children? The Competing Paradigms of Religion and Human Rights, co-edited with Martha Albertson Fineman and published by Ashgate in 2009. Her most recent academic article is Responding to the Needs of Adolescent Girls in Foster Care, co-authored with Karen Baynes-Dunning, 20 Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy 321 (2013), reprinted with permission, originally published in the Winter 2013 Volume XX, Number 2 issue of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy. This article has served as the source of several presentations at national and regional conferences.
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