Change in Command for the Commander in Chief

Every four years the United States has an opportunity to re-examine its current status and priorities as a new President assumes the leadership of our great country. This year is no different as we are experiencing challenges of monumental proportions – delicate foreign relations, dramatic concerns on renewable energy, significant economic instability, growing national debt, and the list goes on. However, there is a constituency of Americans whose voice is never heard at the polls, who are not even registered as voters, who frequently fall by the wayside when we are discussing the challenges previously listed – and those are our children.

Children – our greatest resource and hope for the future, yet we continue to not hear their voice as it calls for our help. We were all children at one time, so how do we forget the difficulty in us being heard? This administration has challenged all of us to rethink our priorities and needs as we move forward, and it is my sincere hope that this challenge will ensure the increased attention to the well-being of our children, especially those who are victims of child abuse. These children are victims of a form of domestic terrorism that is terribly insidious – they are not sure if they will be harmed as they return home from school, they live their lives on hyper-alert looking for potential dangers, they have difficulty believing in others, they question the motives of everyone around them, and this list goes on.

With the renewed attention to our domestic challenges, this administration has a tremendous opportunity to invest in our children, and that investment begins in their protection.

Chris Newlin, MS LPC, is the Executive Director of the National Children’s Advocacy Center where he is responsible for providing leadership and management of the NCAC and participating in national leadership activities regarding the protection of children. He currently serves on the National Children’s Alliance/Regional Children’s Advocacy Center Management Team, National Children’s Alliance Development Committee, and is Vice-President of the Alabama Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers where he also chairs the ANCAC Legislative Committee. Chris graduated from Hendrix College, the University of Central Arkansas, and the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program.