ABOUT US
No child should
live in fear.
Children can’t stop abuse. We can.
The Center for the Rights of Abused Children is an award-winning charity dedicated to protecting abused children with nowhere else to turn. We stand by their side every step of the way, from initial rescue to securing a safe and loving home. Every year, hundreds of thousands of abused children enter the child protection system or foster care for temporary safety, but too often, they fall through the cracks. That’s where we come in. We work to keep siblings together, place children with loving relatives and in safe homes, and ensure access to educational opportunities. We are building a bridge from foster care to safety, family, and the bright future every child deserves.
Our Mission.
Our mission is to ensure that every child has a safe and loving home.
We believe family is the foundation of every child's well-being. But in serious cases of child abuse or neglect, when parents can’t or won’t take care of their children, the state must step in to protect them. Unfortunately, the foster care system is deeply flawed and urgently needs reform.
To have been involved at all with the foster care system is to have seen children left in limbo, year after year, waiting for the safety of a permanent home while the system drags its feet and fails to act. It is to have seen brothers and sisters torn from each other, sent to shelters and institutions because the state repeatedly fails to reach out to relatives or recruit enough caring foster families. It is to have seen the system return children to the very places they were hurt, only to be abused again, sometimes with deadly consequences.
This is where the Center for the Rights of Abused Children steps in. We started the Center to do more, be more, and change more for these children. We’re committed to protecting children, keeping their time in state care safe and short, and helping them find loving homes as quickly as possible.
Award-Winning Advocacy
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Adoption Excellence Award
Norman Borlaug Humanitarian Award
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Angel in Adoption
DARCY OLSEN
FOUNDER & CEO
Darcy Olsen founded the Center for the Rights of Abused Children with a foster baby in her arms and a mission to help children grow up safe and loved. The seeds of the Center were planted when a social worker told Olsen that city shelters were overflowing with newborns due to the opioid epidemic. It was a call to arms she couldn't ignore. In just a few years, Olsen took in ten boys and girls… and witnessed firsthand the system’s repeated failures, including sibling separations, prolonged cycles of entry and re-entry, and premature deaths.
TIM KELLER
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND LEGAL DIRECTOR
Intensely motivated by his time fostering children who’d been abused, Tim sees his work to ensure children have a constitutional right to counsel as a matter of life and death. As such, he’s particularly proud that in 2021 the Center for the Rights of Abused Children secured the rights of all children in Arizona’s foster system to be represented by legal counsel.
ANN TREDWAY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ann Tredway is a nonprofit leader who works to ensure all abused and abandoned children are safe, and she is passionate about living out her faith in the service of all children. As the executive director at the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, she oversees the operations and fundraising necessary to help hundreds of thousands of abused and abandoned children across America.
J. KENDALL SEAL
VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY
J. Kendall Seal is a lawyer dedicated to reforming the American legal system to ensure children in foster care are given a fighting chance and the loving family they deserve. Kendall spearheads the creation and development of research, reforms, and public policies to protect children in foster care at both the state and federal levels. Kendall believes the world needs more homecomings, and he is inspired by courageous young people and their foster families who demonstrate grace, grit, and resilience in the face of a system that denies their voices in the process.
Sarah Cline
Vice President of Development
Sarah Cline is a seasoned fundraising strategist and non-profit leader, committed to amplifying philanthropy to support vulnerable children, youth, and families. As the Vice President of Development at the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, Sarah drives initiatives to secure critical support for the organization's mission to protect children’s rights nationwide.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Board of Directors
Celia McClelland, Chairman
Shamrock Foods Foundation
Alan P. Dye, Esquire, Director
Webster, Chamberlain & Bean
F. Phillips Giltner III, Director
Shamrock Foods Company
Renee V. Giltner, CPA, Treasurer
Certified Public Accountant
Dan Grubb, Director
AZCAL II, L.L.C.
Mike Haller, Director
Haller Group, PLC
Sandy Leong, Director
Sandy Leong Jewelry
Darcy A. Olsen, CEO
Center for the Rights of Abused Children
Carrie Tynan, Director
Adolph Coors Foundation
John White, Director
American Refrigeration Supplies, Inc.
I know absolutely beyond a doubt that your advocacy made all the difference.”