South Carolina native Marian Wright Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 as a voice for poor, minority and disabled children.   The organization continues to serve as an advocacy and research center on children’s issues.  The CDF’s Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign has a vision of reducing detention and incarceration by increasing preventive supports and services for children. 

RCPL  joins this national effort to dismantle the pipeline and will host a panel discussion, I Have A Problem With That: From the Cradle to Prison, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 29 in the Bostick Auditorium at the Main Library. 

Cynthia Pryor Hardy, host of WWDM’s “On Point,” will moderate the discussion with Jerry Adger, Deputy Director of Rehabilitative Services, Department of Juvenile Justice; Anthony Bryant, Project Go: Gang Out; Chief Tandy Carter, Columbia Police Department; Vince Ford, Chairman of Richland School District One Board of Commissioners; South Carolina Rep. Joseph Neal; and Renee Washington, a concerned parent. 

You may also want to register for a free conference sponsored by the S.C. Commission for Minority Affairs and the University of South Carolina.  The Cradle to Prison Pipeline Summit will be held at USC October 9th and 10th.