PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

The Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Children’s Rights Committee recently presented its 2014 Child Advocate of the Year Award to Jennifer Pokempner, a supervising attorney at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia.

The award, which recognizes the accomplishments of attorneys and jurists who advocate for young people within the commonwealth, was presented during the committee’s annual Child Advocate Training Seminar on April 4 in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County.

Pokempner, who has been a legal representative of children and children’s interest for the past dozen years, focuses at the Juvenile Law Center on issues relating to teens and young adults in foster care and who are transitioning out of the child welfare system, according to the bar association.

She also works to increase supports that are available for teenagers who are homeless.

In addition to her role as co-chair of the Legislative Action Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Children’s Rights Committee, Pokempner is also active on the national level, where she has developed recommendations and crafted statutory language for the Higher Education Act, which was designed to improve college access, retention and success for young people in foster care, according to the bar association.

Pokempner has also written about child advocacy, presented on the topic of children’s rights for both the PBA and the American Bar Association, and she has taught classes at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University law schools.

Before she joined the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, Pokempner worked with youngsters in Baltimore, MD.

She obtained degrees at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.