Children's Court Tours
Child Watch conducts tours at the Children's and Juvenile Court to introduce community leaders and concerned citizens to critical services for dependent and delinquent children. The tours provide a glimpse into the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and the lives of these at-risk children. Each year, Child Watch hosts Leadership Pittsburgh participants at the Court, introducing them to representatives from CASA, KidsVoice and Allegheny County CYF, who each explain their functions in and out of the court setting. These visitors also witness dependency hearings and tour the court building, including the playrooms. This year, Child Watch expanded participation to include Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners and other interested community leaders.

Advocacy Training
Child Watch periodically leads education sessions for local agencies and citizen leaders on advisory methods and issues important to children.

The last session, held in March 2007, was State Budget 101: Advocacy through the State Budget Process & Children's Issues in the 2007-08 Pennsylvania State Budget. This event featured Robert Nelkin, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Governor's Cabinet on Children & Families and Director, Division of Policy Initiatives, Office of Child Development, University of Pittsburgh.

These sessions are designed to:

• Help agencies and organizations better understand the political process, and how best to focus their resources to make changes on behalf of the children whom they serve.
• Educate legislators by outlining the priorities of children, and by suggesting legislative and budgetary solutions over which the legislators have influence.