Drake University will use a $300,000 donation, provided as part of a settlement in a case involving a sibling of 16-year-old Sabrina Ray, who starved to death in 2017, to expand support for law students learning how to better advocate for young people.
The private university announced in a news release its law school received the donation from the Sease & Wadding Law Firm as part of an almost $4.2 million settlement between the State of Iowa and a sibling of Sabrina Ray. Funds will go to the Children’s Rights Clinic, a semester-long course in which students participate in children’s advocacy and representation in different court settings, with faculty supervision.
Two initiatives will be established with the gift, the release stated, including an award for a student participating in the clinic “whose advocacy on behalf of children in the juvenile court system inspires hope for a better future” and the Sabrina Ray Justice for Children Summer Fellowship.
Nickole Miller, director of the Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children’s Rights, said in the release she is “particularly excited” about the summer fellowship, which will give law students the chance to attend law conferences on child welfare and intern at children’s rights organizations.
“Finances are often a barrier for law students interested in public interest legal work on behalf of children…,” Miller said in the release. “The fellowship, together with the new Ray of Hope Award recognizing student excellence in the Children’s Rights Clinic, build strong children’s attorneys and envision a future where all children are safe, supported, and empowered.”
Police found Ray’s body, which weighed under 60 pounds and showed evidence of severe malnutrition, in May 2017 in her adoptive parents’ home, Iowa Capital Dispatch previously reported. Two adopted siblings were found with her body, and food was locked inside cabinets and windows were screwed shut.
According to a report from the Iowa Office of Ombudsman, the Iowa Department of Human Services rejected child-abuse reports in the case before Ray’s death and discouraged someone from continuing to share concerns, despite having regularly visited the home and had contact with the family.
“Sabrina Ray deserved a strong legal advocate and (a) safe and loving home,” Miller said in the release. “These funds will be used to honor the life and legacy of Sabrina Ray by supporting and celebrating the next generation of children’s rights attorneys and giving them the tools and experiences needed to be zealous, child-centered advocates.”
