Cristina Ritchie Cooper

Senior Attorney, ABA Center on Children and the Law

Cristina Ritchie Cooper is a Senior Attorney with the ABA Center on Children and the Law. As Program Director of Center’s Immigration and Child Welfare Project, Cristina supports courts and agencies working with immigrant children, immigrant parents and kin with children in or at risk of entering the dependency system, and child welfare and immigration attorneys who seek to understand their clients’ legal needs in both fields.

Cristina also works with state courts through the Children’s Bureau’s Capacity Building Center for Courts, which helps Court Improvement Programs identify priorities and achieve their goals. Additionally, Cristina is part of the Permanency Barriers Project, which helps Pennsylvania courts and agencies reduce the time children spend in foster care.

Prior to joining the ABA, Cristina represented children and youth in dependency cases in the Bronx, NY, and represented youth in protection order and family law matters in Washington, DC. In previous roles, she has advocated for court improvements in Washington, DC and for enhanced federal programs affecting children in low-income families. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Princeton University.