In Memoriam, Carol Babichuck (1932-2015)

Carol Babichuk, longtime Administrator and unsung hero of the National Center for Youth Law, died on August 17th as the result of a rare neurological disorder and problems with her heart.  Carol was 83 years old. She is survived by her devoted son, Michael Girardin.

Carol was NCYL’s Administrator from 1982 to 2002. Prior to that, she had been a program specialist at the Legal Services Corporation. She also worked at California Rural Legal Assistance.

Carol was the Administrator at NCYL during the period when NCYL was under intense scrutiny from Ronald Reagan’s Legal Services Corporation.  It was Carol who dealt with the many hostile monitoring visits when the Heritage Foundation types tried to defund NCYL.

Carol had worked for the Legal Services Corporation when they were the “good guys” conducting monitoring visits herself. She knew where the monitors were going before they did.

Carol always said that the quickest way to defund a program for cause was to find financial irregularities.  No one ever found any at NCYL.  Carol made sure that the T’s were crossed and I’s  were dotted. She worked incredibly long hours, was amazingly competent, and vigilant. She kept her ledgers by hand, and monitors often commented that they were “a thing of beauty”.

Carol will be remembered as an incredibly hardworking, very competent, person who was committed to justice and made a difference in her lifetime.  People who worked with her at NCYL respected her tremendously, and understood thoroughly how vital she was to NCYL’s survival during the period of 1982 – 1996.