[1][2] Eleanor Roosevelt, Adele Rosenwald Levy and Marion Ascoli (daughters of Julius Rosenwald), Judge Justine W. Polier, Alfred J. Kahn, Dr. Kenneth Clark (of Kenneth and Mamie Clark), and Benjamin Spock were among CCC's founders and early leaders.

[4] In May 1954, the organization elected Dean Kenneth W. Johnson of the Columbia University School of Social Work to serve as its chairman, succeeding Leonard W. Mayo, who became a director of the committee.

An editorial in The New York Times about the report cited the work as an unprecedented look behind the scenes of Children's Court, which is normally closed to the public and the press.

While complimentary of some aspects of the court's operation, Kahn called the system "a dream still unrealized" that needed to focus more on rehabilitation than punishment.

Kahn's recommendations included a new City Children's Bureau, or a strengthened existing one, that would oversee programs on a more systematic basis to address the issue that "inadequate measures are often taken because of community self-deception" that the institutions and resources available are capable of meeting a child's need.