representation

In late 2018, the U.S. Children’s Bureau opened up the federal tap for an oft-underfunded corner of the child welfare system: legal counsel for parents, or children, involved in dependency court cases. 

California county courts must continue to hold hearings on cases where children are in foster care or have been placed in juvenile detention, and child welfare systems must try to facilitate in-person visits for separated families, according to new rules approved today by the California Judicial Council. 

Caylee showed up for her first court date where the juvenile court reviewed the neglect allegations related to substance abuse filed against her by the Department of Human Services. The judge ordered a removal of Caylee’s newborn baby and placed the baby with a family friend in temporary kinship care.

The child welfare system has a problem that is rarely mentioned in the literature. Children wait too long for permanency, and the problem is exasperated by the age of the children.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been reading transcripts from child protective hearings. Hundreds of pages of transcripts. I’ve seen examples of clear legal errors. I’ve read many lines of parents’ lawyers grumbling and complaining.

The New York City Council is considering a new frontier in establishing rights for parents accused of child abuse and neglect, over objections from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and child protective caseworkers.

As a community pastor ministering to foster and probation youth in Northern California, I know how important it is for teachers, family friends, clergy, mentors and others to support these youth at dependency and delinquency juvenile court hearings.

Each fall, students in the University of Michigan Law School’s Child Welfare Appellate Clinic represent parents in termination of parental rights (TPR) appeals. We don’t cherry pick our cases for ones we’re likely to win.

As The Imprint reported earlier this month, a much-anticipated study of New York’s interdisciplinary law office (ILO) parent representation model has shown it significantly reduces the time children remain in foster care.