A good attorney can be hard to find for parents in the child welfare system. A new program could help.
If Senate Bill 907 and House Bill 1017 are passed into law they would create the Family Representation and Advocacy Program housed in a central office under the Administrative Office of the Courts. The program would supervise lawyers, oversee training, manage caseloads and compensation and issue standards of practice for attorneys representing children, indigent parents,…
Providing High Quality Legal Representation in Child Welfare Cases Provides Better Outcomes for Kids
Judge Fransein touches on better outcomes for children with lawyers and proposed legislation to create a centralized office to remove the barriers that currently exist for children and parents to obtain high-quality legal representation.
Let’s not leave CT’s older foster youth to advocate for themselves
Not all states ensure lawyers for youth who stay in extended foster care after they turn 18, but in this article Stace Schleif explains why they all should. Kids in state custody need lawyers.
MA: Baker proposal for guardians ad litem will only worsen child welfare system
The move would lead to unnecessary, traumatic separation of children from families writes Michael Dsida and Leon Smith in CommonWealth Magazine.
Improving Child Welfare in Maine
To improve child welfare in Maine, Chelsea Peters argues that national best practices – including a right to legal counsel for children – are a great place to start.
New Campaign to Ensure Attorneys for Children in Foster Care
The National Association of Counsel for Children launches a new campaign, Counsel for Kids, dedicated to ensuring that children in foster care receive lawyers of their own.
Oped: Right to Representation in Noncriminal Cases
You can lose your kids, home and freedom without ever seeing a lawyer. It’s a profound injustice. Powerful op-ed from The Washington Post on the right to representation in noncriminal cases.
Information Memorandum -Civil Legal Advocacy
Civil Legal Advocacy to Promote Child and Family Well-being, Address the Social Determinants of Health, and Enhance Community Resilience.
Article: The Case for a Centralized Office for Legal Representation in Child Welfare Cases
FJI Executive Team member, Mimi Laver, and FJI Communications Work Group Co-Chair, Cathy Krebs, recently published a new article “The Case for a Centralized Office for Legal Representation in Child Welfare Cases.”