innovations in lawyer engagement in child welfare proceedings and systemic reform american bar...
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Innovations in Lawyer Engagement in Child Welfare
Proceedings and Systemic Reform
American Bar Association Children & the Law Conference
May 2009
Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest
Sarah Helvey, J.D., M.S.LaShawn Young, J.D.
Core Values. Common Ground. Equal Justice.
Roadmap
Background on Nebraska AppleseedHistory of Child Welfare System
Accountability ProgramThe Foster Care Reform Legal
Resource Center
Nebraska Appleseed
Nebraska Appleseed was founded in 1996
A statewide non-profit, nonpartisan public interest law firm
Mission: To achieve systemic change for low-income and underrepresented Nebraskans
Work: class action litigation, impact litigation, public policy advocacy, community outreach & education
Staff: lawyers, social workers, community organizers, technical support/webmaster, administrator, law clerks & volunteers
The Appleseed Network
Program Areas
Low-Income Self-Sufficiency
Immigrant Integration and Civic Participation
Child Welfare System Accountability
Health Care Access
Access to Justice
Building Democracy
Child Welfare System Accountability Program
Created in 2003 to address systemic failures in the Nebraska child welfare system Highest rate of children in out-of-home
placement per capita in the country Number of high profile child deaths in foster
care Caseworker caseloads in some areas 3x
national standard Lowest foster care rate in the country
Child Welfare System Accountability Program
Goal: To protect the legal rights of children in foster care and to work for lasting and meaningful reform of the system. Policy and litigation Use legal advocacy to support and
complement highly needed reform initiatives
Carson P. et al. v. Heineman
In 2005, after two years of thorough investigation, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the then over 6,700 children in Nebraska’s foster care system
The lawsuit alleged that the Nebraska child welfare system violated the constitutional and statutory rights of its foster children by: leaving children in state custody too long, overusing institutional care, moving them too frequently and to inappropriate placements, overcrowding in foster homes, allowing placement in emergency shelters and temporary placements for long periods of time, and placing infants and other very young children in emergency shelters.
Motion for class certification denied and motion to dismiss granted, Jan. 2007, Judge Kopf
Adopted Magistrate Judge Piester’s Aug. 2006 Report & Recommendation Positive outcomes
The Foster Care Reform Legal Resource Center
(Legal Resource Center or LRC)
An Effective Model for Systemic Change in Nebraska
What is the LRC?
A resource created to assist child welfare attorneys in raising systemic issues
A resource with the goal of engaging attorneys as a powerful force in developing cases that result in positive change for Nebraska’s foster care children
Why the LRC?
Able to engage child welfare attorneys across the state which creates a powerful force in the effort to promote real change within the child welfare system
Is a resource unlike any other in NebraskaRealizing that reform of the child welfare
system requires a collective efforts of attorneys asserting the rights of children in the effort to reform the system
How does the LRC work with attorneys?
The LRC develops resources available to child welfare attorneys
The resources created by the LRC are relevant and useful to attorneys in their day-to-day practice
LRC Tools
ListservFoster Care UpdatePolicy Brief SeriesJuvenile Document BankOutreachDirect assistance to attorneys including
research, the development of amicus briefs, case intervention
ListservThe Pulse of the LRC
Allows attorneys to share ideas and successful strategies utilized in juvenile court cases
Current membership of 188 attorneysMembership is limited to parent attorneys,
foster parent attorneys, and guardians ad litem
Provides the LRC with valuable information to help shape Appleseed’s policy agenda
Listserv, the pulse
Provides an avenue for attorneys to raise awareness of systemic issues that may be occurring in various parts of the state
Problems with reasonable efforts raised through the listserv
Attorneys provided strategies that they had successfully used to challenge the state’s actions in adequately making reasonable efforts
Foster Care Update
Effectively communicating current and relevant information to attorneys
23 released Highlights a policy issueGives a summary of current casesProvides information on state and
federal legislation
Foster Care Update
Amanda C. v. Case, 275 Neb. 277,749 N.W. 2d 429 (2008).
Nebraska Supreme CourtRaised the issue of a child’s reciprocal
right to a relationship with their parentPolicy Spotlight for July 2008Encouraged attorneys to think broadly on
the issue of children’s constitutional rights
Direct Assistance to Attorneys
37 intakes from attorney member and non-members
Attorney may need research assistanceSome intakes turn into case involvement An intake from Legal Aid provided an
opportunity for involvement through an amicus brief
Direct Assistance to Attorneys
In re Interest of Walter W., 274 Neb. 859,744 N.W.2d 55 (2008).
LRC argued that the active efforts requirement in ICWA is a higher and different standard than reasonable efforts
Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s finding that the state had provided active efforts
Nebraska Supreme Court articulated that active efforts requires more than reasonable efforts and some culturally relevant component
Other Resources
Policy Brief SeriesPurpose to highlight an issue relative and
important to practitioners Inaugural brief- Relative Placement in Nebraska
LRC received concerns from attorneys regarding the lackluster efforts of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) in placing children with relatives as opposed to non-relative foster homes
LRC researched and provided this information to attorneys in a policy brief
Other Resources
The second policy brief to be released is Reasonable Efforts in NebraskaThis issue also came to the attention of the LRC through our listserv members
This brief will provide information to attorneys on the background, law in Nebraska and other jurisdictions, and successful strategies
Other Resources
The newest resource to the LRC- the Juvenile Document Bank (document bank)
Provides example documents of pleadings used by attorneys in abuse/neglect cases
Provided through our websiteSample documents donated by child
welfare attorneysDocument bank will also include briefs
Ultimate Goal of the LRC
These tools are used by the LRC to engage the most important resource- child welfare attorneys engaged in the day-to-day practice of law
We are confident that this model can be successfully duplicated in any state
We believe that the creation of these tools along with engaged attorneys ensures that the LRC meet the challenge of the federal court to seek widespread reform through individual cases
Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest
Sarah HelveyLaShawn Young941 “O” Street, Suite 920 Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) [email protected]@neappleseed.org www.neappleseed.org/lrc
Core Values. Common Ground. Equal Justice