Funding for the study was secured from Casey Family Programs,28 one of the leading child welfare foundations in the country committed to supporting practices designed to ensure that children are able to be raised safely in their families of origin.29 An important question the study hoped to learn was whether the kind of legal representation made available to parents would have any impact on reducing the time children spend in foster care.30, The quantitative study was a multiyear study of child welfare cases brought in the New York City courts to determine whether the kind of legal representation provided to parents can make a difference in the outcome of cases.31 The researchers examined child welfare cases filed in New York City Family Court between 2007 and 2014; the final sample involved 9,582 families with 18,288 children.32 They used Propensity Score Matching as the statistical design, which equalized the groups of families compared on nearly twenty factors or covariates split into variables.33 This methodology allowed the researchers to attribute differences in outcomes between the two groups to the type of representation the parents received.34, The study compared the outcome of cases based on whether parents were represented by panel lawyers and parents who were represented by one of the family defender offices.35 Ultimately, the researchers traced the outcomes of nearly 10,000 families and their more than 18,000 children through a four-year follow-up period.36, The study found that the kind of representation afforded to parents makes a dramatic difference in the length of time children spend in foster care.37 Giving parents the right kind of legal team results in families being reunited far sooner than would otherwise happen.38 The family defense offices were able to secure the safe return of children to their families 43 percent more often in their first year than panel attorneys, and 25 percent more often in the second year.39 Giving parents lawyers from family defense offices allowed children to be permanently released to relatives more than twice as often in the first year of a case and 67 percent more often in the second year.40 These families may otherwise have been permanently dissolved or the children may have spent their childhood separated from their family. The Article ends with the conclusion that those committed to a child welfare system that avoids the needless separation of children from their families should embrace the new family defender model exemplified by the New York City offices whose work is described and celebrated in the Article. In Queens and Richmond County (Staten Island), no change to the legal representation landscape occurred at that time. L. & Soc. American law protects a parents constitutional rights to make critical decisions concerning a childs upbringing, including decisions involving medical care for their children.83 But in my experience, it frequently happens that poor parents are deprived of the same rights accorded to wealthy parents and are charged in court with failing to provide a specific kind of medical care for their child even when the parent is not entirely ignoring his or her childs health needs. Above all else, what characterizes the differences between the family defender offices and their solo practitioner counterparts in New York City is the purposeful assembly of a holistic team designed to work closely with clients throughout the proceedings. In countless cases over the past decade in New York City, pregnant parents have had the benefit of representation by one of the family defender offices before any case was brought against them. 30. In most of these cases, the mother is already represented by a lawyer. Once the judge could be persuaded of this, the prospects of significantly increasing the amount of time Ms. Green could spend with her child were greatly advanced. Thousands of families face the possibility of separation due to a wide range of circumstances, mostly stemming from poverty, lack of stable housing or child care, mental health or health diagnoses or intellectual disabilities. 68. for Child.s Servs., All Staff Bulletin, Child Welfare Watch, Tough Decisions: Dealing with Domestic Violence, N.Y.C. The family defender office assigned to represent Ms. Green handles many of these cases each year and has become expert both in cross-examining medical experts called by the agency and at engaging and communicating with knowledgeable physicians able to provide their expert medical opinion on whether an injury is more likely to be the consequence of abuse or an accident. 3 TO PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach, supra note 1, at 45. With the positive evaluation from the court mental health clinic and letters the team gathered from Ms. Barrows service providers, the judge agreed to allow the children to return home for overnight visits, commonly a crucial step that leads to the eventual return of children to their parents custody. This kind of advocacy can only be implemented by multiperson offices. Ms. Anderson grew up in foster care, moving through over 20 foster homes as a child. All of this was reported to the judge at the status conference. Hochul's Budget Pads Prosecution Without Match for Public Defense of BDS' family defense clients were reunited with their children at the conclusion of their family court case. 17. Our team of attorneys, paralegals, advocates, social workers and administrative staff provide a broad range of family defense representation, advocacy and support. Wholly apart from holding conferences during the time a case is being prosecuted in court, an even more critical component of the administrative process is ongoing. Brooklyn Defender Services 4.2. The strategy worked. 30+ days ago Full Time. Do you need help accessing benefits or fighting eviction? Ms. Barrow disclosed to her defense team that she was pregnant. See Mark E. Courtney & Jennifer L. Hook, Evaluation of the Impact of Enhanced Parental Legal Representation on the Timing of Permanency Outcomes for Children in Foster Care, 34 Child. Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach, supra note 1, at 53. 25. Mr. Sanchez brought Eduardo to a public hospital for medical attention. . Our staff of 300 includes 180 attorneys as well as social workers, investigators, paralegals, re-entry specialists, jail liaisons, education, community organizers and policy specialists. When parents lawyers are entirely uninvolved in shaping these plans, the fate of children and families is left to the skill and ability of the agency alone to identify correctly the critical needs of the family. Lucas A. Gerber et al., Understanding the Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental Representation in Child Welfare, 116 Child. The supervisor denied the request, approved the caseworkers leaving the conference, and explained that the agency had all the information it needed. A detailed description of strategic uses of court appearances, including the opposition of out-of-court removals; the filing of motions for discovery, for visitation, and for early release from foster care; and the conducting of contested evidentiary hearings, is provided in Accidents Happen, supra note 73, at 40624. 73. Homicide Unit Mitigation Social Worker . Instead, the agency has conducted the conferences within a day or two after a newborns birth, at a time when the mother is not in a position to participate effectively. Commn on Parental Legal Representation, Interim Report to Chief Judge DiFiore 2629 (2019), http://www.nycourts.gov/ip/Parental-Legal-Rep/PDFs/InterimReport-FINAL.pdf. for Family Representation, at 1). We demand accountability from government institutions in court and work to reduce the government's reliance on harmful legal systems to address problems caused by poverty and racism. Rev. When the case was first filed in court, the judge only permitted Ms. Green twice-weekly supervised visits at the foster care agencya sterile environment unconducive to an engaging opportunity for parents and children to maintain ties. See In re Philip M., 624 N.E.2d at 172. Criminal Defense Practice Social Worker. In addition, major improvements have been made to parental representation systems in a number of other states, including Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Social holds may result when a safety planning conference does not happen until after birth. Id. BDS provides innovative, multi-disciplinary, and client-centered criminal, family, and immigration defense, as well as civil legal Read more about this organization Issue Areas Include Family Immigrants or Refugees Legal Assistance Location In 41 cases, the children were placed with one of their parents, and in 17 cases children were placed with relatives of their parents choosing. Such services might include attending parenting skills or anger management classes, or participating in therapy, counseling, or drug treatment programs. & Youth Servs. The family defender offices met regularly over the first decade of practice to strategize how to challenge unacceptable practices engaged in routinely by child welfare agencies. Compare Child Welfare Watch, Tough Decisions: Dealing with Domestic Violence 15 (2003), https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53ee4f0be4b015b9c3690d84/t/54138debe4b037d2d5803f6b/1410567659179/CWW-vol9.pdf [https://perma.cc/P79M-8T6A], with N.Y.C. See Commn on Parental Legal Representation, Interim Report to Chief Judge DiFiore 1215 (2019), http://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/2019-02/PLR_Commission-Report.pdf (discussing history of parental representation in New York State). Law 424 (McKinney 2020). But, as the examples in this Article show, the offices undertake significant out-of-court work that dramatically impacts the child welfare practice in New York City. This catch-22 problem made preventing Ms. Barrows eviction vital on multiple fronts. Instead of the family being reunited, the case might have resulted in a termination of parental rights. According to Tina Luongo, chief attorney for New York City's Legal Aid Society's criminal defense practice, new crime trends . 82. 4. This dedicated team works closely with parents to achieve family reunification even when their children have been in the foster system for a long time. But, arguably even more importantly, there is an administrative process that, in many cases, begins before the court proceedings and, in all cases, continues on a separate path during the court process. The team met with Ms. Barrow and began the task of coordinating the substantial support needed in managing Ms. Barrows mental illness and disability. Instead, she would have met her lawyer for the first time minutes before her first hearing, and that lawyer would have to make the argument for the return of her baby knowing only what could be learned in that short time. 2 (updated July 2019), https://caseyfamilypro-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/media/SF_Quality-parent-representation_fnl.pdf; see also Martin Guggenheim & Susan Jacobs, Providing Parents Multidisciplinary Legal Representation Significantly Reduces Childrens Time in Foster Care, Child L. Prac. Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is seeking Experienced Attorney's for the Criminal Practice's legal team. 77, 105 (2016). After the baby was born, the agency convened the anticipated child safety conference. Brooklyn, NY. 93. One might reasonably suggest they are much more important than what happens in the courtroom itself. Once the report was provided to the court, the judge ordered that the newborn be returned to Ms. Barrows custody in light of the risk assessment and proof that the conditions in her apartment were vastly improved. BDS provides innovative, multi-disciplinary, and client-centered criminal, family, and immigration defense, as well as civil legal services, social work support and advocacy, for tens of thousands of clients in Brooklyn every year. The practice was recently the focus of a critical report issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights. And once the amount of visits was increased, the next step eventually would be returning Sophia to Ms. Greens custody.