Brittani Lewit, JD, Legal Aid of Nebraska
Children should be with their parents. This is one of the basic premises of our juvenile court system, and the thought behind Nebraska’s out-of-home reform. Unfortunately, remaining in a parent’s home is not always in a child’s best interest. When removal occurs the roles of the Guardian ad Litem and County Attorney are clear–what is best for the child. What may not be so obvious is how the parent’s attorney can advocate for their client’s children. But when we stop to think about it, in most cases no other party consistently advocates more for reunification than the parent’s attorney. As a parents’ attorney I am concerned about the wellbeing of my client’s children and want to help my client become a better parent so their children have a safe and stable home to return to.
Parents’ attorneys are uniquely positioned to advocate for their client’s children. As attorneys our top priority is to advocate for our clients and ensure that their constitutional rights are protected. In addition our clients have an interest in reunifying with their children; their children share this interest.
It is difficult to ignore the trauma a child tends to suffer when removed from his or her parents, even when removal is absolutely necessary to protect the child. It is also difficult to forget about the bleak outcomes children raised in the foster care system face; after being bounced between multiple placements, pulled in and out of schools, and constantly wondering if they will ever go “home.”
At this year’s National Association of Counsel for Children conference, ways in which parents’ attorneys can improve reunification outcomes for children were discussed by Mimi Laver and Elizabeth Thornton of the ABA Center on Children and the Law, and Vivek Sankaran of the University of Michigan. We can help our client navigate the child welfare system, give our client a voice in and out of the courtroom, and ensure the other professionals involved in the case work quickly and efficiently toward reunification.
Helping Parents Navigate the Juvenile Court System
The obvious way an attorney assists a parent in navigating the juvenile court system is by explaining the various hearings involved between temporary custody and reunification or termination and what the parent’s rights are at each proceeding. However, as most parents’ attorneys know, providing a compass to help a parent get through a juvenile court case goes beyond educating them about the black-letter law.
When an individual’s child is removed from his or her care it is fair to say that they may not be thinking rationally. They tend to be angry and frustrated, even if they recognize and agree with the reason for removal. Helping clients understand how to effectively communicate their frustrations and needs to caseworkers, service coordinators, and other professionals is an important part of our client counseling. When our clients are able to effectively communicate their individual needs and the needs of their children, services can be provided to families in a timelier manner.
As parents’ attorneys, we are in a unique position to understand what our clients need to be successful. In order to help achieve reunification in a timely manner we can provide our clients with information about community resources that will help address their needs, such as food and housing programs. These resources often last longer than the court’s jurisdiction or aftercare services and can help ensure that families do no reenter the juvenile court system following reunification. This can help our clients become better parents by assisting them in establishing a support network they can continue to turn to if they begin to struggle.
We can further assist our clients in navigating the child welfare system by discussing with them the potential consequences of their decisions. While a caseworker may tell an abused mother that it is her decision as to whether she returns to her abuser, it is generally up to the attorney to remind said mother that resuming such a relationship will make reunification with her children more difficult. We often need to remind our clients that actions they do not view as significant, such as having a drink, can potentially have serious ramifications in their case.
Giving Parents a Voice
The nature of the child welfare system gives parents’ attorneys opportunities to advocate for our clients in and out of the courtroom. In the courtroom we can point out all the positive things our client has been doing to the judge. In particularly ugly or complex cases the other parties are not going to take the time to adduce evidence that our client has been consistently attending therapy. It is up to us to ensure the judge is aware of his or her successes and what he or she needs to do to work toward reunification. The key is to do this while avoiding the perils of your client being cross examined. As Matthew Headley discussed in his article in the December newsletter, parents can present their own plan to the court, laying out what they have already done and what they need to be successful. By pointing out our client’s successes we can provide them with positive reinforcement and encouragement to continue addressing the difficult issues that lead to their lapse in parenting.
Outside of the courtroom we can advocate for our clients by relaying their needs to case managers and service coordinators. We can also provide case managers, service coordinators, and other legal parties with our client’s side of a story, be it anything from the incident that led to the adjudication or that our client had a legitimate reason to reschedule their pretreatment assessment. At team meetings we can raise questions our client may not raise because they are too afraid to confront the other parties involved themselves. Our clients and their families benefit from this as it ensures that their needs and the needs of their children are not overlooked.
We often forget that parents are the best experts available on their children. Regardless of what has led to their children’s removal from their care, parents tend to recognize when their children are struggling and what will assist them. Parents want the best for their children and want their children to receive services that will be beneficial to them. With this in mind we should not shy away from asking questions in and out of court about what services are being provided to the children and raising our client’s concerns about their children.
Ensuring Others are Working Quickly and Efficiently Toward Reunification
Perhaps one of the best ways to achieve reunification quickly is to tailor the discussions at hearings to the issues that led to the adjudication. It is easy to link just about any issue that could arise with a parent during the case to the adjudicated issue. However, it is still important that we consistently remind the court and other parties of what brought the case about in the first place. This helps the judge track our client’s progress in addressing the adjudicated issues and shows that he or she is working to be a better parent for his or her children.
We should also be mindful of the connection between the Petition and Motion to Terminate Parental Rights. Parents’ attorneys should ensure that the grounds alleged in a Motion to Terminate Parental Rights coincide with the allegations in the original Petition and the basis of the court’s jurisdiction. By keeping the issues narrow parents are not lampooned with allegations that fall outside the parameters of the case.
Tailoring services to the parent’s needs and adjudicated issues will also help achieve reunification as soon as possible. It doesn’t make much sense for a parent to participate in a substance abuse evaluation when drugs or alcohol are not alleged in the Petition and did not play a role in the incident that led to the adjudication. It is up to us to ensure that case plans are specific and do not request our client to waste time on assessments and services that do not relate to their needs. As most of us who work in the child welfare system can attest, at times the amount of services a parent is ordered to do can equate to a full time job that has them running all over town. By narrowing case plans to needed services parents can spend more time focusing on making life changes, such as getting a paying job that will benefit their families in the long run.
I often tell my clients that part of my job is to stir the pot. If parents are not getting information about their psychological evaluation, or are not getting a return phone call from the case manager, a phone call or e-mail from us may lead to a quicker response. In addition to encouraging the flow of information, we can press case managers, service coordinators, and other service providers to arrange the services parents need in a timely manner. One of the strongest tools we have is a finding that reasonable efforts toward reunification have not been made. This tool can be utilized outside of the courtroom in the form of a gentle reminder that it shouldn’t take two months to arrange a psychological evaluation. In the courtroom we should not hesitate to request a finding that reasonable efforts have not been made when our client is not receiving the assistance that is supposed to be provided to him or her. By holding those working for the Department of Health and Human Services accountable for the services they are to provide we can push the timeline toward reunification along and get children out of foster care sooner.
Conclusion
Most of us involved in the child welfare system don’t generally think of a parent’s attorney’s work as being in the best interest of their client’s children, but by aiding speedy reunification we are helping children in the system receive the permanency they greatly deserve. The insight parents’ attorneys have into our clients’ needs allows us to play a vital role in helping parents successfully navigate the juvenile court system while giving our clients a voice in the proceedings. By ensuring that other professionals provide appropriate services in a timely manner we can help push for an efficient reunification process, getting children out of foster care limbo and back home faster.
More information about providing high quality representation to parents in the child welfare system can be found from the ABA’s Parent Attorney Representation Project at www.abanet.org/child/parentrepresentation.
Brittani Lewit is a parents attorney and Guardian ad Litem with Legal Aid of Nebraska in Lincoln. She may be reached at belewit@legalaidofnebraska.com or 402-435-2161.
