by Kristina Guerrero-Sisneroz, JD, Lincoln, Nebraska
In October, I went to Austin for the Achieving Equity for Children and Family Conference put on by the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC). It was my first time in the “WEIRD” city of Austin, but it was a life-changing experience.
In one brief article, I can really only focus on one topic, so I want to focus on the one that really pulled my heart strings - Parent Partners. In this session, Diane Boyd Rauber, M.Ed., JD, spoke about How working with parent partners can help achieve better case outcomes for families and she also wrote an article in the NACC Manual to go along with the lecture (Diane Boyd Rauber, M.Ed., JD, How working with parent partners can help achieve better case outcomes for families, Achieving Equity for Children and Families, NACC Law Manual, 57-61(2010)).
When I listened to this lecture, I had worked with a few Parent Partners, but I really did not know what a Parent Partner was. I would learn through this lecture that Parent Partners were former adjudicated parents who have been in the system previously and had a successful outcome (Seasoned attorneys, please forgive me for the explanation).
Two Parent Partners shared their stories about what their experience in the “system” was like. The first parent was a father whose children were in the system because their mother was a drug user. There was really no reason he could not have his children, but he had to fight and fight to get his children out of foster care. His main frustration was that no one would listen to him; he got the run-around from the caseworkers and from the lawyers.
The second Parent was a mother who was a victim of domestic violence. She told her story of losing her children and going into a DV shelter. It took her quite a long time to get her children back and she also spoke of the frustrations in court and never getting answers to her questions.
By the end of both parents’ stories, there was not a dry eye in the room. Both parents expressed how they felt hopeless at times. Both parents talked about just wanting ONE person to listen to them and to help them through the process, they felt like they were in the battle alone. Both of them became parent partners in an effort to help other parents get through the system.
Diane Bauer encouraged attorneys to do the following to utilize Parent Partners for successful outcomes in our cases. Parent Partners can give parents hope and a feeling that they can possibly succeed. The theory is that the Parent Partner, who is sharing their story of success with the clients, can help clients understand the court process, what things they need to do and not give up.
Diane suggested the following:
- First, obviously, we need to get a Parent Partner assigned to our case.
- Second, we need to “friend” parent partners and treat them as professionals.
- The theory behind this is that these Parent Partners were successful in their own case and they have been extensively trained.
- Third, we need to meet our Parent Partners and establish roles and expectations. This includes distinguishing between the attorney or GAL role and the role of a supportive Parent Partner.
- We need them to advocate for the parents, but we need to be the ones giving the legal advice.
- Fourth, we need to communicate with both the client and the Parent Partner.
- Communicating with clients is our ethical duty and it paves the way for success.
- Sometimes a Parent Partner can get us information we need, such as a phone number or new address.
- Fifth, do not rely on your Parent Partner to do your job or do the caseworker’s job.
- Use the Parent Partner as an extra set of hands, but they are not trained to do an attorney or caseworker’s job (an example was not having them supervise visits).
- Sixth, determine whether courtroom involvement is appropriate.
- Many times the Parent Partner will accompany the parents to court, but there could be potential conflicts (such as the Parent Partner having information that could be used as testimony and possibly violating confidentiality issues).
- Seventh, offer to train Parent Partners
- As parent attorneys, we can have valuable insight to share with Parent Partners, you can help them avoid conflicts!
Diane Bauer then focused on what attorneys can do to have more successful outcomes. Attorneys need to spend more time working with parents effectively. In summation, effective representation includes: not being judgmental, communicating, making an effort to ensure your client understands paperwork, meeting with your client before court (more than a few minutes prior), not leaving parents alone in the courtroom (as it is scary), being prepared for court, and helping your client access services.
All of Diane’s suggestions are “no-brainers”. However, as attorneys, we often get caught up in the rush of our practice and going from one case to the next. We need to remember that we are dealing with real people and real families. We, as attorneys, probably cannot relate very well to the parents in the system. We go into court knowing “the ropes”. Parent Partners understand that fear and confusion. I believe that Diane Bauer had some great points and as I left Austin I was refreshed and hopeful that we as attorneys can help our clients feel like there is hope and we will see better outcomes.
Kristina Guerrero-Sisneroz is a parents attorney and guardian ad litem with Guerrero-Sisneroz Law in Lincoln, Nebraska. She can be reached at kgsattorney@gmail.com or 402-327-0077.
