A CHILD'S RIGHT TO COUNSEL - Children's Advocacy Institute

SIDEBAR NOTES:A three-year grant awarded in 2009 by the Texas Supreme Court will fund two public law offices in TravisCounty that will focus solely on families involved in Child Protective Services court cases. The Office ofParental Representation works with parents to protect their rights and help them obtain services they need,and the Office of Child Representation (OCR) provides legal representation and case management forchildren who are involved in Child Protective Services cases. OCR works as a team to effectively representclients‘ legal interests and serves as a resource for the community on topics related to child welfare law.This model will help ensure that attorneys representing children are familiar with the child welfare systemand understand the unique issues that their clients face. If successful, the OCR model might be replicatedin other areas of Texas.The Supreme Court of Texas Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families isembarking upon a year-long study of legal representation of children and parents in Texas child protectioncases. At the conclusion of the study, the Commission will have recommendations for improving thequality of legal representation; these recommendations will likely include statutory changes to the TexasFamily Code.The final order templates used by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services include anoptional provision continuing the appointment of the attorney ad litem in the event of an appeal. Theperson preparing the final order must consider this option during the drafting process; whether theprovision is included depends on the preference of the court with jurisdiction over the matter.Although Texas law does not expressly require multidisciplinary elements as part of specialized educationand/or training, in practice multidisciplinary elements are routinely included in child advocacy training.This area of law requires understanding of many multidisciplinary issues, including domestic violence,substance abuse, homelessness, and child development. The State Bar of Texas Child Abuse and NeglectCommittee sponsors a child abuse and neglect track at the annual Advanced Family Law conference; thistrack usually includes multidisciplinary topics. Additionally, the Permanent Judicial Commission forChildren, Youth and Families is funding 14 one-day attorney trainings across Texas in 2009; the trainingmaterials, particularly the attorney manual, include many multidisciplinary topics.The Texas Board of Legal Specialization recently approved the Child Welfare Law Attorney Certificationprogram for attorneys in this area of practice.118 Second Edition: A CHILD‘S RIGHT TO COUNSEL