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

thereto? If not, does state lawexpressly give the child some ofthe rights of a party?(Miss. Code Ann. § 43-21-201). ―All parties to a youth court cause shall have the rightat any hearing in which an investigation, record or report is admitted in evidence: (a) tosubpoena, confront and examine the person who prepared or furnished data for thereport; and (b) to introduce evidence‖ (Miss. Code Ann. §43-21-203). ―Reasonableoral or written notice of the time, place and purpose of the hearing shall be given to thechild; to his or her parent, guardian or custodian; to his or her guardian ad litem, if any;and to his or her counsel‖ (Miss. Code Ann.§43-21-309). The youth court may exclude the attendance of a child from a hearing inneglect and abuse cases only ―with consent of the child‘s counsel‖ (Miss. Code Ann. §43-21-203).6. Do the Rules of ProfessionalConduct (or the state’sequivalent thereto) pertaining toliability and confidentialityapply to attorneys representingchildren in dependencyproceedings?Points: 10 out of 10The child‘s attorney shall owe the same duties of undivided loyalty, confidentiality andcompetent representation to the child or minor as is due an adult client pursuant to theMississippi Rules of Professional Conduct (MS §43-21-201(4)).―When a client‘s ability to make adequately considered decisions in connection with therepresentation is impaired, whether because of minority, mental disability or for someother reason, the lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible, maintain a normal clientlawyerrelationship with the client‖ (MS R. of Prof. Conduct 1.14).Extra Credit: Does state lawaddress caseload standards forchildren’s counsel independency proceedings?Points: 0 extra credit pointsMississippi law does not address caseload standards for attorneys representing childrenin dependency proceedings.SIDEBAR NOTES: Mississippi advocates noted that, while the state laws are positive, actual state practice is much lessimpressive. If the grade were to reflect practice it would score much lower. For example, although statelaw merits a perfect score for Criteria # 1, state practice merits only 15 points out of 40. The basis forthis deduction is that many courts use a CASA as a GAL and may or may not appoint an attorney inaddition. Similar deductions might be made in the other categories as well if graded on implementation ofMississippi law. For example, no two youth courts are run the same, with some counties appointingprivate attorneys to juvenile cases while others have a GAL/attorney pair work on the case; many GALsnever get a chance to meet their clients; and court decisions are inconsistent, and these decisions are notreviewed because juvenile cases are rarely appealed. First Star and the Children‘s Advocacy Institute callon Mississippi to comply with the laws it has duly adopted regarding legal representation for children independency proceedings. In practice, GALs are always attorneys and if appointed in two or more cases, they must have training.While this is a great start, we suggest that all attorneys be required to have training and that thisrequirement be codified in state law.A NATIONAL REPORT CARD ON LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR ABUSED & NEGLECTED CHILDREN 79