SCOTUS Stunner: The Indian Child Welfare Act Stands 

Last week, in a surprising 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court fully upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act in Brackeen v. Haaland. We break down the full opinion of the court and their various reasons for siding in support of the 1978 law that was passed at a time when nearly a third of indigenous children were separated from their family.

We are joined for reaction to the Brackeen ruling by three women close to the case:

-Kate Fort of Michigan State University, one of the foremost experts on ICWA in this country, who assisted with the tribes’ preparation for the Supreme Court oral arguments

-Chrissi Ross Nimmo, deputy attorney general for Cherokee Nation, one of the the tribes that officially was party to the case

-Rebecca Nagle, journalist and architect of the podcast This Land, whose second season focused on the Brackeen case.

Reading Room

Indian Child Welfare Act Stands, Native Families Empowered

The Imprint’s continuing coverage of Brackeen v. Haaland, 2018-2023

Opinion in Brackeen v. Haaland

Imprint Reporting by Nancy Marie Spears

Homelessness and Child Welfare: A Conversation with David Ambroz

In this episode, sponsored by the National Association of Counsel for Children, Angela interviews David Ambroz, author of the memoir “A Place Called Home” and keynote speaker at the upcoming NACC Conference in Minneapolis. After growing up homeless and then in foster care, David graduated from Vassar College and later earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. He is now the Head of Community Engagement (West) for Amazon, a national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate, and a foster dad.

In this episode, David provides a powerful perspective on the intersection of homelessness and child welfare. He talks specifically about how his attorneys impacted his journey. David also encourages people to focus on the progress being made within our admittedly imperfect systems and gives concrete strategies to continue pushing that progress forward.

Join us at the NACC Conference August 10-12, 2023. Click here to register.

To learn more about David Ambroz, visit his website and the website of his nonprofit, FosterMore. You can follow David on Instagram @hjdambroz and Twitter @DaveAmbroz.

When Things Go Sideways

In this episode, Angela, John and Jim talk about how to handle those difficult cases where you get what you asked for, but it doesn’t go as planned.

Cheerleading 101 – yes, you do that too

In this episode, Angela and Bill reveal a secret—that advocating a parent’s position can in fact facilitate the quick achievement of permanency. For example, a child’s attorney ensuring a parent is promptly referred to providers will help determine whether the case plan’s services can be timely achieved.

Advocating for the parent  is, of course, in the name of your client—the removed child.  By moving to compel referrals for the parent, you are pushing the case to permanency within statutory timeframes. And, you are taking the lead in the litigation to further your client’s emotional stability.

NACC Live: A Conversation with Leslie Starr Heimov, Part Two

In this two part series, Angela and Bill interview Leslie Starr Heimov, Executive Director of the Children’s Law Center of California.

CLC is the largest children’s law office in the country, representing about 33,000 children at any given time. In Part One, we talk with Leslie about caseloads, innovative practices and funding models, and strategies to keep children at home.

NACC Live: A Conversation with Leslie Starr Heimov

In this two part series, Angela and Bill interview Leslie Starr Heimov, Executive Director of the Children’s Law Center of California.

CLC is the largest children’s law office in the country, representing about 33,000 children at any given time. In Part One, we talk with Leslie about caseloads, innovative practices and funding models, and strategies to keep children at home.

NACC Live: A Conversation with Kim Dvorchak

In this episode, Angela and Bill interview Kim Dvorchak, executive director of the National Association of Counsel for Children. Kim talks with us about The Children’s Law Office Project, member resources, and NACC’s vision for the future.

Representing LGBTQ+ Clients: A Conversation with Currey Cook, Part Two

Did you know that one in five children in the child welfare system identify as LBGTQ+? In this two part episode, Angela and Bill interview Currey Cook. Currey is the Director of the Youth in Out-of-Home Care Project and Counsel of the National Headquarters of Lambda Legal in New York. He co-authored Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommended Practice for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care, which offers practical tips to children’s lawyers working with the LGBTQ+ population.

It’s no surprise that a large percentage of foster children are LGBTQ+. Your caseload undoubtedly contains those who identify as being within this population, whether you know it or not. Prejudices and stigma place added stress on them as they work their way through the foster care system. Consequently, it is important for lawyers to ensure these children’s legal rights are protected. Doing so will ensure they are treated fairly and compassionately while in the foster care system.

Representing LGBTQ+ Clients: A Conversation with Currey Cook, Part One

Did you know that one in five children in the child welfare system identify as LBGTQ+? In this two part episode, Angela and Bill interview Currey Cook. Currey is the Director of the Youth in Out-of-Home Care Project and Counsel of the National Headquarters of Lambda Legal in New York. He co-authored Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommended Practice for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care, which offers practical tips to children’s lawyers working with the LGBTQ+ population.

It’s no surprise that a large percentage of foster children are LGBTQ+. Your caseload undoubtedly contains those who identify as being within this population, whether you know it or not. Prejudices and stigma place added stress on them as they work their way through the foster care system. Consequently, it is important for lawyers to ensure these children’s legal rights are protected. Doing so will ensure they are treated fairly and compassionately while in the foster care system.

3 Tips for Thriving in the Profession

In this episode, Angela talks with Bill about how he has continued to thrive in his children’s law practice. Bill’s suggestions have worked for him and we think they can work for you too.

The Art of Building Trust with Your Client

The four of us are back together to share tips on how to speak with your child clients. The number one question we get from new attorneys, and sometimes experienced attorneys, is how to communicate with our child clients. The ethics rules require us to treat our child clients close to the same as we treat our adult clients. However, we need to recognize the maturity of our clients. We don’t approach every 5-year-old the same. Some are surprisingly mature and some are not.

In this podcast, we give you tips on how to talk with your clients. We don’t rehash the research and the many articles written. Instead, we encourage you from experience. If you have ever doubted yourself in your communication or ever wanted to give up on a client from feeling ignored, know that we have all had these feelings. It’s your persistence and your listening that will help your client gain the trust she needs to open up to you. And to give you the confidence to ensure you are understood.

Reflections from the Bench: An Interview with Justice Barbara Pariente, Part Two

In this two part episode, retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente reflects on her career as a leading judicial voice for the protection and enhancement of the legal rights of children and their corresponding need for emotional stability.

While on the bench, she supported the establishment of processes that would minimize the trauma children suffer when removed from their families. She pushed the Florida bench to become a trauma-responsive, developmentally informed court.

She also championed lawyers who represented foster children, recognizing the hard, emotional work they put in to assist these children. She envisions a thriving children’s law office to include the pairing of child trauma specialists with appropriately trained lawyers for children.

This episode is not just for policy wonks. Justice Pariente inspires children’s lawyers to be creative and steadfast in their representation of vulnerable clients and their needs.

For more information on the family court trauma and child development toolkit mentioned in the episode, please see this link, https://www.flcourts.org/Resources-Services/Court-Improvement/Family-Courts/Family-Court-Basics2/Family-Court-Tool-Kit-Trauma-and-Child-Development

Reflections from the Bench: An Interview with Justice Barbara Pariente, Part One

In this two-part episode, retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente reflects on her career as a leading judicial voice for the protection and enhancement of the legal rights of children and their corresponding need for emotional stability.

While on the bench, she supported the establishment of processes that would minimize the trauma children suffer when removed from their families. She pushed the Florida bench to become a trauma-responsive, developmentally informed court.

She also championed lawyers who represented foster children, recognizing the hard, emotional work they put in to assist these children. She envisions a thriving children’s law office to include the pairing of child trauma specialists with appropriately trained lawyers for children.

This episode is not just for policy wonks. Justice Pariente inspires children’s lawyers to be creative and steadfast in their representation of vulnerable clients and their needs.

For more information on the family court trauma and child development toolkit mentioned in the episode, please see this link, https://www.flcourts.org/Resources-Services/Court-Improvement/Family-Courts/Family-Court-Basics2/Family-Court-Tool-Kit-Trauma-and-Child-Development

HBO Documentary “Foster”: Behind the Scenes with the Producer and Director

In this episode, Jim interviews Oscar® winners Deborah Oppenheimer and Mark Jonathan Harris about the new HBO documentary “Foster” which begins airing Tuesday, May 7 at 8:00pm. The documentary offers insights from children’s lawyers and others in its presentation to upend the myths of foster care. It also highlights the work of the Children’s Law Center of California.

Avoiding Landmines on Permanency Road

BOOM! That quick trip to permanency just came to a screeching halt—for a reason you didn’t expect. Or one you chose to ignore. Instead, it’s now a very long and arduous journey causing emotional harm to your client. In this podcast, we review a few of the most common obstacles to getting your client to permanency within the legal time frame. You will learn some of the solutions we have used successfully over the years.

Life in the Fast Lane – Permanency Focused Advocacy

The problem most children’s lawyers face is having enough time to do what needs to be done to help all of our clients. High caseloads, lack of support, and backed-up dockets are just some of the stoppers we have all experienced in representing all of our clients effectively and ethically. In this podcast, we talk specifics about one of the solutions to this most vexing conundrum. By keeping your focus on your clients’ number one legal problem, you can close your cases faster thereby lessening the potential emotional harm your clients suffer.