ABA Center on Children and the Law

Join us 10/16 at 1:30 EDT to launch a new webinar series on practices and programs that lift up family voice effectively to improve legal advocacy. The first session looks at the African American Family Preservation Act: How History was made in Minnesota. Register today!

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: African American Family Preservation Act: How History was made in Minnesota . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. The National Association of Parent Representation, a multidisciplinary parent representation steering committee within the Center, has started a new series titled " A Way Forward” . The hope of this series is to introduce national practices, programs and ideas that have lifted up and utilized fami...

Join the ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United on 8/29 for a webinar examining criminal background barriers to foster home licensing for kin caregivers! Register here:

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Criminal Background Barriers to Foster Home Licensing for Kin Caregivers. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join the ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United for a webinar examining how child welfare agencies follow the requirements in the long-standing federal Adam Walsh law. This law sensibly bars individuals who have been convicted of violent felonies from ever becoming licensed or app...

Join us in celebrating Unification Hero Jake L. from Utah!
"Even when it seemed like the State would not reunite him with his children, Jake continued fighting . . . he proved his undying commitment to his kids, who are now finally happy in his care."
http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/child_law/jake-l-unification-2024.pdf

Join us in celebrating Unification Hero, Sharwline Nicholson and her Hero Team, David Lansner and Carolyn Kubitschek. Together, they made national history in 2004 in the seminal legal decision, Nicholson v. Scoppetta, protecting the legal rights of domestic violence survivors and their children in child welfare cases.
https://ow.ly/aIiJ50Sr1Wk
For more about the ongoing importance of that case. https://ow.ly/3q2j50Sr1Wm

We're honored to announce that Lisa C. is a National Family Unification Hero from Georgia! She and her husband fought for guardianship of their grandson and are advocates for change within the child welfare system.
https://ow.ly/fiXG50Sr0I2

We're honored to celebrate Victoria J. as our second National Unification Hero this month! Victoria is a superstar fighter and Parent leader in Maine. She never gave up on her son coming home.
https://ow.ly/k4qq50SqobH

Please join us in celebrating Kara P., this year’s first national Family Unification Month Hero! Kara led and has continued to lead community change for families in her community. https://ow.ly/3J8K50Sqo5a

Join us! Family Unification Month Webinar 6/25 at 3 ET: What does Preserving Families look like under ICWA and for Indigenous Families? Speakers include Forester Middleton, Shana King , Kyle Spang, and Sheldon Spotted Elk.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Family Unification Month Webinar: What does Preserving Families look like Under ICWA and for Indigenous Families. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. During this Family Unification Month, the Center, along with its national partners, will be highlighting how we as a community of advocates can better achieve prevention and reunification planning effectively as a primary goal. This webinar will focus on the importance of cultural connections in sup...

Don't miss our Family Unification Month webinar Tues. at 3pm ET- Increasing Reunification Efforts by Eliminating Child Support Referrals. We have an amazing speaker list (Shrounda Selivanoff, Jey Rajaraman, Jill Duerr Berrick) and over 600 registrants! https://ow.ly/U70K50S7Fbj.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Increasing Reunification Efforts by Eliminating Child Support Referrals . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. As part of National Family Unification Month, panelists will discuss new federal guidelines designed to improve unification efforts along with prevent unnecessary family separations, current child support practices, and the harmful impact of these practices in delaying reunifying families. Join Shro...

Help us spread the word about National Family Unification Month in June with a specially designed screen background or email signature.

Files - Google Drive

The ABA just submitted testimony for the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Family First Prevention Services Act explaining how child welfare is both a legal and social services system. https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/government_affairs_office/ffpsa-testimony.pdf.
For more on legal roles in FFPSAhttps://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/child_law/family-first-legal-guide.pdf

www.americanbar.org

Did you know every $100 in child support collections delays family reunification by 6.6 months? Join the ABA's 2024 National Family Unification month webinar on 6/11 at 3pm EDT to learn how to improve reunification by challenging child support practices.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Increasing Reunification Efforts by Eliminating Child Support Referrals . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. As part of National Family Unification Month, panelists will discuss new federal guidelines designed to improve unification efforts along with prevent unnecessary family separations, current child support practices, and the harmful impact of these practices in delaying reunifying families. Join Shro...

New state level data shows the relationship between high CPS investigation rates and low rates of screening reports out, recognizing the costs of over-investigation fall on children and parents who experience trauma with every "knock at the door." https://ow.ly/guXe50QMV4b

No Filter - NYC Family Policy Project In recent years, parent-led activism and new research have documented the harmful effects and enormous scope of child welfare investigations, with 1 in 10 children in many of New York City’s Black and Latino neighborhoods experiencing a knock on the door in a single year. Parents have spoken of .....

Calling all "humble leaders". We're accepting nominations for the Mark Hardin Award for Child Welfare Legal Scholarship and Systems Change through March 4. Thanks so much for recognizing your colleagues and partners through the nominations process. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/

Center on Children and the Law The ABA Center on Children and the Law improves children's lives through advances in law, justice, knowledge, practice and public policy. Our projects, publications, practice tools, training and technical assistance help child and family advocates nationwide.

ABA Associate Director of Legal Representation, Jey Rajaraman, discusses how federal funding for access to representation signifies a governmental investment in “the moral cost” of the child welfare system.

Most States Access Federal Funds for Family Court Lawyers | The Imprint Since a 2018 policy change, 31 states have tapped into hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for attorneys in family court cases.

Our 2024 ABA Conference Agendas are posted! Register soon to save a spot or book a group attendance. Early Bird rates close in just 8 days. https://ow.ly/wV2h50QAIkp

"What I'm working to do right now is to narrow the front door, to make it more difficult for children to be separated from their parents, especially for reasons that are related to poverty or not related to abuse." Listen for more from Joyce McMillan's interview on NPR today.

'Deluged' child welfare systems struggle to protect kids amid calls for reform More than 3 million U.S. children were involved in an intervention for suspected abuse or neglect in a single year. Advocates say a disproportionate impact on families of color makes reform urgent.

Excited to share that ABA President Mary Smith submitted a Public Comment strongly supporting HHS's proposed rule for Foster Care Legal Representation. https://ow.ly/4yV150Qe4pu;

Listen to Jey Rajaraman's Imprint podcast on the topic. https://ow.ly/RLYK50Qe4pz

www.americanbar.org

Don't miss today's Family Justice Initiative webinar at 4pm ET for guidance on the federal government's pending Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Foster Care Legal Representation.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: National Webinar on the Recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Foster Care Legal Representation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Please join the Family Justice Initiative (FJI) and other partners for a National Webinar on the Recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Foster Care Legal Representation. The webinar will review current IV-E funding practices and policies; review the September 27th NPRM; and offer guidance on...

The Center is currently seeking interns for spring and summer 2024. Please apply by Friday, December 8, 2023. Check our website to learn about programmatic opportunities and application instructions. https://ow.ly/K1R750Q5fYy

Show your support for promoting access to justice for children, parents, and families by becoming a Center Contributor on ABA Giving Day. Contributions are welcome at any level. Our initial goal is to reach $5,000 through 25 contributors. Can you help us get there?

American Bar Association Giving Day ABA Giving Day is a fundraising extravaganza that engages our global community of members, volunteers, and donors committed to expanding access to justice. The annual event channels donor generosity to build stronger communities through free legal services and innovative justice solutions. Your dona...

Want to see what foster care leadership looks like?

Re•Envisioning Foster Care National Conference: A Future We Create Get inspired while you discover and share how we can improve kids’ lives. Join us in changing foster care for good!

Center Director, Prudence Beidler Carr, testified last week as a witness on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on Child Welfare. Check out the recording and written testimony - https://ow.ly/l4GB50PT3yb; https://ow.ly/xhEV50PT3yc

Don't miss this virtual training series aimed at building knowledge, skills, and best practices needed to deliver high-quality representation to infants and toddlers. The series, presented by the National Association of Counsel for Children, was created in partnership with the ABA Center on Children and the Law, the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, Zero to Three, and the Kempe Center. Register today.

NACC Virtual Training Series: High-Quality Legal Representation for Infants and Toddlers - NACC November 2, 9, & 16, 2023 12-2pm MT/2-4pm ET NACC invites all practitioners to join us for our inaugural virtual training series: High-Quality Legal Representation for Infants and Toddlers. Presented...

A new Pew report highlights challenges relating to minor guardianship of children being cared for by nonparents, commonly relatives and kin. It shares research and steps court leaders and policymakers can take to address these challenges. We're proud to note the contribution of Center attorney Heidi Redlich Epstein, who shared her kinship policy expertise for the report.

Outdated Court Policies Can Leave Children Without a Legal Guardian Nationwide, about 3.7 million U.S. children—1 in 20—live in a household without a parent as their primary caregiver. Many are cared for by grandparents or another family member or friend, and these nonparents routinely provide children with safe, stable environments when their parents are unable...

Meet 2023 Reunification Hero BeKura Shabazz. "I decided to become a parent mentor when my family became victims of the child welfare system. That case had a strong impact on me. I’m normally am environmental injustice and criminal injustice advocate. When I realized what was going on in the child welfare system was a billion times worse than what I had ever seen on the criminal justice side, I felt like I really had to get involved and do something to stop this attack on families."