It turned out the agencys support for releasing Ms. Barrows newborn did not last one week. Criminal Defense Practice Social Worker. The strategy worked even better than expected. In contrast, the family defender office attorney who worked with the parent during the late stages of her pregnancy is well prepared to advocate on the parents behalf from day one. Serv. 33. The family defender system characterized by the work performed by the New York City offices is a significant contribution to the child welfare field. L. & Poly 141 (2002). The teams strategy was to have two opportunities to present the judge with positive impressions of the mother even before conducting the formal hearing seeking the babys return to her custody. Before she left, the defense teams social worker called the caseworkers supervisor requesting that she be permitted to remain in the conference because the x-ray results were due in another half hour. A non-profit public defense office in Brooklyn, New York. See id. This, in turn, most commonly means focusing on how parents have changed since the case began. We find safe, temporary families for children and teens throughout New York City and Long Island. Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is seeking Entry Level Attorney Candidates for the Family Defense team. Prior to joining the faculty at Brooklyn Law School, Professor Lorr was a Supervising Attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services Family Defense Practice, providing free legal representation to parents at risk of losing their children to foster care. And by so doing, these defenders improve child welfare practice for everyone: the agencies, the court, and, of course, the families who are brought into the system. BDS is a public defense office representing low-income New Yorkers in criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal matters. Admin., The CITYFEPS Rent Supplement Program Fact Sheet, N.Y.C. Programs, https://www.casey.org/who-we-are/about/ (last visited Oct. 18, 2020). 58. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of these agency meetings. But, arguably even more importantly, there is an administrative process that, in many cases, begins before the court proceedings and, in all cases, continues on a separate path during the court process. & Youth Servs. brooklyn defender services bds brooklyn defender service brooklyn defenders family defense practice bds associates inc Brooklyn Defender Services Global Presence Search All Employees Federal law requires states to have written case plans for every child in care in order to ensure that an appropriate long-term plan is identified for each foster child. In exchange for Ms. Anderson consenting to a finding that she neglected her child, the parties agreed to what is known in New York as an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal.81 The parties agreed to a settlement order that ensured that Ms. Anderson would have custody of her daughter and be subject to supervision for nine months on the understanding that the finding of neglect would be vacated and the petition dismissed in nine months unless the agency could show that Ms. Anderson placed her daughter at risk in the interim. They then returned to their permanent residence in New York. for Child.s Servs., Children in Foster Care by Borough/CD of Foster Care Placement, /content/aba-cms-dotorg/en/groups/family_law/publications/family-law-quarterly/volume-54/issue-1/how-family-defender-offices-new-york-city-are-able-safely-reduce-time-children-spend-foster-care, Preserving Families: Parent Representation, Immigration Reform, and LGBTQ+ Rights, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105163, http://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/2019-02/PLR_Commission-Report.pdf, https://www.bronxdefenders.org/our-work/family-defense-practice/, https://www.cfrny.org/our-work/team-model/, https://neighborhooddefender.org/services/family-defense/, http://bds.org/wp-content/uploads/2018.08.16-BDS-testimony-to-the-Commission-on-Parental-Representation-FINAL.pdf, http://www.opd.wa.gov/documents/0047-2003_PRP_Evaluation.pdf, https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=208ionid=2&articleid=5378, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/project-areas/parentrepresentation/, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dhs/downloads/pdf/CITYFEPS/CITYFEPS-fact-sheet.pdf, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/acs/child-welfare/will-acs-take-my-child.page, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/cchr/downloads/pdf/publications/Pregnancy_Report.pdf, nycourts.gov/ip/Parental-Legal-Rep/PDFs/NYCPublicHearing9-27-18_F.pdf, https://caseyfamilypro-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/media/SF_Quality-parent-representation_fnl.pdf, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/resources/child_law_practiceonline/january---december-2019/providing-parents-multidisciplinary-legal-representation-signifi/, http://www.nycourts.gov/ip/Parental-Legal-Rep/PDFs/InterimReport-FINAL.pdf, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53ee4f0be4b015b9c3690d84/t/54138debe4b037d2d5803f6b/1410567659179/CWW-vol9.pdf, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/acs/pdf/data-analysis/2020/incarefostercare.pdf. Our Work. 4. Medical neglect is a common charge brought against parents in child welfare cases.82 Depending on the severity of the claimed neglect, the local child welfare agency may be seeking to place the child in foster care to protect the child from the parents failure to provide the child with adequate treatment or, less drastically, to secure court authorization to require that a child have a medical procedure it believes is necessary but that the parent refuses to allow. On the judicial side, petitions are filed in family court and the allegations in the petitions are (sometimes) resolved through contested evidentiary hearings. The Center houses the National Alliance for Parent Representation, a leadership group of more than thirty professionals committed to upgrading the quality of legal representation made available to parents in child welfare proceedings throughout the country. The practice was recently the focus of a critical report issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Bar Assn, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/project-areas/parentrepresentation/ (last visited Oct. 19, 2020). Social hold is a colloquial term used to describe the practice of a hospital separating new parents from their child immediately following birth while a report to the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment or an ACS investigation is pending. This is written both to clarify why this kind of representation is so successful and to help export the model to jurisdictions that have yet to embrace it. These reviews are essential to the success of reunification efforts. from Columbia Law School and graduated from Amherst College summa cum laude with a B.A. In 41 cases, the children were placed with one of their parents, and in 17 cases children were placed with relatives of their parents choosing. BDS is a public defense office that represents low-income New Yorkers in criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal matters. 26 days ago. Article 10 Attorney for the Family Defense Practice Team. Once Ms. Barrow was living in an apartment too small for her children to live in with her, a new barrier to the childrens return would be to secure suitable housing, which would certainly extend the childrens stay in foster care. The leading characteristic of the offices method of representing parents is to participate actively in the case conferences held at the agency where the case plan for each case is established.65 These plans set the stage for all that follows and are often the single most important factor in a cases outcome. Hearing (Aug. 16, 2018) (written testimony of Emma S. Ketteringham & Caitlin Becker, at 2) [hereinafter Ketteringham & Becker written testimony]. at 4648. Then the team strategically planned with Ms. Barrow how to share the information with the agency and the court. Services Provided:NA Specialties: Other Address: 195 Montague Street, 5th Floor, is Brooklyn, is New York 11201 Phone: (347) 592-2500 Email: lshapiro@bfdp.bds.org . A case like this would not even show up in the results found in the quantitative study, which focused on the length of time children remain in foster care and other outcomes of cases. Martin Guggenheim, New Study Shows Providing Parents with Multidisciplinary Legal Representation in Child Welfare Cases Furthers Everyones Interests, 20 Child.s Bureau Express no. medical, dental, optometrical or surgical care, though financially able to do so or offered financial or other reasonable means to do so . Ms. Anderson began therapy that was designed to address her history of physical and sexual abuse in foster care and her previous relationship, helping her to understand how those experiences had shaped her adult life and her approach to parenting. Once in court, families often face prolonged separation and years of supervision by the Administration for Children's Services. is a public defense office that provides outstanding representation and advocacy to people facing loss of freedom, family separation and other serious legal harms. This program, known as City FHEPS, is administered by New York Citys Human Resources Administration. Each of the cases described took place between 2015 and 2018. Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) represents over 35,000 clients in criminal, family, immigration and civil cases annually. Law 424 (McKinney 2020). Ms. Barrow and the defense team jointly developed a new plan for her that included referring her to a therapist, a psychiatrist who was able to prescribe new medication, and a medication management provider. We push for equitable and humane policies by advocating for better laws, filing systemic litigation and educating the public. We are the attorneys and advocates fighting injustice for individuals and families and protecting civil rights for all people. The medications began working after only a few weeks and Ms. Barrow quickly regained her focus. All names used throughout this Article are fictitious. The unit is staffed by trained social workers with deep experience negotiating the complexities of child welfare investigations during the time a woman is pregnant and immediately after she gives birth. You will receive assistance in areas impacting your life, such as immigration, housing, benefits, education and employment. It requested that Ms. Green participate in dyadic therapy with Sophia, in which a licensed therapist participates in visits between parents and children to develop a healthy attached relationship. But it simply could not have happened without an interdisciplinary team assigned to the case. Brooklyn residents are harmed and impacted by government policies and practices that fuel mass incarceration and the destruction of families. 89. The case examples described in the previous section were provided to give the reader some sense of how the defender offices are able to achieve dramatically better results for their clients as compared with the panel members assigned to represent parents. This case, however, reveals how meaningful efforts by the parents defender team to understand the family and the childs medical condition changed the cases course, without the need to litigate, to call witnesses, or to rely on the court to do anything more than enter an order that all parties ultimately preferred, once the full details of the case were exposed. When the meeting ended, the surgeon continued to recommend surgery, but he now acknowledged that there are many children with this hip condition who can participate in sports, live happily, and never receive surgery. N.Y. Unified Ct. Sys. for Child.s Servs., https://www1.nyc.gov/site/acs/child-welfare/will-acs-take-my-child.page (last visited Oct. 6, 2020). In addition, the social work staff helped Ms. Green coordinate and expand visitation. 96%. Panel lawyers may be assigned to represent adult parties in a large range of other types of family court cases, including custody and visitation disputes, paternity proceedings, child support contempt proceedings, and cases involving domestic violence, in which the represented party might be the accused batterer or the alleged victim. Jail Services Attorney/Advocate. Serv. The prior quantitative and qualitative studies focused exclusively on outcomes of cases and on the views of professionals who see the work of the family defenders in family court. Commn on Parental Legal Representation Pub. If I hadnt had the support of BDS, I wouldnt have been able to stop ACS from removing my kids. When the agency interviewed her, Ms. Green told the investigators the same thing she told the doctors at the hospital. Fighting for you, your family & our community. Bronx Defenders began as an organization that only did criminal defense. The non-profit organization, Brooklyn Defender Services, which provides legal defense to Brooklynites who can't afford private counsel, includes public defenders, lawyers in family practice . Full-time. When the case was first filed in court, the judge only permitted Ms. Green twice-weekly supervised visits at the foster care agencya sterile environment unconducive to an engaging opportunity for parents and children to maintain ties. I think that every parent should have an advocate. The hospital then called Ms. Green and asked her what she could tell them. Emily (she/her/hers) received her J.D. 30+ days ago. The social workers on Ms. Greens defense team tapped into their knowledge of local community resources and helped Ms. Green find accessible services that would fit into her busy school and work schedule. When parents lawyers are entirely uninvolved in shaping these plans, the fate of children and families is left to the skill and ability of the agency alone to identify correctly the critical needs of the family. 8. Between 1975 and 2007, this was the kind of representation most parents were able to receive when they were eligible for court-assigned counsel.17 In 2007, the then-named Mayors Office of Criminal Justice agreed to engage in an experiment that had a dramatic impact on child welfare practice in New York City: it offered contracts to three offices to become the primary lawyer assigned to represent parents in child welfare cases. The teams lawyer then filed a motion for an immediate court hearing to determine whether removal was necessary to protect the childs safety. In countless cases over the past decade in New York City, pregnant parents have had the benefit of representation by one of the family defender offices before any case was brought against them. Finally, in Part V, the Article clarifies the leading characteristics of successful parent representation in child welfare cases with a particular emphasis on proactive representation out of court. FAMILY DEFENSE. One such case involved the representation by one of the family defender offices. When parents are unrepresented at these conferences, the plans are more likely to be boilerplate, requiring parents to do things of little value. Lucas A. Gerber et al., Understanding the Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental Representation in Child Welfare, 116 Child. Beginning that year, the Office funded a new model of public defense for families facing charges of abuse or neglect in three counties in New York City. Admin. . The caseworker, her supervisor, and the investigating team concluded that Eduardo required surgical treatment and his fathers failure to consent to it constituted medical neglect. Hum. Admin., The CITYFEPS Rent Supplement Program Fact Sheet, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dhs/downloads/pdf/CITYFEPS/CITYFEPS-fact-sheet.pdf. 12. She was facing eviction after she had fallen into rental arrears for six months because she was under the mistaken understanding that the rental subsidy she recently secured from New York City covered her entire rent.69 In fact, she was responsible for the portion not covered by the subsidy. Admin. All of this was reported to the judge at the status conference. Among the most unsettling aspects of child protection intervention in New York City is the practice of the local child protection agency removing newborns from their mothers custody at the hospital. Email Us. 72. For another 82 (22%) parents, the investigations are ongoing but to date ACS has not filed a case alleging neglect or abuse. Rts., Your Rights While Pregnant, Breastfeeding, or Caregiving: A Report on the 2019 Commission Public Hearing on Pregnancy and Caregiver Discrimination, N.Y. State Admin. The first article, Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental Representation in Child Welfare, was published in 2019.1 It described the results of a multiyear study in New York City that compared the outcomes of child welfare cases in which parents were represented by multidisciplinary family defender offices with cases in which parents were represented by solo practitioners assigned from a rotating panel of lawyers.2 The outcomes were dramatically better in cases handled by these offices, as measured by the reduced amount of time children were kept from their parents custody as compared with parents whose lawyers were solo practitioners.3 The second article was a qualitative analysis that described the interviews conducted of a wide group of professionals and former clients who work closely with the two different kinds of legal representation models that were compared.4 That article revealed the opinions of a broad range of professionals working in the courts on what distinguishes the family defender offices practice from the work done by panel lawyers.5. There are still other differences between the offices, including the number of staff employed and the various positions each office created. Skip to main content. For most parents, this conference, occurring at one of the most emotionally laden moments of their lives, and which will fatefully determine whether they will be allowed to bring their child home with them from the hospital, is something they endure alone without representation or support. Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is seeking Entry Level Attorney Candidates for the Family Defense team. Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach, supra note 1, at 4546. for Child.s Servs., All Staff Bulletin (July 16, 2019) (on file with the author). Yet it was the out-of-court advocacy that made all the difference. Instead of striving to win on a case-by-case basis in court, the defender community insisted on securing a seat at the table to discuss poor practices with the officials in charge of child welfare in New York City. For these and many more questions, we may be able to help, even if you are not a Brooklyn Defenders client. info@bds.org. Our staff of 300 includes 180 attorneys as well as social workers, investigators, paralegals, re-entry specialists, jail liaisons, education, community organizers and policy specialists. The study was the first of its kind ever conducted, although two previous studies were undertaken in Washington State that compared cases in which parents were represented by a new Parent Representation Program with the outcomes of cases in which parents were represented by traditional parent lawyers. Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach, supra note 1, at 43. The notes of the interviews are on file with the author. $65,000 - $87,880 a year. The Bronx Office was part of a larger organization whose principal work was indigent criminal defense. Gottlieb et al., supra note 60, at 559. . Supervising Attorney, Family Defense Practice - Brooklyn Defenders New York, New York, United States . Popular Searches Brooklyn Defender Services Bds Are you or someone you know being investigated by the police or ACS? See Will ACS Take My Child?, N.Y.C. The goal of our early intervention is to avoid court filings that have a harsh impact on families. at 23 n.179. 1. Ms. Greens attorneys used this knowledge to start planning their settlement and trial strategy.73. The teams social worker met with Ms. Barrows medication management provider to develop a plan for re-engaging with her medication upon the birth of the baby. See also In re Hofbauer, 393 N.E.2d 1009 (N.Y.1979). As Chris Gottlieb explained: Perhaps most important for staff, these organizations offer the emotional support and grounding needed to do extremely hard work in the trenches: a professional home to go back to after a difficult day in court; knowing your colleagues will listen and understand; being part of a team. Parent lawyers who fail to participate in the development of a case plan and who wait until going to court to advocate for their clients often discover that the original plan developed at the case conference will remain in place throughout the proceeding.66. With the housing crisis abated, the rest of the family defense team could keep its focus on the family court case. We fight to protect New Yorkers from the trauma of separation from their loved ones and to reunite families as soon as possible. 98. Founded in 1996, Brooklyn Defender Services operates as a nonprofit organization that provides legal services in the areas of family, civil, criminal, and immigration. As defenders, we represent people accused of a crime, parents threatened with child removal, immigrants facing deportation, and students, workers and tenants whose education, employment and housing are at risk due to legal cases. With this in mind, as the following case examples will reveal, the family defenders in the interdisciplinary offices devote considerable attention to all that is happening outside of court. 26. In re Ella B., 285 N.E.2d 288, 290 (N.Y. 1972). Res. Our Preserving Family Bonds team enhances the representation we provide to clients at the later stages of a case, including termination of parental rights, should a parent be faced with this possibility. The defense team not only was able to achieve the return of Ms. Andersons daughter to her custody, it resolved the entire case, eliminating further need for court appearances. Ms. Barrow was assigned a family defender office. Commn on Parental Legal Representation Pub. Such services might include attending parenting skills or anger management classes, or participating in therapy, counseling, or drug treatment programs. 24. 84. Codes R. & Regs. The agency then filed a neglect petition in family court charging Mr. Sanchez with failing to provide his son with medically necessary treatment and seeking an order that the agency be granted permission to consent to the required surgery. At this appearance, Ms. Andersons lawyer presented the arguments supporting the application that the baby be allowed to remain in Ms. Andersons care, highlighting all the work she had done and providing the court with stacks of supporting documentation. L TO LIVONIA AVENUE. 27. See N.Y. Fam. The ongoing relationship may mean the mother became pregnant during the pendency of an ongoing court case (a frequent occurrence). The cases described in the previous section go well beyond demonstrating the importance of helping shape the services parents will be required to complete as a condition to regaining the custody of their children. American law protects a parents constitutional rights to make critical decisions concerning a childs upbringing, including decisions involving medical care for their children.83 But in my experience, it frequently happens that poor parents are deprived of the same rights accorded to wealthy parents and are charged in court with failing to provide a specific kind of medical care for their child even when the parent is not entirely ignoring his or her childs health needs. The examining doctors asked Ms. Greens mother what may have happened to Sophia and her mother was unable to provide them with a satisfactory answer. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Richard LaFontaine. 42 U.S.C. Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is seeking Experienced Attorney's for the Criminal Practice's legal team. We demand accountability from government institutions in court and work to reduce the government's reliance on harmful legal systems to address problems caused by poverty and racism. There are too many heroes in those offices to name here; this Article is a celebration of the remarkable work they do every day supporting and fighting for justice for the many parents living in poverty who have to endure the coercive intervention of the child welfare system. We work alongside people harmed by unfair systems to fight injustice and change things for the better. Had Ms. Barrow been evicted from her apartment, she would have had to enter New York Citys public shelter system. This problem, known as gap of payment for services, meant that parents were substantially delayed in beginning a service because of poverty, resulting in extending the time children remained in foster care. 30+ days ago Full Time. It requires more professionals and more room than solo law practices. Article 10 Attorney for the Family Defense Practice Team. In these cases, the agency has never met the mother and is brought in to begin a fresh investigation. These plans are routinely included in the reports agencies are required to submit every six months whenever children remain in foster care. As her due date neared, the defense team turned its focus to planning with Ms. Barrow for the babys arrival. Generally, family court judges look most favorably upon parents who attend visits frequently and are able to work with the foster care agency to gradually increase the independence of visits from those supervised at the foster care agency to unsupervised overnight visits in the home of the parent. 68. Rev. The petition alleged that the skull fracture could only have been the result of child abuse and Ms. Greens failure to provide a sufficient explanation for the injury justified placing Sophia in foster care. 40592/88, 1989 WL 1715714 (N.Y. Sup. Despite agreeing to attend the meeting, however, the agency caseworker never came to the meeting. & Youth Servs. The family defender offices met regularly over the first decade of practice to strategize how to challenge unacceptable practices engaged in routinely by child welfare agencies. 20. If you are a current client of BDS, contact your lawyer, social worker, or other staff for an appointment. Instead, the agency staff members told Ms. Anderson and her team that they would not allow Ms. Anderson to leave the hospital with her baby and to prepare to go to court the next day when they would be filing a petition alleging neglect based on the allegations in the case of Ms. Andersons previous child. Child welfare has long been in search of evidence-based programs designed to keep children safely in their own homes. Brooklyn Defender Services. The Brooklyn Officethe Brooklyn Family Defense Projectwas a project of the largest civil legal services organization in New York City, Legal Services for New York, now Legal Services NYC. Brooklyn Defender Services corporate office is located in 177 Livingston St Fl 7, Brooklyn, New York, 11201, United States and has 609 employees. 9. Martin Guggenheim is the Fiorello LaGuardia Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law. . First, the social worker went to the home to assess for herself the conditions in the apartment. Because Ms. Green was unable to provide a clear explanation for the injury, the hospital called the child protection agency, which immediately began an investigation. The clogged courts calendar, however, meant that the court could not conduct the evidentiary hearing immediately. Brooklyn, NY. Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is seeking Experienced Attorney's for the Criminal Practice's legal team. Press Inquiries. Mr. Sanchez further explained that he did not rule out giving his consent to the surgery, only that he wanted one more time to see if it could be avoided by securing alternative treatment. It's time to renew your membership and keep access to free CLE, valuable publications and more. See, e.g., N.Y. Soc. The parent organization employs a large number of poverty lawyers who represent clients in a broad swath of legal matters, including housing, immigration, social security benefits, and custody and divorce, among others. When these errors are not revealed, the official record supports the erroneous conclusion that a child was removed from a parents home for a substantial reason. Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem shares cases in New York County with the Center for Family Representation, and the Center for Family Representation has a second contract to provide parental representation in Queens. See, e.g., In re Philip M., 624 N.E.2d 168 (N.Y. 1993). Whether it is the removal of children, incarceration, deportation, eviction or houselessness, the people we represent face long periods of forced family separation. Criminal, Family, Immigration and Civil Defense. Work Prac., The Bronx Defenders). In order for the reader to appreciate fully the contribution of these offices, and the critical need for them to spread throughout the country, it is vital that the reader grasp a fundamental truth about the child welfare system in the United States: it far too commonly makes fateful decisions about children and families that are based on errors that, in the absence of a significant check and balance provided by holistic family defenders, would never come to light. The social worker, fluent in English and Spanish, also served as a translator for Mr. Sanchez whose primary language is Spanish and whose command of English is limited. Ct. Act 261, 262 (McKinney 2020). Commn on Parental Legal Representation, Interim Report to Chief Judge DiFiore 1215 (2019).