Child Welfare Law and Practice Representing Children, Parents, and State Agencies in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Cases

by Donald N. Duquette (Editor), Ann M. Haralambie (Editor), Vivek S. Sankaran (Editor)

Contents:
1. America's children --
2. Physical, sexual, and emotional child abuse and neglect --
3. Mental health and related professional evaluations in child welfare proceedings --
4. The impact of maltreatment on child development --
5. Family dynamics in child maltreatment --
6. Cultural context in abuse and negliect practice: tips for attorneys --
7. The history of child welfare law --
8. Federal child welfare law and policy: understanding the federal law and funding process --
9. Child welfare constitutional case law --
10. A child's journey through the child welfare system --
11. Dependency court jurisdiction and interstate and international proceedings --
12. Collateral proceedings --
13. Confidentiality of juvenile court proceedings and records --
14. Special evidentiary issues --
15. Children in court --
16. Non-adversarial case resolution --
17. Establishing legal permanence for the child --
18. Child welfare appellate law and practice --
19. Representing the state or welfare agency: the role and duties of agency counsel --
20. Representing parents: the role and duties of respondents' counsel --
21. Representing children and youth --
22. Trial advocacy.

Genres: Law

1127 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2005

About the author

Donald N. Duquette is Clinical Professor Emeritus of Law and the Founding Director of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic.

Donald N. Duquette, '74, founded the Child Advocacy Law Clinic, the oldest such clinic in the United States, in 1976. His 1990 book, Advocating for the Child in Protection Proceedings, formed the conceptual framework for the first national evaluation of child representation as mandated by the U.S. Congress. His most recent book, Child Welfare Law and Practice: Representing Children, Parents, and State Agencies in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Proceedings, 3rd ed. (Bradford Legal Publishers, 2016), has become a standard authority in American child welfare law, and also defines the scope and duties of an American Bar Association-approved legal specialty in child welfare law and prepares experienced lawyers for a national certifying examination. Professor Duquette initiated and was co-director of a National Association of Counsel for Children project to develop the national certification program in child welfare law, which is now available as a specialty in more than 40 U.S. jurisdictions. In October 2009, the U.S. Children's Bureau named Michigan Law the National Quality Improvement Center for Child Representation in the Child Welfare System (QIC-ChildRep) with Professor Duquette as director. The project designed a best practice model of child representation and demonstrated its effectiveness in the first-ever random assignment experimental design research on children's lawyers. The results of this seven-year effort are reported in Children's Justice: How to Improve Legal Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System (ABA Publications, 2016).

In August 2015, the National Association of Counsel for Children honored Professor Duquette with its Lifetime Achievement Award "for visionary support of NACC and its members and for your lifelong compassion, sacrifice, and commitment to the needs of children and families." Professor Duquette is a graduate of Michigan State University and was a social worker specializing in child protection and foster care prior to earning his JD at Michigan Law. Before joining the faculty, he served as an assistant professor of pediatrics and human development at Michigan State University. Professor Duquette retired in 2016.

Reviews

[Richard Pittman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a bit more than halfway through this book. It is a very useful handbook on child welfare practice. I would say it is the best handbook on child welfare practice I have ever read, but it is actually the only such handbook I've ever read (or seen). Nevertheless, it is thorough but also readable. I would recommend it to any person who is actively involved in the child welfare system (foster parents, attorneys, CASAs, service providers, case workers, etc.) In particular, its sections on child development are especially insightful.

Update: Finished with the book, and I highly recommend it for people who work in the child welfare system, either as lawyers or as case workers.