Legal Representation in the Juvenile Dependency System: Travis County, Texas’ Parent Representation Pilot Project

• Date: 01 April 2016
• Author: Steve M. Wood,Crystal Soderman Duarte,Alicia Summers
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12218
• Published date: 01 April 2016

LEGAL REPRESENTATION IN THE JUVENILE DEPENDENCY

SYSTEM: TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS’ PARENT REPRESENTATION

PILOT PROJECT

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Steve M. Wood, Alicia Summers, and Crystal Soderman Duarte

This study examines outcomes related to a parent representation pilot program in Travis County, Texas. Participation in the

pilot program was related to earlier attorney appointment, a higher percentage of attorney presence across the life of the case,

and a higher percentage of permanent outcomes for children. Parents’ percentage of presence at hearings across the life of the

case was related to the child being returned home, dismissal of the juvenile dependency petition, and permanent management

conservatorship. Early attorney appointment (i.e., less than 10 days from the initial hearing to full appointment) was related to

permanent case outcomes.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

Early appointment of counsel for parents is related to more permanent outcomes for children

Increasing parents’ presence at hearings is beneficial to case outcomes

Keywords: parent representation; juvenile dependency; timeliness; evaluation; abuse and neglect.

INTRODUCTION

Unlike the criminal justice system, there is no constitutional provision in the juvenile dependency

system that grants parents a right to legal counsel (see Lassiter v. State Department of Social Serv-

ices, 1981). However, parents need legal representation in these matters because most do not under-

stand the complexities of the juvenile dependency system and its proceedings, are unaware of what

evidence to present to the courts, and cannot sufficiently argue their position (Edwards, 2012).

Almost all states understand the importance of legal representation and have statutes that provide

parents with an attorney at some point during juvenile dependency matters. Additionally, national

organizations have touted the importance of assigning parents legal representation. For example, the

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ, 1995) has identified timely appoint-

ment of legal representation as a “best practice.” The American Bar Association has also devoted

attention to the topic of parent representation through its publications (American Bar Association,

2009; Laver, 1999, 2007; Rauber & Granik, 2000) and the development of the Standards of Practice

for Attorneys Representing Parents in Abuse and Neglect Cases (American Bar Association, n.d.).

LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR PARENTS IN THE JUVENILE

DEPENDENCY SYSTEM

As there has been an increase in the focus on providing parents legal representation, there has also

been an increase in the number of parent representation programs implemented across the United

Correspondence: swood@ppri.tamu.edu, cduarte@ncjfcj.org, asummers@ncjfcj.org

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 54 No. 2, April 2016 277–287

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C2016 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts