Navigating a flawed system: An investigation of the strategies employed by legal teams in family court

• Published date: 01 April 2023
• Author: Colleen C. Katz,Caterina Pisciotta,Roula Hajjar,Eden V. Wall,Vicki Lens
• Date: 01 April 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12707

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Navigating a flawed system: An investigation

of the strategies employed by legal teams

in family court

Colleen C. Katz

1

| Caterina Pisciotta

2

| Roula Hajjar

1

|

Eden V. Wall

1

| Vicki Lens

1

1

Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter

College, CUNY, New York,

New York, USA

2

CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New

York, USA

Correspondence

Colleen C. Katz, Silberman School of Social

Work, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY,

USA.

Email: colleen.katz@hunter.cuny.edu

Abstract

Family courts have been criticized for failing their core

mission of rehabilitating families. Structural inequalities

embedded in thefamily court system, combinedwith the role

of adversarial judges and resource constraints, have contrib-

uted to the creation of a problematic environment for par-

ents and families. In this paper, we examine the strategies

that legal teams (attorneys, legal social workers and parent

advocates) employ to serve child welfare-involved parents in

navigating this complex system. Interviews were conducted

with 32 participants employed by public defender organiza-

tions in a large Northeastern city. We called on thematic

analysis to identify three distinct themes: (1) Keeping the

Lines of Communication Open (the importance of regular

communication between parents and attorneys); (2) Strategic

Use of Parent Voice(the intentionality behindwhen and how

parents shouldspeak directly to the judge); and(3) Parents as

Chameleons (the grooming of parents to meetcertain judicial

ideals of parenthood). We identified several strategies to

empower child welfare involved parents as they pursue legal

permanency for their children: (a) ameliorating communica-

tion barriers between parents and their legal team members;

(b) preparingparents to amplify their voicesin the courtroom;

and (c) using more general language to co-manage parental

appearance andpresentation.

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12707

© 2023 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Family Court Rev. 2023;61:287–303. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre 287

KEYWORDS

attorneys, family court, foster care, parent advocates, parent

representation, social workers, strategies for empowerment,

thematic analysis

Key points for the family court community

The challenges of the family court system have been widely

documented but less is known about how attorneys, social

workers, and parent advocates operate in the family court

setting and how they seek to work cooperatively with their

clients.

•This study features the voices of these professionals as

they articulate the challenges of operating within the

family court system and the strategies that they have

adopted to guide their clients through it.

•Qualitative interviews were conducted with 32 partici-

pants employed by public defender organizations in a

large Northeastern city: 14 attorneys, 11 social workers

and 7 parent advocates.

•Thematic analysis was used to identify three distinct

themes: (1) Keeping the Lines of Communication Open

(the importance of regular communication between par-

ents and attorneys); (2) Strategic Use of Parent Voice

(the intentionality behind when and how parents should

speak directly to the judge); and (3) Parents as Chame-

leons (the grooming of parents to meet certain judicial

ideals of parenthood).

•Theme-specific strategies are offered to support legal

professionals in the empowerment of their clients.

INTRODUCTION

Each year in the United States, millions of children come in contact with the child welfare system (U.S. Department

of Health & Human Services, 2020,2021,2022). Thousands of these children are removed from their homes and

separated from their families, most commonly due to allegations of parental abuse or neglect (Williams, 2022). When

parents temporarily lose custody of their children, they are required to engage with the family courts in an effort to

achieve reunification. These parents find themselves in court rooms presided over by judges who evaluate and ulti-

mately rule on their ability to adequately care for their children. Throughout the process, parents work closely with

attorneys, and they may also work with legal social workers and parent advocates who represent, support, and guide

them. The challenges of the family court system have been widely documented (Colorado Judicial Institute, 2011;

Lens, 2019; Richardson & Derezotes, 2010; Spinak, 2010), but less is known about how these professionals operate

288 FAMILY COURT REVIEW