Melissa A. Kucinski explains in “The Hague Abduction Convention in Cases of Abuse or Neglect” that the Hague Abduction Convention may be invoked when an abusive parent or a parent fleeing abuse moves an abused child across an international border, but only when the Convention is legally effective between the two countries involved. The Convention provides for the child to be returned to their home country even if the child is the subject of a child welfare proceeding in their home country. She notes there are some narrowly tailored legal arguments to be made against returning some children who are subject to abuse under the Convention, but that Convention partner countries are supposed to be equipped to address the abuse concerns after the child is returned.
The article called “Culture Goes Beyond Race Identity: Cultural Sensitivity in Legal Representation” written by the Chair of the ABA Commission on Youth at Risk, Brenda C. Robinson, discusses how taking the time to understand a client’s culture can help the attorney-client relationship and, ultimately, your case. She illustrates how making assumptions about people so often leads to wrong conclusions and potential harm. She encourages respectful curiosity about the family’s culture, which includes beliefs and values passed on from generation to generation, and provides tips for starting the conversation. In her experience, she has found that better understanding your client’s culture, and your own culture and biases, in a CPS matter helps build a stronger case and possible family reunification.
In “Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act: A Way to Curb Parental Abductions,” Linda D. Elrod explains how the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act can protect children from parental and family abductions, noting that it contains language to make child custody orders more enforceable across state and country lines, lists the red flags that often precede a child abduction by a parent or family member, and provides judges with numerous remedies to prevent parental child abductions.
Elizabeth S. Scott, one of the five reporters of the American Law Institute’s “Restatement of Children and the Law” has written an article called, “The Restatement of Children and the Law: Modern Regulation in a Developmental Framework.” Approved in May 2024 and the culmination of almost nine years of drafting, the Restatement of Children and the Law is the first to focus on the law regulating children and families and covers most of the legal landscape of American law’s relationship to children. She notes that the unifying principle across various domains is legal regulation to promote the well-being of children, or the “child well-being principle,” which has roots in the Progressive reforms of the early 20th century but with features that promise to reinforce its stability.
The Hon. Ernestine Gray (Ret.)’s article “How Child Welfare Attorneys Can Help Reform the System” gives a brief history of the child welfare system, dating back to President Herbert Hoover, and outlines some of the persistent challenges the system faces, including its reactive nature, punitive approaches, and underfunding. She then outlines key considerations for reform pertaining to prevention and early intervention, family support and reunification, addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities, redefining foster care, reforming mandatory reporting policies, enhancing legal representation and advocacy, strengthening the court process, and the role of legal practitioners. She calls on policymakers, advocates, and community leaders to collaborate to build a humane, equitable, and effective framework guided by the principle elucidated by President Hoover that “children are our greatest natural resource.”
In “The Indian Child Welfare Act Survives for Now” by Barbara A. Atwood, we learn about the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), an act family law practitioners may not have encountered unless they have handled a case involving an “Indian” (the term used in the Act) child as the subject of certain family law proceedings. The Department of Interior promulgated regulations and guidelines in 2016 to help achieve uniformity across the states in interpreting and implementing ICWA. Recent constitutional challenges to the placement preferences under ICWA that aim to keep Indian children with their families and tribal communities have failed, but Atwood asserts that some the Justices have indicated they would be receptive to arguments that ICWA’s placement preferences in some circumstances could amount to unconstitutional race discrimination. The overturning of the Chevron doctrine has placed ICWA in further doubt. In response, the Uniform Law Commission began working in collaboration with state and tribal leaders in 2024 to draft a uniform or model state Indian child welfare act to assist state legislatures in codifying and clarifying the requirements of ICWA.
In “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status,” Maurice H. Goldman breaks down the requirements to qualify for this status under the Immigration and Naturalization Act section 101(a)(27)(J). The protection may apply to cases of abused, abandoned, and neglected children and allows a minor to self-petition for lawful permanent residence (a green card) and waives many traditional impediments that an applicant would face during the process. Many immigrant children or children of families with mixed immigration status are caught in the web of the child welfare system in this country. As we are seeing on the news, changing policies based on the administration in office can impact the assessment and risks versus rewards of filing a petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) protection; therefore, Goldman suggests seeking assistance or mentoring from an immigration law specialist when determining whether to file a SIJS petition.
In “Kinship Placements in Child Protection Cases,” Brenda L. Wahler details best practices and hurdles for placing children who have been removed from their birth parents by CPS. She states that kinship placements are given priority in most state and federal law but that placement with outside third parties is still common, sometimes for defensible reasons, but other times as a result of systemic bias about poverty, race, culture, or other factors. The research is clear that children in foster care tend to do best when placed with relatives or kin. She explains what constitutes “kin” vs. “relative” and what role, if any, fictive kin or a “chosen family” can play in placement. She also points out the concern that as the preference for kinship placements has grown, so too have concerns that kinship placements are cost-driven, though this may be alleviated by new federal regulations on licensure payments.
Brandy J. Thompson emphasizes “The Critical Role of Legal Defense in Child Protection Cases,” stating that, without a strong legal defense, parents risk life-altering consequences, such as the unjust removal of their children or the termination of their parental rights. Zealous representation to protect clients’ rights, she says, demands thorough investigation, including reviewing evidence, interviewing witnesses, and obtaining expert testimony to challenge allegations. She notes that minority and low-income families are disproportionately represented in the child protection system, making access to quality legal defense even more critical. Recognizing that public defenders and legal aid organizations provide crucial support but face resource limitations, she advocates for retained counsel to defend child protection cases. She presents alternatives to parent removal, such as safety plans, in the case of mental health concerns, for example, and believes defense counsel should coordinate with social workers and other professionals to arrange supportive services that help parents navigate the case.
In “Best Practices for Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Family Law Cases,” Tamar Alexanian and Danielle (Danny) King put the spotlight on the approximately 30.4 percent of foster youth who identify as LGBTQ+ and 20 percent of youth in juvenile justice facilities who identify as LGBTQ+. They relate startling statistics illustrating that teens who perceived parental support regarding gender identity were 93 percent less likely to attempt suicide than youth who did not perceive parents as supportive. They offer a list of ways family law attorneys can advocate effectively for LGBTQ+ youth and their families, including familiarizing themselves with local and national resources, readying themselves to counsel parents/guardians regarding the ways that their beliefs about their child’s gender identity or sexual orientation may impact their family law case, and becoming culturally competent so they can provide inclusive, respectful, and effective representation for families.
