November 2015

Children

Rule Limits When Attorneys May Report Child Abuse

An Indiana Bar Ethics Committee ruling clarifies when a lawyer may report suspected child abuse learned during representation.

Children

Improving Question Frameworks in Child Interviews (Pt 1)

Claire Chiamulera

Responding to children's narrative accounts in forensic interviews is an art. Understanding basic child interviewing principles is the first step. Scott Snider offers guidance.

Children

Risk Factors for Child Trafficking

5 signs to be aware of that a child is at risk for human trafficking.

Children

On the Rise: Painkiller Abusers Who Also Use Heroin

New research shows drug abusers are using prescription drugs concurrently with heroin based on their availability.

Children

Helping Families Build Healthy Relationships Can Head Off Mental Health Disorders, Learning and Other Problems

Child advocates and researchers around the nation are looking for effective ways to help families and caregivers build healthy, supportive relationships with children to help them overcome harmful early life experiences.

Children

ABA Urges Alaska's Top Court to Require Appointed Counsel in Certain Custody Cases

The ABA has filed an amicus brief asking the Alaska Supreme Court to order state officials to provide legal counsel to an indigent parent in a child custody case.

Children

ABA Supports Agency Representation Model in Child Welfare Cases

The ABA submitted a letter to an Oklahoma committee with its views on child welfare agency representation models.

Children

Giving Youth a Voice in Court in New Jersey

Claire Chiamulera

New Jersey is giving youth a say in their permanency hearings, bucking a national trend.

Children

Georgia Decree Allowing Adoption of Mother's Biological Children by Same-Sex Partner is Unenforceable in Alabama

Eva J. Klain

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled a Georgia court lacked subject matter jurisdiction when it allowed adoption of mother’s biological children by her same-sex partner. The Georgia judgment was unenforceable in Alabama, notwithstanding the Full Faith and Credit Clause, because the Georgia court did not first terminate the biological mother’s parental rights, a prerequisite to adoption by a non-spouse under Georgia law.

Children

Lawsuit Asking California School District to Implement Trauma-Informed Practices for Students Moves Forward

Eva J. Klain

In three separate orders, federal district court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss lawsuit calling for California school district to incorporate practices to help students who have faced traumas such as community violence, family disruption, incarceration, and poverty; denied plaintiffs’ request for preliminary injunction calling for immediate trauma training; and ruled plaintiffs had not yet met burden in establishing “numerosity” or “typicality” in attempt to certify class