Understanding Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in ChildWelfare The child welfare court process is intended to help protect abused and neglected children, encourage family stability, support child well-being, and provide children who enter the foster care system with a safe … Read More
Author Archives: Susan Shaffette
Five Resources for Lawyers Representing Transition Aged Youth
Some tips and resources to help you prepare your client to age out of the child welfare system. By Cathy Krebs – January 2021 Lawyers who represent transition-aged youth (ages 16–24) have unique challenges to ensure their clients are prepared … Read More
Trauma Caused by Separation of Children from Parents
A Tool to Help Lawyers Information is up to date as of January, 2020. Children are seriously harmed when they are separated from their parents. There has been quite a bit of research that proves that harm and outlines the specific … Read More
Inspired by ‘Youth Stories,’ a Bill of Rights for Foster Kids is Now Louisiana Law
BY BLAKE PATERSON | STAFF WRITERPUBLISHED JUL 6, 2021 AT 3:30 PM | UPDATED JUL 6, 2021 AT 4:02 PM The Advocate Newspaper – Baton Rouge, LA Before entering foster care, Aliyah Zeien spent every morning helping her sisters get … Read More
Determining the Best Interests of the Child
Courts make a variety of decisions that affect children, including placement and custody determinations, safety and permanency planning, and proceedings for termination of parental rights. Whenever a court makes such a determination, judges must weigh whether the decision will be … Read More
Why Relative Placement Is Best for a Child in Need of Care
While a foster home can care for a child, there are often many relatives willing to step up, and there is no comparison to the benefits of a family’s love and connection. By Avery Alexson Guidry Child in Need of … Read More
In-Home Services to Strengthen Children and Families
Most children involved with the child welfare system are not separated from their families but instead receive services while living at home. These child welfare “in-home services” are designed to strengthen and stabilize families that come to the attention of … Read More
Five Ways to Serve Youth Through the Family First Prevention Services Act
A recent brief from the Center for the Study of Social Policy details five opportunities within the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) of 2018 for states to build a prevention continuum that focuses on healthy adolescent development. The brief also aims … Read More
What You Need to Know About Child in Need of Care Cases in Louisiana (Quick Guide)
Authored By: Lagniappe Law Lab The information in this post is from the Louisiana Bar Foundation and its Lagniappe Law Lab. Link to site. The step by step chart is very short and direct – worth a quick review! Infographic: … Read More
Family Matters: Multigenerational Living Is on the Rise and Here to Stay
A new study from Generations United, Family Matters: Multigenerational Living Is on the Rise and Here to Stay, finds that the number of Americans living in a multigenerational household with three or more generations has nearly quadrupled over the past decade, … Read More