In 2014, the Washington State Legislature established a right to counsel for children involved in dependency cases who remain dependent for six months following the termination of their parents’ legal rights. The Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid (OCLA) Children’s Representation Program (CRP) works with private attorneys and publicly-funded agencies throughout Washington State to provide standards-based representation for these “legally free” children. Attorneys commit to participate in training, maintain caseloads consistent with legislatively recognized limits, and effectively represent the stated and legal interests of these children in dependency proceedings. The goal is to ensure effective legal representation that expedites permanency; improves well-being outcomes; and promotes and defends the legal rights and life prerogatives of children, the trajectory of whose lives will be decided in the course of the dependency proceeding.
OCLA has partnered with CITA and JustLead Washington to provide a wide range of training, including child interviewing techniques, advocating for the legal interests of pre-verbal children, special considerations when representing LGBTQ+ youth . JustLead Washington developed a race equity curriculum tailored specifically to child welfare attorneys that is required training for CRP attorneys. A very strong children’s representation bar has been developed in Washington State that is supported by a CRP listserv where attorneys regularly pose questions to one another and share information regarding current law and issues that impact children and youth in the child welfare system.
CRP attorneys have represented over 4,200 children since the start of the program in July, 2014. There have been over 2,900 adoptions, 50 guardianships, 185 youth entering into the Extended Foster Care Program, 139 children reunited with their biological parents through the reinstatement of parental rights process, and 17 Third Party Custody Agreements executed. Because collaboration is crucial to the dependency court process, CRP attorneys work with other members of the child welfare team to ensure that the best outcomes, consistent with the child’s stated and legal interest, are achieved.
In 2017, the Legislature directed OCLA to engage WSCCR and other research institutions, to undertake a comparative study of the impact of early representation of children in dependency cases. The study compares time to permanency, relevant child welfare indicators and outcomes, and potential cost savings from the appointment of attorneys for children at the shelter care hearing in two “treatment counties,” Grant and Lewis Counties, with those for children in “control counties,” Whatcom and Douglas Counties, who are not represented. CITA provided training for these attorneys. Preliminary results from WSCCR have shown that the early appointment of attorneys for children speeds up permanency in the first two years of the case by an average of 21%. A final report is due to the Legislature in December 2020.
