This section provides resources and information about attorneys' roles in representing children, parents, and child welfare agencies in child abuse and neglect cases.
Capacity Building Center for Courts
Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative
Provides products, services, and learning experiences to increase awareness, understanding, and engagement to improve child welfare practice in the courts and legal community.
Enhanced Resource Guidelines: Improving Court Practice in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases
Gatowski, Miller, Rubin, Escher & Maze (2016)
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Provides guidance to judges, attorneys, child welfare workers, and court-appointed special advocates on all stages of the court process to improve court practice in child abuse and neglect cases.
Family Justice Initiative
Presents a collaborative effort by the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, the Children’s Law Center of California, and the Washington State Office of Public Defense that provides resources, research, and advocacy to support and improve the representation of children and parents in child welfare cases.
IM-17-02: High-Quality Legal Representation for All Parties in Child Welfare Proceedings
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau (2017)
Shares research, best practices, and strategies to promote quality legal representation for parents, children, and child welfare agencies at all stages of child welfare proceedings.
How to Improve Legal Representation of Children in America's Child Welfare System (PDF 384 KB)
Duquette (2022)
University of Michigan Law School
Summarizes research findings from the National Improvement Centers on the Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System's project and offers key recommendations on how to better represent children in child welfare.
Practice Standards & Tools
American Bar Association, Center on Children and the Law (2020)
Provides judicial and attorney standards of representation for parents, children, and child welfare agencies in abuse and neglect cases.