CBA Record

PRO BONOWEEK 2016– CARING, ONE PERSON AT A TIME

What should be the role of the child welfare system in our society? Consider these three recent examples of actions taken by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS):

• A single mother checked from her apartment window as her three sons, ages 11, 9, and 5, played in the park adjacent to their building for half an hour. DCFS decided that she had neglected her sons.

• Amother sought a second opinion and more information before consenting to put her depressed foster son on medication that came with serious side effects. DCFS decided that she had medically neglected her son.

• Amother fled domestic violence and sought safety for herself and her children at a relative’s home. DCFS decided that she had neglected her children because she was a domestic violence victim and therefore had put her chil- dren at risk, despite taking every precaution she could. Her children were taken from her and placed with her abuser’s family.

S tories like these are not isolated mistakes–they happen every day. Child protection agencies frequently remove children as a first, not a last, resort. And in child protection investigations, the error rate in finding that a parent has committed child abuse or neglect is very high—upon appeal with a neutral review, close to 75% of guilty findings are reversed. Any family can be threatened by wrong- ful separation or intervention by DCFS and, unfortunately, those most severely impacted by wrongful interventions are disproportionately poor, minority mothers who do not have the means necessary to hire an attorney–especially one who spe- cializes in this niche area of law. Families in these situations need high quality legal representation to get their children back, assert their rights, and clear their names. Pro Bono Representation In Chicago, many of these families turn to the Family Defense Center, a non-profit legal services organization with a mission of advocating justice for families in the child welfare system. The Center helped the deserving parents mentioned above, as well as hundreds of other families per year, through direct representation in investiga-

tions, through all levels of the court system, and through impact litigation, policy advo- cacy, and education. No other non-profit organization in the Chicago metropolitan area, let alone the United States, focuses on legal advocacy for families in the child pro- tection system–especially during investiga- tions, when legal representation is critical. The best way to protect children is to enable them, whenever possible and safe, to grow up in their own homes with family members who love them. As is the case in other areas of the law, pro bono attorneys are an integral part of providing services for these families. In 2015, over 100 attorneys represented families through the Center’s pro bono program. Attorneys at more than a dozen of Chicago’s top law firms, as well as many smaller firms and solo practitio- ners, have helped leverage the Center’s financial resources three times over, with $2.5 million in reported donated legal services last year. Attorneys who represent these families enjoy their experience and often report surprise at the “absurdity and subjectivity that exists in the child welfare system.” Sometimes, these cases can be successfully resolved simply by pointing out those issues to DCFS. An attorney makes a few

calls and the case is reversed. Other times, these cases are won through hard-fought administrative hearings, administrative review actions, appeals, or even federal civil rights cases after months of prepara- tion and work. Changed Outcomes The single mother who checked from her apartment window as her three sons played in the park below? After DCFS’s finding of child neglect, she appealed all the way up to the Illinois Appellate Court with the help of a dedicated pro bono attorney at Winston & Strawn. Even though DCFS did not take her children, the finding negatively impacted her career plans in the health care field when she was listed as a child neglector on the State Central Register (a list of such DCFS findings). Plus, she was afraid for a long time of even letting her boys take out the trash. Finally, after more than two years and significant media attention, her case was reversed and her name was cleared last December. The attentive foster mother who asked for a second medical opinion? After DCFS’s finding of medical neglect, her administrative appeal was successful and her name was cleared, thanks to excel-

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