Founded in 1977, the National Association of
Counsel for Children (“NACC”), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
child advocacy and professional membership association
dedicated to advancing the
rights, well-being, and opportunities of youth impacted by the
child welfare system through access to high-quality legal
representation. A multidisciplinary organization, its members
primarily include child welfare attorneys and judges, as well
as professionals from the fields of medicine, social work,
mental health, and education. NACC’s work includes federal
and state level policy advocacy, the national Child Welfare
Law Specialist attorney certification program, a robust training
and technical assistance arm, and an amicus curiae program.
Through the amicus curiae program, NACC has filed
numerous briefs promoting the legal interests of children in
state and federal appellate courts, as well as the Supreme Court
of the United States. More information about NACC can be
found at www.naccchildlaw.org.
The Alliance for Children’s Rights (“Alliance”),
based in Los Angeles, California, is a non-profit legal services
organization dedicated to protecting the rights of
impoverished, abused, and neglected children and youth by
providing free legal and social services and promoting
systemic solutions. For thirty years, the Alliance has provided
a continuum of legal services, training, and support for
children, youth, young adults, and families involved in the
foster care system. The Alliance began as a collaborative
effort to provide free legal services to indigent children in Los
Angeles County, partnered with the juvenile court to serve
youth impacted by the foster care system, and grew to include
comprehensive legal advocacy to clear obstacles to adoption
from foster care, healthcare, public benefits, education,
employment, and guardianship. The Alliance has provided
hundreds of trainings to juvenile court judges, attorneys, social
workers, probation officers, community-based organizations,
and policymakers on the child welfare system and the rights of
children and youth in foster care.
The Barton Child Law and Policy Center (“Barton
Center”) is a clinical program of Emory Law School
dedicated to promoting and protecting the legal rights and
interests of children involved with the juvenile and criminal
courts and the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in
Georgia. The Center achieves its reform objectives through
research-based policy development, legislative advocacy, and
holistic legal representation for individual clients. The Barton
Center adopts a multidisciplinary approach to achieving justice
for youth through which children are viewed in their social and
familial contexts and provided with individualized services to
protect their legal rights, respond to their human needs, and
ameliorate the social conditions that create risk of system
involvement.
The Barton Center was founded in March 2000. Its
work is directed by Emory Law faculty and performed by law
and other graduate students who advocate for children through
participation in the Policy and Legislative Advocacy Clinics,
the Juvenile Defender Clinic, and the Appeal for Youth Clinic.
Under the supervision of experienced faculty members,
students represent children in juvenile delinquency, special
education, and school discipline cases and seek post-
conviction relief for youthful offenders in criminal matters.
Students also engage in research, public education, and
legislative and policy advocacy on issues impacting vulnerable
children. The Barton Center has represented hundreds of
youth and trained over 1000 students who now serve in
leadership positions in nonprofit organizations, state and local
government agencies, and private law firms.
Center for Children & Youth Justice (“CCYJ”) is a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to create
better lives for generations of children and youth by reforming
the child welfare and youth justice systems. CCYJ works to
ensure that such systems are integrated, equitable & unbiased,
fueled with innovative ideas, and backed by rules and
programs to achieve the best outcomes for children, youth, and
young adults.
Children’s Law Center of California (“CLCCAL”)
is a non-profit, public interest law firm that represents children
under the jurisdiction of juvenile dependency courts in Los
Angeles, Placer, and Sacramento Counties. CLCCAL is the
largest children’s legal services organization in the nation,
representing over 30,000 abused and neglected children. Our
attorneys provide an unparalleled level of child advocacy
expertise to ensure our clients have an effective voice and can
actively participate in all aspects of the legal process, while
viewing children within the context of their families, their
culture, and their desire to have loving permanent
relationships. CLCCAL is also a driving force in local, state,
and national policy change in the child welfare system.
Children’s Law Center (“CLC”) is a non-profit
organization that fights so every child in the District of
Columbia can grow up with a stable family, a quality
education, and good health. Since its founding in 1996, CLC
has reached more than 44,000 children and families across the
District and has changed the future for hundreds of thousands
more by advocating for city-wide solutions. As a central part
of its work, CLC’s attorneys serve as court-appointed
guardians ad litem to hundreds of children in D.C.’s neglect
system each year to ensure that its child clients’ legal rights
and physical and emotional needs are addressed. CLC also
uses its experience and expertise to advocate for changes in the
District’s laws, policies, and programs.
Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, Inc.
(“CLCM”), founded in 1977, is a private, non-profit legal
advocacy and resource center that provides individual
representation and appellate advocacy for indigent children in
child welfare, juvenile justice, immigration, and education
matters. CLCM attorneys regularly participate in continuing
legal education seminars and have filed amicus curiae briefs in
matters that affect children’s rights in the past. The CLCM has
an interest in ensuring that the rights and interests of children
in Massachusetts and throughout the nation are protected. This
case presents questions of significance both to the children and
to the attorneys who represent them. The amici hope that their
views will add to the Court’s consideration of the issues raised
in this appeal.
The Children’s Law Center of Minnesota (“CLC”)
is a 501(c)(3) organization who promotes the legal rights and
well-being of children and youth. CLC’s staff and volunteers
provide direct legal representation of children and youth,
primarily in the child welfare system, and advocates for
changes in the systems that affect their lives. CLC carries out
its mission in three ways: (1) by providing direct legal
representation for children in child protection matters in
Minnesota juvenile court; (2) by advocating and participating
in state-wide efforts to improve and reform the child protection
and juvenile justice systems; and (3) by training volunteer
lawyers and other child advocates to represent children. CLC
supports Amici’s brief correcting fundamental
misrepresentations made by Plaintiffs and their amici
regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act’s (ICWA) protection
of the legal rights and best interests of Indian Children.
The Children’s Law Section of the State Bar of
Michigan is a recognized section of the State Bar of Michigan.
The Section has over 400 members who are attorneys and
judges practicing in Michigan’s child welfare system. Working
together, the Section’s members make crucial decisions each
day that directly and substantially affect the lives of children
and families. The Section provides services to its membership
in the form of educational seminars, advocating and
commenting on proposed legislation relating to child welfare
law topics, and filing amicus curiae briefs in selected child
welfare law cases filed in Michigan and Federal Courts.
The Section, because of its active and exclusive
involvement in the field of child welfare law, and as part of the
State Bar of Michigan, has an interest in the development of
sound legal principles in all of these legal areas. The instant
case is of particular interest to members of the Children’s Law
Section because it concerns the Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA), an essential and important federal law which protects
Native American children, families, and culture. Michigan’s
Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA), is directly related to
the ICWA, and mirrors the important policy goals and efforts
the ICWA was intended to address. The Children’s Law
Section believes strongly that the ICWA helps to preserve and
protect Native American children, families, and culture, and
does so legally and constitutionally.
Children’s Legal Services of San Diego (“CLSSD”)
is a non-profit interdisciplinary legal organization that
represents abused and neglected children in San Diego County
in their dependency proceedings before the juvenile court.
CLSSD protects and defends the rights of children and youth
in the child welfare system through high-quality and
compassionate legal representation. CLSSD works
collaboratively with others inside and outside of the San Diego
juvenile court system to achieve long term stability either by
family reunification or legal permanence.
The Children’s Permanency Clinic is housed within
St. Louis University School of Law’s clinical education
program. Recognizing that children thrive in safe and
permanent homes, the Children’s Permanency Clinic
represents children and families in a variety of different legal
systems to help reach this goal. Directed by Professor Kathryn
P. Banks, J.D., LL.M., the clinic trains students licensed to
practice under Missouri’s student practice rule, in best
practices for working with marginalized children and families.
In addition to legal advocacy, the Children’s Permanency
Clinic also works on a variety of community education
projects.
Children’s Rights, Inc. is a national advocacy
organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in
government systems. Through relentless strategic advocacy
and legal action, Children’s Rights holds governments
accountable for keeping kids safe and healthy. We use civil
rights impact litigation, advocacy and policy expertise, and
public education to create lasting systemic change. With a
more than 20-year record of accomplishment in the area of
child welfare reform, the core strength of our national
advocacy program has been the grassroots investigation and
consequential litigation of reform campaigns designed to
address dangerous systemic failings in child welfare systems
across the country. Children’s Rights has won, and continues
to pursue, significant legal victories that drastically improve
the wellbeing of system-involved children.
The Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative
(“OCR”) serves to ensure the provision of uniform, high-
quality legal representation of children in Colorado. A
Guardian ad Litem (“GAL”) is appointed for every child
named in a dependency and neglect case filed in Colorado, and
all GAL services for children in Colorado dependency and
neglect proceedings are provided exclusively through the
OCR. In Fiscal Year 2019-2020, the OCR oversaw
approximately 265 GALs, who represented children in over
13,900 cases.
East Bay Children’s Law Offices (“EBCLO”), a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2009, protects and
defends the rights of children and youth in the juvenile
dependency and probate guardianship systems through
effective, vigorous and compassionate legal advocacy.
Employing attorneys and social workers, EBCLO provides
holistic and comprehensive advocacy for children’s rights both
in and out of juvenile court. EBCLO ensures that each child’s
rights and interests are protected and provides a unique and
independent voice for young people in the decision-making
that impacts their lives. EBCLO is appointed by the court to
represent all children in the Alameda County Juvenile
Dependency Court, serving nearly 2,000 children and youth
every year. More information about EBCLO can be found at
www.ebclo.org.
Juvenile Law Center fights for rights, dignity, equity,
and opportunity for youth. Juvenile Law Center works to
reduce the harm of the child welfare and justice systems, limit
their reach, and ultimately abolish them so all young people
can thrive. Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center is the first
non-profit public interest law firm for children in the country.
Juvenile Law Center’s legal and policy agenda is informed
by—and often conducted in collaboration with—youth, family
members, and grassroots partners. Since its founding, Juvenile
Law Center has filed influential amicus briefs in state and
federal courts across the country to ensure that laws, policies,
and practices affecting youth advance racial and economic
equity and are consistent with children’s unique
developmental characteristics and human dignity.
KidsVoice (www.kidsvoice.org) is a non-profit
organization founded in 1908 as the Legal Aid Society of
Pittsburgh. KidsVoice represents approximately 3,000
children each year in dependency cases, including termination
of parental rights proceedings. Our clients include Indian
children who benefit from the protections of the Indian Child
Welfare Act. KidsVoice provides every child with an
advocacy team comprised of an attorney and a social service
professional – staff members with expertise in social work,
mental health, education, child development, case
management or substance abuse services. KidsVoice is
recognized as a national leader in providing children multi-
disciplinary services and representation and has worked with
the states of Connecticut, Louisiana, Wyoming and Colorado,
and in Travis County, Texas (Austin), to develop child
advocacy offices using the KidsVoice practices and multi-
disciplinary approach to protect child victims of physical
abuse, sexual abuse or neglect.
Lawyers For Children (“LFC”) is a not-for-profit
legal corporation dedicated to protecting the rights of
individual children in foster care in New York City and
compelling system-wide child welfare reform. Since 1984,
LFC has provided free legal and social work services to
children in more than 30,000 court proceedings involving
foster care, abuse, neglect, termination of parental rights,
adoption, guardianship, custody and visitation. This year, our
attorney-social worker teams will represent children and youth
in more than 3,000 court cases in New York City Family
Courts. In addition, LFC publishes guidebooks and other
materials for both children and legal practitioners, conducts
professional legal and social work training sessions, and works
to reform systems affecting vulnerable children. LFC's
experience, expertise and insight as amicus curiae on matters
pertaining to court-involved children has been accepted by
state and federal courts throughout the country. LFC's insight
into the issues in this matter is borne of more than 35 years of
experience acting as court-appointed attorneys for children in
matters pertaining to their custody.
Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Children’s
Attorneys Project (“CAP”) was formed in 1999. CAP
attorneys provide counsel, advice, and representation to
abused and neglected children who have never before had
representation. CAP not only represents youth in Clark
County’s foster care system, they also advocate for the clients’
special education and behavioral/mental and medical health
needs to ensure the children’s rights are enforced. In 2019
CAP received the Outstanding Children’s Law Office award
from the National Association of Counsel for Children.
The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County is
home to the Juvenile Advocacy Project and the Foster
Children’s Project and represents over 1,000 children every
year. Most of those children are involved in the child welfare
system in Florida. The Society’s representation of children
has always focused on achieving permanency and stability for
each child served. However, this work has taught us that each
child’s situation is unique and each child needs to be treated as
the individual they are. The Society believe this includes
Native American children, who deserve to be treated and
respected as members of the Tribe they belong to. ICWA
protects Native American children from having this important
part of whom they are ignored. The Legal Aid Society of
Palm Beach believes ICWA should remain intact as it serves
the interests of Native American children by respecting who
they are when they enter the child welfare system.
Legal Counsel for Youth and Children (“LCYC”) is
a nonprofit legal aid organization that protects the interests and
safety of children and youth in Washington State by advancing
their legal rights. LCYC provides holistic, child-centered legal
advocacy to children in child welfare cases in King County,
Washington.
The Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel
Services (“CPCS”) oversees the provision of legal
representation to indigent persons in proceedings where there
is a right to counsel. CPCS’s Children and Family Law
Division oversees the provision of counsel to children and
indigent parents in cases where children may be removed from
their homes, including cases in which the Department of
Children and Families intervenes in family life. CPCS protects
the fundamental rights of parents and children to remain
together whenever possible and be reunited quickly when
children are removed from their homes.
The Minnesota Guardian ad Litem (“GAL”)
Program is a state-wide, independent board-governed
program within Minnesota’s state court system representing
the best interests of children in juvenile and family court
proceedings specifically including child welfare, custody, and
adoption proceedings. Understanding and respecting the
critical importance of the Indian Child Welfare Act in
protecting and promoting the best interests of American Indian
children who are members of, or eligible for membership in,
federally recognized tribal nations, and acknowledging the
significant disparities and disproportionalities American
Indian children and their families continue to experience in
these proceedings, the Minnesota GAL Program and its ICWA
Division are committed to advocating for the best interests of
American Indian children by persistently applying ICWA and
MIFPA (Minnesota’s codification and strengthened version of
ICWA) to preserve American Indian families and culture.
The National Center for Youth Law (“NCYL”) is a
private, non-profit law firm that uses the law to help children
achieve their potential by transforming the public agencies that
serve them. For over 50 years, NCYL has worked to protect
the rights of children and ensure that they have the resources,
support, and opportunities they need to become self-sufficient
adults. NCYL provides representation to youth in cases that
have broad impact and has represented many youth in
litigation in the areas of child welfare, education, immigration,
juvenile justice, and other systems, including Indian children.
The Office of the Law Guardian located within the
New Jersey Office of the Public Defender (“OLG”)
represents all children and young adults in child protection and
welfare litigation brought by the state child welfare agency in
New Jersey. OLG attorneys regularly represent children in
cases that involve application of the Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA).
Pegasus is a non-profit law firm, located in New
Mexico, providing civil legal services to children from one day
old to 25 years old. One of the services we provide is to be a
Guardian ad Litem and Youth Attorney in child welfare cases.
Two years ago an ICWA court was formed in Bernalillo
County, New Mexico, and Pegasus was invited to be the
children's attorney in these cases. We are also part of the
implementation team for the Kevin S. class action lawsuit on
behalf of all children in foster care in New Mexico. One of the
sections focuses on improving the implementation of ICWA
for all Native American children in foster care.
The Pima County Office of Children’s Counsel
(“OCC”) provides legal representation to children in
dependency cases, including guardianship and termination of
parental rights proceedings. Arizona law provides legal
counsel for every child in dependency proceedings. OCC
attorneys, along with a staff of social workers, have been
providing a multi-disciplinary approach to legal representation
for children since 2010. For the last two years, OCC has also
been a part of the ICWA Court formed in Pima County to
ensure adherence to ICWA requirements and improve case
processing, hearings, and outcomes, while protecting the best
interests of Indian children.
Public Counsel has worked with communities and
clients for over fifty years to create a more just society through
legal services, advocacy, and civil rights litigation. Public
Counsel is committed to removing legal barriers for children,
youth, families and communities of color most impacted by
racism and economic injustice. In our work with children and
families, we see how the long reach of the child welfare system
separates children, both formally and informally, from their
families, communities, and culture–creating trauma that
reverberates through generations.
Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center
(“RMCLC”) advocates for children and youth, drives
systemic reform, and boldly challenges the status quo so that
every young person who has experienced trauma or instability
has the opportunity to thrive. For over four decades, RMCLC
has served as a leader in child advocacy in Colorado.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (“SLLS”) is the
free civil legal services provider available for half the low-
income families in the Louisiana, including New Orleans and
Baton Rouge. Among may other types of cases, SLLS provides
representation to the children who are affected by child welfare
proceedings, including involuntary removals and parental
terminations in 15 of the state’s 64 parishes. Removal of
children from their parents without adequate outreach to
families and others who could maintain the children's former
relationships and culture has been a recurring problem for our
child clients. ICWA imposes an important pause in the process
to prevent these failures, for those it protects.
The Virginia Poverty Law Center (“VPLC”) is a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to breaking down
systemic barriers that keep low-income Virginians in the cycle
of poverty through advocacy, education, and litigation. Since
1978, we’ve advocated for legislation that benefits low-income
Virginians and provided training to legal aid organizations
throughout the Commonwealth in the following areas:
housing, consumer rights, domestic and sexual violence, elder
rights, family and child welfare, health insurance, and public
benefits. We provide training to local legal aid program staff,
private attorneys, and low-income clients relating to the civil
legal rights of low-income Virginians.
VPLC’s Center for Family Advocacy works to
improve life for low-income families by, among other things,
advocating for laws and policies that counteract the impacts of
unjust and inequitable laws and policies. This includes
addressing domestic violence and harmful child welfare
practices that traumatize children, families, and communities
by removing children from their families, communities and
culture, and damaging family integrity.
Virginia has seven federally recognized tribes and four
additional state-recognized tribes. We are in support of the
protections the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) provides to
Virginia’s Native American children, families, and culture.
The Youth Law Center (“YLC”) is a national
organization, founded in 1978, that advocates to transform the
foster care and juvenile justice systems so that children and
youth can thrive. Through legal, legislative, and policy
advocacy, YLC works to advance the rights of young people
who come into contact with the juvenile justice and child
welfare systems and to strengthen the supports available to
them so they can transition successfully to adulthood and
thrive. YLC’s priorities include supporting young people’s
connection to culture and community and their ability to
remain at home with family with appropriate supports
whenever possible, following evidence-based best practices
such as those codified in federal law and ICWA.
