Dec/Jan 2005Vol. 5, No. 10New Standards of Practice for Agency Attorneys
In an effort to provide guidelines for improving both the quality of child welfare agency legal representation and the uniformity of practice across the country, the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues has released Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Child Welfare Agencies. The standards, written with the help of practicing agency attorneys and child welfare professionals from different jurisdictions, are divided into the following five categories:
- Definitions
- The role of the agency attorney, including a list of basic obligations
- Fulfillment of the obligations
- Ethical and practical considerations
- Administrative responsibilities, including a list of the basic obligations of an agency attorney manager
The 27-page publication is available from the National Resource Center website:
http://apps.americanbar.org/child/rclji/agency-standards.pdf (296 KB)