Children's Bureau Express

Legal Advocacy for Youth in Foster Care Who Are Parents

The role of legal advocacy in addressing the needs of youth in foster care who are pregnant or parenting is discussed in an article in the September 2009 issue of ABA Child Law Practice. In "Advocacy for Young or Expectant Parents in Foster Care," authors Lisa Pilnik and Laura Austen note that the health and education needs of these youth are a crucial concern.

Using a question-and-answer format, the authors present many of the issues that practitioners face when advocating for these youth, including:

The eligibility of the youth's child for foster care maintenance payments under title IV-E, even if the child is not in State custody
The role that the youth's attorney plays in ensuring that the child welfare agency provides the services the teen needs to parent successfully
The basic principles that a lawyer should keep in mind when representing a teen parent in a child welfare proceeding

The article begins on page 110 of the September issue and can be found online:

www.abanet.org/child/clp/archives/vol28/sept09.pdf (112 KB)

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