Media Coverage

Article Source: The New Haven Register – Tuesday 11th, 2005

10/11/2005

Lawyers’ group helps kids with legal needs

Michelle Tuccitto Sullo , Register Staff

A 6-month-old baby with a broken arm. An 8-year-old boy whose father committed suicide. An infant born addicted to cocaine.
These are examples of children whose abuse and neglect cases have ended up in the state’s Juvenile Court system. Each needed a lawyer to help them, and volunteers in the legal community came forward.
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Kevin Dean, whose law firm is based in Hamden, is just one of the lawyers volunteering to help through Lawyers for Children America.

His first case involved the neglect of a 6-month-old baby, whose arm was broken when she apparently fell from the sink during a bath.

"One of the reasons I went to law school was to try to help people," Dean said. "Being a dad and having a child myself, I realize how important it is to make sure children are protected. There are never enough attorneys to handle all the cases."

Lawyers for Children America is looking for more lawyers to get involved with pro bono work to represent abused and neglected children in the legal system. A special one-day training session is planned for this fall.

In Dean’s neglected infant case, foster parents eventually adopted the child.

"At first, she wouldn’t make eye contact and would hide," Dean said. "The last time I saw her, she came up to me and was telling me stories. It was a tremendous difference."

Claudia Maxwell, program director, said there are about 200 active volunteers statewide, but more are needed.

"We had to ask the court to slow down assignments, because we don’t have enough volunteers to handle all the cases," Maxwell said.

The national, nonprofit, Hartford-based Lawyers for Children America started in 1994. It recruits, trains and supports volunteer lawyers.

The children they represent include victims of physical and sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, Maxwell said.

Volunteers help find permanent placements for children and help assess their medical and mental health, and educational, emotional and legal needs. The goal is for lawyers to help minimize further trauma, while taking time to build a relationship with a child.

Carla Stover, a clinical psychologist at the Yale Child Study Center, helps train lawyers for the program and teaches them about the effects of trauma on children and how to advocate on their behalf.

"Often, these children are traumatized in many ways," Stover said. "The training helps the attorneys think about what the child really needs now. The program is important, and we need attorneys who are well-trained advocates for children, who need to be represented in these cases too."

Most cases in Juvenile Court go to contract lawyers, who are paid, according to Maxwell. In the program she handles, about 2 percent of children are assigned to pro bono lawyers, who only get one or two cases.

"This way, they can go see the kids and spend time with them," Maxwell said.

The lawyers help find stable homes for the children, like the case of an 8-year-old boy whose father committed suicide. The child’s attorney found a relative through marriage willing to take him in, according to Maxwell.

"He was craving family, and now he is with his cousins and is thrilled," Maxwell said.

Robert Hinton, a lawyer and chairman of the pro bono committee of the New Haven County Bar Association, has handled two cases for the program, including one involving an infant girl born addicted to cocaine, and one in which a 7-year-old girl missed 44 days of school.

Hinton said the infant’s parents were able to get help for their drug problem and turn their lives around, and the 7-year-old has only missed one day so far this school year. He credited the social worker handling the case for the school-age child’s improvement.

"This is a great venue for lawyers who want to get involved," Hinton said. "Some of these cases do have a good ending. People make mistakes and get their lives back in order."

Phil Kent, a lawyer in Hamden, represented four children who had been missing a lot of school. The children are now doing well academically and thriving with their new guardians, their grandparents, according to Kent.

"The last time I saw them, they were all showing off their camp photos and smiling," Kent said. "I was very happy with the result. I don’t think attorneys in general do enough of this kind of work."

Judge Bernadette Conway, the presiding judge at Juvenile Court in New Haven, said the program has a positive impact on children.

"We are always looking for people willing to donate time," Conway said. "These are children in desperate need, often coming from very depressing and sad situations. I know these lawyers go far beyond the call of duty. Since they have only one case, they can give it a lot of time."

The next training session is at 8:45 a.m. Nov. 11 at the law firm of Wiggin & Dana, One Century Tower, New Haven. The training is free, but lawyers are expected to accept one pro bono case appointment.

Contact Claudia Maxwell at (860) 273-0654 or maxwellc2@aetna.com to register.