ANN ARBOR—Court outcomes for children in abuse and neglect cases are likely to improve through a new federally-funded certification program to assist child welfare lawyers.

The University of Michigan Law School and National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) will start a pilot program through a three-year, $600,000-grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau. Certification criteria will include minimum years in the practice, peer review, minimum hours of continuing education and passing a written exam. The exam — which will include questions about federal and state laws, as well as non-law topics such as child development, dynamics of child abuse and treatment for children and neglectful parents — will be offered in spring 2004.

Improving the level of law practice means children in abuse and neglect proceedings will have a better chance at living in safer environments, said Donald N. Duquette, a clinical professor in the U-M Law School’s Child Advocacy Law Clinic and project co-director. The program will operate at Denver-based NACC, while certification exam sites have been tentatively identified as Michigan, Colorado, New Mexico and the District of Columbia. Accreditation, which would be classified as “juvenile law child welfare,” could come from the American Bar Association by 2004. Lawyer participation is voluntary, but Duquette said incentives to seek certification include higher status, increased compensation and the ability to be better prepared for such cases.

“This is a very exciting program,” Duquette said. “It will do no less than transform this entire area of law and result in a great improvement in the quality of justice for children.”

About 3 million children are reported abused and neglected each year and many of the cases go into the court system. Research indicates that children are not well-served in court, due in part to the failure to place competent and well-trained attorneys with the child, parent and child welfare agency. The new program will measure competence and will certify representatives to the courts and other employers of child welfare legal services.

“Quality legal representation is essential to obtaining good outcomes,” said Marvin Ventrell, NACC executive director and project co-director. “A process dependent on individual advocacy for information will not produce good outcomes for individuals who lack skilled independent legal counsel. “While this is true for adults in our legal system, it is even more important for children, who are least able to speak for themselves.” For information about NACC, a non-profit child advocacy organization, call (888) 828-NACC or visit www.NACCchildlaw.org. Information about the U-M Law School and the Child Advocacy Law Clinic, which began in 1976, can be found at www.law.umich.edu.

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