TIPS for Lawyers

Advocating for Services

• Navigating DCF Voluntary Services and Representing Youth with Disabilities
  (a training presented by CCA and CLS)

• DCF Array of Services

• Treatment Plans and ACR’s

• Access Medical and Dental Treatment for Child in DCF Custod

Appellate Advocacy

• Training Tips, PPT: From CCA training, May, 2010 (ppt)

• Appeal Process for Child Protection Attorneys (word)

• Rules for Effective Brief Writing (word)

Child Development

• Courtroom Advocacy for Young Children in Foster Care (word)
  Sheryl Dicker, J.D.

• Interviewing the Child Client
  authored by Ron Gutierrez and Abigail Trillin, Legal Services for Children, Inc., California

• Representing Very Young Children
  (Practice and Policy Brief from the ABA Center on Children and the Law)

Evidentiary Issues

• Expulsion Representation Checklist
  Created by Connecticut Legal Services, Inc./New Haven Legal Assistance Association.

• Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care

• A Checklist for Judges and Advocates

• Legal Rights of English Language Learners (ELLs): State and Federal Law

• Legal Tips for Advocating for Children’s Educational Services

• Questions to Ensure that Children’s Educational Needs are Being Met

GAL Issues

• Proper Role of GAL (pdf)

Kids in Court

• ABA Child Law Center: How to Involve Children in Court (pdf)

• New Britain Court Plan to Include Children in Court (pdf)

Permanency

• Permanency Plans (word)

Records

• Accessing DCF Records
  

• Case Summary: In re Reginald H.

• DCF Legal Directory

• Juvenile Records TIP Sheet

• Request for Records Form

Representing Incarcerated Parents

• Training Presentation (ppt) Source: Philadelphia Legal Services

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status

• Tips on Immigrant Juvenile Status

• Tips for Lawyers: SIJ (word)

Subsidized Guardianship

• Tips on Subsidized Guardianship (word)

Unaccompanied Youth

• Representing or Assisting Unaccompanied Youth (pdf)

Visitation

• NEW article on Post Termination Visitation, written by Alexis Williams for the University of Connecticut Law Review

• Visitation with Infants and Toddlers In Foster Care: What Judges and Attorneys Need To Know
  ABA Center on Children and the Law

• TIPS for Lawyers: Advocating for Visitation

• Motion for Increased Visitation

Voluntary Services

• TIPS for Lawyers: DCF Voluntary Services

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

CURRENT ISSUES in Child Welfare Law

CONSENT DECREES

DCF INFORMATION

LEGAL RIGHTS OF YOUTH IN DCF CARE

SAMPLE LETTERS

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

OTHER RESOURCES