Supporting an Abused or Neglected Child’s Right to Be Heard Through Effective Counsel

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The Institute continues the Right to Counsel Report Card series, published with the Children’s Advocacy Institute and University of San Diego, and related activities that support an abused or neglected child’s right to be heard through effective counsel.  The Right to Counsel Series has 4 editions evaluating state laws authorizing the right to counsel for abused and neglected children.

 

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Although the right to an attorney is one of America’s most basic protections, the survey described in the report card shows that only half of the states currently provide traditional legal representations for abused and neglected children in the state court proceedings that determine their lives – dependency and foster care proceedings.