2021 Update
CAI filed its complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in February 2019. The lawsuit seeks certification of a class of more than 5,000 children and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief that would require appointment of licensed attorneys to represent children in Child in Need of Services proceedings. At this writing, the case is nearing the end of discovery and dispositive motions are due to be filed in March 2020. CAI and its co-counsel have provided expert declarations on the need for counsel that constitutionally compels it from two of the nation’s leading experts, Professor Clark Peters of the University of Missouri and Don Duquette of the University of Michigan School of Law and leader of the federally-funded major study of child legal representation in dependency court. Trial is scheduled to commence in December 2020.
“The Children’s Advocacy Institute is truly grateful for the funding provided by the Barbara McDowell Foundation,” said CAI Executive Director Robert C. Fellmeth, Price Professor of Public Interest Law at the University of San Diego School of Law. “The Foundation’s support enabled us to lay the groundwork for this critically important lawsuit—which if successful, will ensure that all of the nation’s abused and neglected children are represented by legal counsel in the judicial proceedings that determine every aspect of their lives.”
Press coverage:
2022 Update
After the grant concluded, CAI filed its complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The lawsuit sought certification of a class of more than 5,000 children and sought declaratory and injunctive relief that would require appointment of licensed attorneys to represent children in Child in Need of Services proceedings. Unfortunately, we did not succeed, despite making every effort possible. The District Court dismissed the case, we lost on appeal to the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied our petition for writ of certiorari.
However, on a related front, CAI has been urging Congress for years to amend CAPTA to require the appointment of counsel to foster children involved in legal proceedings. We are cautiously optimistic that this might finally become a reality as part of the pending CAPTA Reauthorization Act.
Click here to see the original grant, including the six-month and year-end reports.