School: John Marshall Law School

As he carefully peeked around the giant couch, I thought I noticed a slight smile. The four-year-old had never seen me before, but he was completely intrigued. So shy, yet so curious about why this lady was coming to see him. I had to talk to his foster mother and almost pretend he wasn't there. If I looked his way, he jumped back behind the couch, almost teasingly. Finally, he summoned the courage to come sit next to me, though I realized that I still wasn't allowed to look at him. Slowly he reached out his hand and put it on top of mine. By the end of my visit, the small child was wrapped around my shoulders, giving me the biggest bear hug that begged for more time. As we drove away, he stood at the window and waved until we were completely out of sight.

During my brief time at the Troup County Juvenile Court, I have experienced what it truly means to make a difference in the life of a child. I have had the privilege of helping represent children from all different backgrounds. Each child carries his or her story with them through the oftentimes painful throes of foster care, asking that someone just listen and help. Children oftentimes feel punished for their parents' bad behaviors. So many times this summer I heard children say things like "it's not my fault that my mother couldn't get her act together…why do I have to go live in another city?" or "if I had only acted better, I would have never had to leave my family." Unfortunately, many times these children are never told that it's not their fault. Their voices and cries for help remain unheard.

The good news is that in Troup County, a group of hardworking and dedicated people are determined to ensure that children are not without a voice. Every child is appointed an attorney guardian ad litem and most children have a CASA volunteer. The CASA full-time staff consists of four women with hearts of gold that have a zealous passion for meeting the needs of children. I often traveled with these women to foster homes and watched as they kicked off their shoes to get down in the floor and play with the kids. The children loved getting the special attention…the warm hugs, the special talks and the goodies the women often brought. Not only did CASA visit and spend quality time with every child, they also fought relentlessly for the children in court. They had no problem making their opinions known and seeing to it that the judge received them seriously. I honestly believe that this group of people would do anything for the benefit of children and they have inspired me to continue to work in this field!

Most of time was spent with the attorney GAL. Troup County has a limited budget and so, the GAL handles the legal aspects of the cases, while CASA acts more as the investigative arm of the court. Though the GAL as just one man couldn't constantly travel to visit all of the children he was charged with representing, he, too, held children in the highest regard and truly sought judicial decisions in their best interests. Not only did he make his recommendations to the court concerning the best interests of each child, but he also advised the court on the every child's express wishes, as well. I learned so much by watching him in the courtroom and talking with him at lengths about every case.

The court staff often ended up being the children's best advocate. They kept DFCS on its toes and made sure that cases arrived timely in court. They have taken on many responsibilities that are generally delegated to other agencies for the sake of helping children move more quickly through the system. Though not direct advocates for the kids, they are always behind the scenes making certain that children do not fall through the cracks of the bureaucratic system.

Lastly, Judge Key is the integral part of the court system that pulls everyone together to decide the fate of the children in Troup County. I have never seen a judge take more time and thought on each individual case than Judge Key. You could watch him on the bench carefully contemplate every decision before speaking and oftentimes using unconventional ideas to help children get the help they needed. The passionate care he gave to each and every child that walked through the courtroom doors amazed me.

As for me, I spent the summer soaking everything in from the literature on child advocacy to the procedures used by the various agencies. I enjoyed meeting the children and getting to know them in such a way as to have a vested interest in what happened in their lives. I had the opportunity to examine witnesses in court, make recommendations to the judge and interview pertinent parties. I worked on a number of different types of cases from termination cases to cases involving children with mental health issues who are not only deprived, but also have delinquency charges. I participated in a few cases with novel issues for this court system and helped develop new procedures for the future.

Aside from my courtroom participation and visits with the children, I spent a good amount of time working on research. My first research assignment dealt with the legal representation of children in deprivation cases. Providing quality representation for children in dependency proceedings has been an ongoing debate for many years throughout the country. The evolution of the juvenile court process has taken these issues to new heights. Unfortunately aspirational goals for effective and adequate representation for children usually differ greatly from practices in the field. I found models of representation from the Fordham Conference, the NACC and the ABA. I also researched models used in other states across the country and found a huge divergence in the way each state chooses to afford representation for children.

In my research, I looked for conflict of interest situations where a traditional attorney should be assigned to represent a child along with a GAL. A plethora of issues can create a conflict between a lay or attorney GAL and a child. Confidentiality, representation of sibling groups, and differences between best interests and the child's preferences are all examples of ways a GAL may find himself in a conflicting situation. Unfortunately, in small areas such as Troup County where budgets are limited, these conflicts can take an enormous toll on the resources used for the legal representation of children. I believe that a lack of financial resources is the main hindrance in providing children the effective representation they need.

The other assignment I worked on quite a bit this summer was developing a rough draft of an Attorney Guardian Ad Litem and CASA protocol. As previously mentioned, Troup County has only one child advocate and therefore, heavily relies upon CASA to function as the investigative arm of the court. Currently, the GAL and CASA work together on a "need-to" basis. When the GAL needs information, he calls CASA first and when CASA needs legal help, he's their man. However, the lack of structure left both parties in a gap of miscommunication when trying to represent children in court to the best of their ability. Taking the recommendations set forth in the Georgia's Guidelines for Attorney GALs and holding two meetings with CASA and the GAL, I fashioned a workable protocol for the Troup system. While more work and coordination will need to evolve in the future, I hope that the protocol is a helpful starting point.

In sum, my experience in Troup County has fueled a passion in me for helping children that I did not know could burn so brightly. In fact, I am hoping to have the opportunity to visit the court often this fall and maybe even assist the Attorney GAL in representing some of the children I have worked with this summer. It's an incredible feeling to know that you are making a big difference in a child's life. I aspire to continue helping children through such chaotic times in their lives and to give them the tools they need for a bright future.