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Monday, September 25, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CHILDREN IN COURTS: Group tries to improve legal help

By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Federal law requires courts to appoint a representative for children in all cases involving abuse or neglect. But a 1990 study ranked Nevada the second worst state in obeying that mandate, with 32 percent of abused or neglected children receiving representation.

"For some reason, the federal government has not enforced this requirement," said Annette Appell, an associate professor at UNLV's Boyd Law School.

Such statistics prompted Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams and Thom Reilly, then the county's director of administrative services, to form a task force in 1998 to address the needs of Nevada's abused and neglected children.

The task force developed two goals: improve the existing Court Appointed Special Advocate Program and provide legal representation for children.

To meet the second goal, the task force decided to create the Children's Attorney Project under the umbrella of the Clark County Legal Services Program, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing representation to the disadvantaged.

"It's created a tremendous opportunity to help children who had never before been afforded a lawyer," said Barbara Buckley, the organization's executive director.

Steve Hiltz was hired in October to serve as the project's lead attorney. Another full-time attorney and a part-time attorney later were added.

"A lawyer can make such a difference for an abused and neglected child," said Buckley, who sat on the task force.

Hiltz said at least 30 states require courts to appoint lawyers for all children in abuse and neglect cases, and courts in most major cities do so as a matter of practice.

Since its creation, Hiltz's program has taken on 75 cases involving about 120 children.

Previously, children in Clark County received representation only from the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program, a nationwide effort that provides volunteer advocates for abused and neglected children. The program cannot provide legal representation.

The CASA Program has existed in Clark County since 1979 but lacks the resources to handle all cases in which advocates are needed.

According to information provided by Clark County Legal Services, more than 700 petitions alleging abuse and neglect are filed each year against parents in Clark County, and those petitions involve more than 1,300 children.

Stuart Fredlund, district office manager for the state Division of Child and Family Services, said Clark County has about 1,600 children living in foster care.

Before the county increased the program's staff in January, CASA representatives were appointed to about 40 percent of court cases involving abused or neglected children.

Linda Ley, manager of the CASA Program, said that number since has increased to nearly 50 percent.

Hiltz said CASA volunteers advocate children's best interests, but attorneys in his program treat children like any other clients.

"They're a client with an attorney, no different than any other client with an attorney whose life is going to be changed," he said.

That means, in most cases, attorneys in the children's project will argue the position their clients want them to argue.

"Unless there was an obvious danger to her life, I'm going to fight for what my client wants," Hiltz said.

He said the American Bar Association has adopted the same philosophy.

"It just seems so obvious to me that their position should be fully heard," Hiltz said. "And by being heard, I don't just mean you repeat the words. I mean you fight or argue for their position."

The attorney, who represented children for more than 20 years with the Legal Aid Society of New York, said it is not his job to determine what is in a child's best interest.

"I start from that position and reluctantly move off it based on different factors," he said.

For instance, Hiltz said, his clients must have enough maturity to understand any dangers they may face in the place they wish to live.

"Nobody wants to be sexually abused or physically abused or killed," he said.

Hiltz said he almost always meets with his clients in their homes, where he speaks privately with them.

"I think it's really important that we see where the kid lives," he said.

In addition, the attorney said, an office setting can be strange and uncomfortable for a child.

Hiltz said his experience tells him that offering legal representation to abused and neglected children makes a difference.

"In quite a few cases, as a result of our advocacy, children are living in places where they want to be, as opposed to where the state is recommending they be," Hiltz said.

He said that does not mean the children always end up in a better place.

"I'm just saying that the kid is the most important factor there, and he deserves to be heard and have a skilled attorney advocate for him," Hiltz said.

The attorney said he has been recruiting other lawyers in the community and asking them to volunteer their time to represent children in abuse and neglect cases.

"We hope to eventually expand to the point where we can represent every child in the system," he said.

Dozens of lawyers showed up for a recent training session aimed at sparking their interest in the project.

"It's not the most technically difficult area of the law," Hiltz said. "Emotionally, it is."

Appell, who sat on the task force, is starting a Child Welfare Clinic for third-year students at the law school. Students in the clinic will provide free representation for abused and neglected children.

A Nevada Supreme Court rule allows third-year law students in the state to receive special licenses that permit them to practice law under the close supervision of a law professor or attorney.

Appell said the CASA Program, the Children's Attorney Project and the Child Welfare Clinic have a cooperative relationship.

"We might not agree on every individual case, but we care about protecting and respecting children in the legal system," she said.