|
|
Welcome 2012!
After two years of a monthly E-newsletter, CLC has decided to move to bi-monthly distribution. We know you get bombarded with emails. Therefore, CLC will be providing a more substantive E-newsletter every other month. As always, we welcome your comments, suggestions and stories. Some of the best information and education comes directly from volunteers, donors, supporters, and current and former clients. We encourage you to share your experiences with us as we all work toward better lives for our vulnerable youth.
2011 Wrap Up by the Numbers
-
195 attorneys volunteered (29 newly trained)
-
462 foster children represented (76 more than 2010)
-
36 18-21 year olds (Who were able to re-enter the foster care system thanks to the newly enacted state law that CLC advocated for in 2010.)
-
13 under age 10 years old
CLC provided representation to foster care youth in Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Lyon, Ramsey, Stearns and Washington Counties.
The three biggest issues for which CLC advocates on behalf of its clients are:
-
Ensuring that deliberate, concentrated and thorough efforts are made before placing youth in permanent placements, i.e. adoption and transfer of legal custody. When great care is not taken in thoroughly reviewing permanent placements there is a greater chance the placement will disrupt doing more harm to the youth.
-
Ensuring educational stability. Foster care youth are a very mobile population. There are many moving parts. However, CLC is dedicated to advocating for youth to stay in the same school even when they move and that they are in proper grade levels and getting the attention they need for any developmental delay they may have.
-
Ensuring proper support and treatment of trauma faced by foster care youth. CLC works with local mental health professionals to ensure its foster care clients are seeing an appropriate therapist and that they are neither over-medicated nor under-medicated.
NEW BLOG by Kulture Klub
We encourage you visit a new blog “Making the Invisible, Visible” at http://ourmnstreets.tumblr.com/. This blog was created by Kulture Klub so that vulnerable/at-risk and homeless children and those who work with them have a place to tell their stories and keep the communities they live in aware of their issues.
Volunteer Attorney SPOTLIGHT: Wendy Watson
Wendy Watson, ARC Greater Twin Cities
Wendy is a long standing CLC volunteer. She completed her training in 1997 and took her first case in 1998. She usually takes children with significant development disabilities and special needs. Given her clients’ significant needs, Wendy ensures that she has all her clients' relevant assessments and case information, she connects with their special education teachers and resources, and she uses developmentally appropriate language to ensure her clients understand her role. She has represented 20 CLC clients and currently has three.
Wendy says, “Working with the attorneys and staff at Children’s Law Center has been an invaluable part of my ongoing legal education. They always provide guidance, training and support with difficult issues. But the greatest experience is working with the kids and helping them define and articulate the life they want for themselves. CLC gives them that voice.”
Read MORE
Thank You to CLC’s 2011 Donors
Thank you!
Thank you to all of you who included CLC in your end of year giving. We are thrilled to have added so many of you to our village. CLC was pleased to have 127 new donors in 2011 and the support of many new law firms and corporations. Thank you to all the corporations, foundations, organizations, and individuals who provided financial support to Children’s Law Center during the 2011 fiscal year. We would not be here without your support. On behalf of the foster children we serve, a sincere and heartfelt thank you!
To View CLC's 2011 Donor List Click HERE
CLC Volunteer Attorney Practice Point: Minor Consent for Health Care Services and Access to Minors’ Health Records: General Application to Minnesota Foster Care Youth
By Catherine London, University of Minnesota Student (J.D., M.P.H. Candidate, 2012) and Anne Tyler Gueinzius, Managing Attorney -The information in this practice point is based in part on a memorandum prepared by Ryan McGary and Sheva Sanders from the law firm of Leonard, Street and Deinard. Many thanks to these dedicated lawyers for their invaluable research.
Many children in foster care have significant medical and mental health needs. These children often face barriers to obtaining appropriate health care services. As an attorney representing youth in foster care, it is important to understand the law governing medical consent as it applies to your client. It is also crucial to know who may have access to your client’s medical records at various stages of a case. Understanding these laws and considerations will help ensure that your client receives timely and appropriate medical care. To read more, click here for a printable PDF version: Jan 2012 Practice Point
New and Improved "Representing Youth in Foster Care" Training Coming this Spring!
CLC needs more volunteer attorneys! With 76 MORE kids represented by CLC in 2011 than in 2010, we expect our need for additional volunteer attorneys to keep right on growing in 2012. Due to our increasing case load, CLC is looking for new and better ways to train our volunteers so we can expedite representation to new CLC foster youth clients who are waiting for lawyers. Starting in 2012, we will hold shorter volunteer attorney trainings, and we will hold trainings more often. Not only that, but attorneys who apply to be volunteer attorneys for CLC will be prescreened, so they can be handed a case summary for the CLC client that they will be representing upon completion of the half day training, and start helping their client right away!
These shortened training sessions also have a reduced price and we encourage solo practitioners to join our team. Not only that, but you can earn 3.8 CLE credits! Our first of these trainings will be held:
Can't make it to the February 29th training? Stay tuned: A CLC training will be coming to a place near you soon! If you'd like to be informed about upcoming trainings, e-mail Jessica at info@clcmn.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
