ICWA and SCOTUS

For only the second time, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear a case involving the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).  This Reuters article describes the situation as a "human tragedy," which pretty much can describe any case on appeal involving ICWA, as the failure to abide by ICWA's mandates can essentially 'undo' an adoption.

Whatever the result, it will be wonderful for attorneys involved in these types of cases to have a little more guidance from the Supreme Court.

First Amendment, Pastors, and the IRS

I thought that this story (here and here) was fascinating.  Currently churches can lose their 501(c)(3) status if the pastor endorses candidates, as the church is no longer purely a religious organization.  These pastors believe that such a rule violates their First Amendment right to free speech.  I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.  Any pastors in Nebraska participating?

Right to Counsel for Children

This link has a report card for each state on a child's right to counsel.  Nebraska scores a C, not bad but certainly not great.  This report card is based on laws actually on the books, not based on how those laws are applied by the Courts. When we look at how the laws are applied, I think that Nebraska would score a little higher, but perhaps it raises a good question about whether the laws should reflect the best practices of the state courts?

Thanks to the Children's Advocacy Institute, FirstStar, and the University of San Diego School of Law for conducting this study and making your results public.

Trauma

Trauma seems to be the new hot button issue for those who work in the child welfare system.  So...what exactly is trauma?  The definition that I received at the session on Polyvictimization and Child Trauma at the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) conference is as follows (and note that this definition is geared toward children, but is more broadly applicable):
- extraordinary experience that threatens the life or physical integrity of a child or of someone important to that child
- this extraordinary experience causes overwhelming sense of terror, helplessness, and horror
- this extraordinary experience produces intense physical effects.

Okay, but we all know that those who are involved in the child welfare system, whether they are parents or children, have experienced some truly awful things.  Why is trauma as a concept so important for us to consider and look for?  A study called the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study found that childhood trauma results in a reduction of life expectancy of 19 years.  This is a big deal.  Nineteen years can mean the difference between seeing your child graduate from college or get married, or meeting a grandchild.

So how do we know whether the experiences are just a bad thing (or a series of bad things) that happened to a person, or whether they constitute a trauma, which the person may need assistance in dealing with?  We look for symptoms, such as diagnoses of PTSD, ODD, bipolar disorder, ADD, ADHD, and conduct disorder.  Other symptoms besides diagnoses include avoidance, feeling numb or disengaged, hyperarousal or emotional/behavioral agitation, re-experiencing, feelings of powerlessness and helplessness, and feelings of hyper-vigilance.  These types of symptoms may also be a clue that there is an underlying trauma, if you were not already aware of the trauma and were only aware of the diagnoses.

Once you are aware of the types of symptoms listed above, and that there may be trauma underlying those symptoms, it is key to conduct a trauma assessment, which is more in-depth and is different from a routine general mental health treatment.  The person conducting a trauma assessment should be a mental health provider with training on trauma.  The assessment is intended to determine whether the child (or person) needs trauma focused treatment.

So why am I writing about trauma on a blog that is not necessarily geared toward other attorneys and professionals in the child welfare system (although I certainly welcome them to read as well!)?  Because anyone can look for trauma and recognize some of the symptoms of trauma and then assist the person to obtain an assessment and trauma-focused treatment, if necessary.  And because 19 years is a really big deal.

Thanks to the presenters at the NACC Conference on this topic, as well as the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Child Welfare Committee for the resources for this post.

National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) Conference

I just returned from the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) Conference in Chicago, IL.  It was fabulous (just as it was last year)!  It's given me some great ideas for posts, so I'll be updating the blog soon with all of the great information I learned.

Thanks for reading!

Correcting Misconceptions about Youth with Sexual Behavior Problems

I wrote an article that was published on the Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative's website.  Here's the link.  Please feel free to check it out & let me know if you have any comments.

Protection Orders Must be Served by Law Enforcement

Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-311.09(8) provides:
Upon the issuance of any harassment protection order under this section, the clerk of the court shall forthwith provide the petitioner, without charge, with two certified copies of such order. The clerk of the court shall also forthwith provide the local police department or local law enforcement agency and the local sheriff's office, without charge, with one copy each of such order and one copy each of the sheriff's return thereon. The clerk of the court shall also forthwith provide a copy of the harassment protection order to the sheriff's office in the county where the respondent may be personally served together with instructions for service. Upon receipt of the order and instructions for service, such sheriff's office shall forthwith serve the harassment protection order upon the respondent and file its return thereon with the clerk of the court which issued the harassment protection order within fourteen days of the issuance of the harass­ment protection order. If any harassment protection order is dismissed or modified by the court, the clerk of the court shall forthwith provide the local police department or local law enforcement agency and the local sheriff's office, without charge, with one copy each of the order of dismissal or modification.
(Emphasis added).  Notice that this section requires service of the protection order on the respondent by law enforcement.  


Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-311.09(4) provides: 
A petition for a harassment protection order filed pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may not be with­drawn except upon order of the court. An order issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall specify that it is effective for a period of one year unless otherwise modified by the court. Any person who knowingly violates an order issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section after service shall be guilty of a Class II misdemeanor.
(Emphasis added).  Notice here that a person can be convicted of a protection order violation only if that protection order was served on the Respondent/Defendant.  


This is the ruling of the Nebraska Supreme Court in State v. Graff, 282 Neb. 746 (2011).  The Court held that the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous.  So the takeaway is that there can be no conviction for violation of a protection order, unless that protection order was personally served on the Respondent/Defendant by law enforcement, not by mail, not by the clerk, only by law enforcement.