Advocates: States should give foster kids lawyers, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), March 11, 2012, Omaha World-Herald: “When Lauren entered foster care at age 16, she was too scared to go to the court hearings that were deciding her future. She was wary of the judge and struggled to navigate the complex legal system of dependency court on top of adjusting to life in a group home. But Lauren’s attorney eventually persuaded her to attend, convincing her of how important it was for the judge to hear about Lauren’s experiences in her own words. Having legal help like that is uncommon for the nation’s more than 400,000 foster children. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and more than a dozen other states require that foster children have appointed attorneys. But compliance is sporadic because of shrinking budgets. And Florida has a pilot program that advocates are pushing other states to try…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty