CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER'S MAY E-NEWS IS HERE!

May is National Foster Care Month...You Can Change a Lifetime!

All children deserve a safe, happy life — including the more than 400,000 American youth in foster care. Foster care youth need nurturing adults to step forward and support them because their own families are in crisis and unable to care for them.

Children’s Law Center of Minnesota (CLC) is making a difference. CLC is averaging 20 new cases a month. At this rate, CLC will almost double the amount of new clients from 2011 to 2012. This follows an increase of over 25 percent from 2010 to 2011.

We need your support to continue serving these youth. You can HELP foster youth. Click HERE to learn how.

Congratulations to our Foster Youth who are GRADUATING!

Foster care youth are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers because of the instability in their lives and educational situations. Because of this, they often do not move on to higher education, are less likely to find employment, and if they do, are more likely to make substandard wages. CLC’s volunteers advocate for educational stability in the lives of their foster care clients. This is one way CLC is affecting the futures of foster care youth and our communities. CLC is thrilled to announce the graduation of 17 of its clients who have beaten the odds this year:

CONGRATULATIONS TO CLC GRADUATES!

Ariel Arvidson – Diane Simerson, CLC Attorney
Yves Atchia - Michael Okerlund, CLC Attorney
Nina Boswell – Ann Marie Hanrahan, CLC Attorney
Rubi Conteras – Erika Donner, CLC Attorney
Corey Davis – Deb Schmedeman, CLC Attorney
Sean Dean – Randal King , CLC Attorney
Courtney Dixon – Jody Allholina, CLC Attorney
Robert Hanson – Bill Hefner, CLC Attorney
Mandale Lucas – Demoya Gordon, CLC Attorney
Brittany Martin - Anne Gueinzus, CLC Attorney
Oliver McDowell – Peter Nestingen, CLC Attorney
Rochelle Newton-Orr – Elizabeth Odette, CLC Attorney
Lachelle Newton-Orr – Elizabeth Odette, CLC Attorney
Roblina Smith – Rachel Zimmerman, CLC Attorney
Jason Sweeney – Michelle Huntley Dill, CLC Attorney
Imani Walker – Pat Pedersen, CLC Attorney
Grace Ward – Jennifer Kitchak, CLC Attorney

If you have a client who is celebrating a milestone, please let CLC staff know so we can put it in our next newsletter.

Thank You!

CLC staff would like to thank the following volunteers for their help in covering court hearings while its staff was dealing with medical issues:

Thank you so very much for all of your help.

Volunteer Spotlight – Denise Kettelberger

CLC would like to recognize the work of one of its long time volunteers, Denise Kettelberger. “Denise just had a pretty sweet victory in a CLC case….” remarked one of her co-workers at Faegre Baker Daniels.

Denise’s client, Maggie, had planned to move to another state with her foster parent. Maggie wanted to move with her foster parent and the move was supported by Maggie’s team of workers (guardian-ad-litem and social worker). Her foster mother had made arrangements for her to transfer schools. However, the night before the move Maggie’s social worker told her the move was being prohibited by a supervisor who had decided that Maggie should finish school in Minnesota. Read MORE.

Practice Point

Ethical Concerns When Representing Foster Care Youth

By: Bethia Hyatt, JD 2012 and Anne Tyler Gueinzius, Managing Attorney

Attorneys representing child clients in foster care proceedings have the same ethical obligations to their child clients as to their adult clients; however, child clients can present different ethical challenges. The nature of the proceedings as well as the young age of the client can present a more casual courtroom environment for the child attorney. This casual environment and a desire to protect previously abused and neglected child clients can give rise to potential ethical concerns for an attorney representing a foster care client. Read MORE.

Announcements

DONATE to CLC thorough your Employee Giving Program: Don’t forget, you can designate CLC to receive donations through your United Way, Community Shares, or other community giving campaigns at work by writing in Children’s Law Center of Minnesota.

Free Cell Phone Program: Minnesota has a program for low-income people to have access to free cell phones. If your client or someone you know could use a free cell phone, please visit http://www.freephonemn.org/, for eligibility requirements.