Law Commons^™

Why Children Still Need A Lawyer, Marcia Robinson Lowry, Sara Bartosz

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Every day approximately 500,000 children across the United States wake up in foster care, most in foster family homes, though many others in group homes and institutions. These children entered the state foster care system as innocent victims of abuse or neglect occurring in their birth homes. As wards of the state, they depend completely on the government to provide for their essential safety and wellbeing and to reconnect them with a permanent family, hopefully their own.

Though state child welfare agencies possess fundamental legal obligations under the United States Constitution and federal and state statutes to provide adequate care …

Reflections On The Future Of Child Advocacy, Bobbe J. Bridge

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Essay emphasizes the foster child's rights to well-being and permanency, as well as safety. Noting an ongoing parent-centered approach, this Essay advocates a new paradigm, moving away from a focus on adults and toward a focus on the child. This Essay concludes by reviewing recent advances that promote a child-centered approach.

The Multiethnic Placement Act: Threat To Foster Child Safety And Well-Being?, David J. Herring

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Despite the efforts of public officials to reduce the time children spend in foster care, many children live in foster homes for a substantial portion of their childhoods. In fact, a child placed in a foster home may remain in that home for an extended period, with a significant possibility of remaining there permanently. In light of this situation, the decision to place a child in a particular foster home is extremely important.

The federal Multiethnic Placement Act ("MEPA ") significantly affects foster care placement decisions. This law expressly prohibits public child welfare agencies from delaying or denying a child's …