Special Advocates Research Articles

Child Welfare and the Courts

ABSTRACT This exploratory study focuses on the relationships between professionals working in the juvenile dependency system, including judicial officers, attorneys, social workers, and court-appointed special advocates. It includes an examination of the quality of professional relationships, factors contributing to tensions, the consequences of difficult relationships, and strategies for improving relationships. It utilizes interviews and focus groups with professionals and focus groups with clients involved in the juvenile dependency system. The major findings address: (a) the nature and quality of professional relationships, (b) the structural and operational factors contributing to tension in those relationships, (c) client perceptions of professional relationships, and (d) respondent recommendations for improving professional relationships. This study is a contribution to the small but growing literature on the complexity of the interface between public child welfare services and the court system.

Who decides? An ethics case consult for Terri Schiavo

What lessons might we take away as palliative care clinicians or ethics consultants? I might summarize as follows: As has been widely discussed elsewhere, the importance of advance directives, designation of proxy decision makers, and nuanced discussions with those potential proxies is of utmost importance--even for young adults. Be as clear as possible about diagnosis and prognosis. Rely on those with the greatest expertise and the least potential conflict of interest. Be honest about the limits of medical certainty and the diagnostic and prognostic possibilities. Separate reality from what loved ones or special interest advocates might wish were the reality. Efforts to resolve disputes among families or between families and care providers ought to remain private, and focus on the patient at hand rather than broader social or political agendas. Ethics committees or independent mediators work toward "win-win" outcomes and may help avoid the polarized, "winner-take-all" approach of litigation. Medical facts are not value-free and do not add up to a universally agreed-upon conclusion in the manner of a mathematical equation, but are viewed and interpreted through the lens of each participant's perspective. In the space of this essay, I can offer only a brief nod to the field of narrative ethics, but the interested reader will find a rich body of literature regarding this concept on which to base his or her own ethical conclusions regarding this case.

Dialogue education at work: a case book

Foreword (Margaret Wheatley).Preface.The Authors.Introduction: Dialogue Education Today (Jane Vella).Part I: University Education.1. Dialogue Education Goes to College (Jane Marantz Connor).2. Nutrition Education in an Undergraduate Setting (Elena Carbone).3. Creating a Culture for Dialogue in a Nutrition Education Program (Meredith Pearson).4. Dialogue Education at a Weekend College: An Accelerated Master's Degree in Education (Marianne Reiff).5. Dialogue Education in a Videoconferencing Classroom: An Undergraduate-Level Early Childhood Certificate Program (Steven I. Stahl).6. Dialogue Education at a Student Union: College Students as Adult Partners (Jay Ekleberry, Mary Hoddy, Tara Cordes).7. Transformative Learning in Faculty Development: A Case Study from South Africa (Sarah Gravett).Part II: The Public Sector and Not-for-Profit Organizations.8. Dialogue Education Goes to Court: The National Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association Prepares Volunteers Through Dialogue Education (Cynthia Bizzell).9. Changing the Self, Changing the System: A Workplace Success Program Succeeds with a Dialogue Approach (Valerie Uccellani, Jyaphia Christos-Rodgers, Mack Slan).10. From Telling to Teaching in Appalachia: The Mountain Microenterprise Fund of North Carolina (Joye Norris, Greg Walker-Wilson).11. Welfare to Work via Dialogue Education: The Voices of Bread and Roses (Barbara Gassner).12. Appreciative Inquiry and Dialogue Education Meet in Strategic Planning (Darlene Goetzman).13. Teaching Communities to Lobby for Social Justice (Michael Culliton).14. Choices: Steps Toward Health: A Dialogue Education Curriculum of the National Extended Food and Nutrition Program (Jean Anliker).15. Vermont Math and Science Teachers Move from Monologue to Dialogue (Kathy Johnson, Peter Perkins, Nicole Saginor).16. Using Dialogue for Strategic Planning Sessions (Karen G. Ridout).17. Dialogue Education in California's Women, Infants, and Children Program (Valerie Uccellani).Part III: International Education.18. The Double Bottom Line: Dialogue Education in Microfinance Services for the Poor (Robb Davis, Jeanette Treiber, Ellen Vor der Bruegge).19. Dialogue Education Goes to Primary School in Haiti (Linda Gershuny).20. Taking Time for Praxis in Cambodia (Gail von Hahmann).21. Educational Revolution on the Volga River: Learning as a Personal Victory in the New Russia (Peter Perkins, Michaela B. Stickney).22. Using Dialogue Education to Transform Primary Health Care in Chile (Klaus Puschel).23. Organizing to Undo Racism in Canada: Designing for Safety in an Antiracism Program (Peter Noteboom).Conclusion: The Future of Dialogue Education (Jane Vella).Appendix: Selected Principles and Practices of Dialogue Education.Index.

Professionals’ decision-making about out-of-home placements following instances of child abuse

Objective: The goal of this research was to study how different groups of child welfare professionals prioritize and use information to make placement decisions following instances of child abuse. Method: A total of 90 juvenile court judges and guardians ad litem, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), social workers, and mental health professionals responded to a detailed questionnaire describing four case studies of child physical abuse in which a parent was the perpetrator, the child was either 2 years or 6 years of age, and the abuse was either first time or chronic. Participants rated the impact of specific pieces of information regarding child, family, and system-level characteristics on their decision-making process. Results: Analyses of reactions to these vignettes demonstrate that professional groups use different kinds of information when making decisions about foster care placements. Social workers and mental health providers rely on information about the severity and pattern of abuse and on information about services offered in the past and parental responses to those services. Judges and guardians ad litem rely more heavily on information about the likelihood of a reoccurrence of abuse and the child’s ability to recount the abuse, whereas CASA volunteers rely on information about the stability of the family. Conclusions: Professional group membership, rather than factors such as age or ethnicity of the child or chronicity of abuse, accounts for different patterns of prioritizing and using information when making decisions about whether a child should remain in the home or be placed in foster care. The implications for community-based training and intervention efforts are discussed.

Court Appointed Volunteers for Abused and Neglected Children.

A court appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteer is a trained citizen who is appointed by a judge to represent the best interests of an abused and neglected child in court. An independent voice, the volunteer gathers information and reports to the court. The CASA volunteer works in close cooperation with other professionals, physicians, lawyers, social workers, and teachers to find the most suitable permanent placement for a victimized child, whether it be a foster home, parental home, or adoptive home. Another function for CASA volunteers is to be supportive to the child during a time of uncertainty in his or her life and to help the youngster adjust to new and changing situations; the CASA volunteer may be the only consistent adult presence during this difficult period of transition.

A Coordinated Approach to Improving Outcomes for Substance‐Abusing Families in Juvenile Dependency Court

ABSTRACTThis paper describes a coordinated approach to providing enhanced services for substance‐abusing families in the juvenile dependency court. The enhanced services consisted of an interagency collaborative model including the Department of Social Services, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Public Health Nurses, and Family Support Specialists. The purpose of the intervention was to increase the likelihood of family reunification. Families were randomly assigned to either the enhanced services (N=48) or to a regular services group (N=41). Variables included social background factors, data related to court hearings and court orders, and final court outcomes regarding placement and custody. Significant factors predicting final placement of the child were completion of court ordered programs, a stable home, and mothers' cooperation and motivation. Families who received the enhanced services had significantly higher rates of reunification of children with parents.

Learning disability and advocacy: obstacles to client empowerment

Citizen advocacy, with its aim to empower, has the potential to transform the lives of people with learning disabilities, but an inevitable consequence of client empowerment is professional disempowerment. Professional workers are unlikely to relinquish power, control and influence without some resistance. As this paper seeks to show there are a number of ways for statutory agencies to neutralize the effect of citizen advocacy. If this challenge is to be met then a number of radical changes need to be made in the way advocacy programmes operate: the volunteering principle should be abandoned; full-time advocates should be appointed; generic rather than specialist advocacy services should be established; and, in order to protect the operational independence of advocacy programmes, funding should come from central and not local government sources. If the kind of fundamental changes, proposed in this paper, are not introduced then the credibility of advocacy services will be irretrievably damaged with the result that people with learning disabilities will continue to remain disadvantaged. If people with learning disabilities are to be empowered they need strong, independent, informed and expert representation.

The Effectiveness of Court Appointed Special Advocates to Assist in Permanency Planning

The effectiveness of permanency planning, which refers to efforts to move children through the court system in a timely and efficient manner, was analyzed by comparing outcome measures from a group of children having a court appointed special advocate (CASA) ordered and assigned to their case, and from a group of children who had no CASA assigned to their case. It was found that those cases having CASA involvement had significantly fewer placements, tended to be more likely to achieve permanency, and spent less overall time under wardship of the court.

Case advocacy in child welfare.

This article examines the concept of advocacy in child welfare. Definitions of social advocacy and case advocacy are presented that will perhaps give child advocates, child welfare workers, and social workers a better understanding of the concepts and their roles in the protection of children who have been abused or neglected. A historical account of advocacy efforts on behalf of abused and neglected children in the United States is presented, followed by an analysis of current advocacy efforts, highlighting the potential of court-appointed special advocates (CASAs). The article also presents implications and ideas for social workers to assist in case advocacy efforts for children who are part of the child welfare system.

Review of Advocating for the Child in Protection Proceedings: A Handbook for Lawyers and Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Review of Advocating for the Child in Protection Proceedings: A Handbook for Lawyers and Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Advocating for the child in protection proceedings: A handbook for lawyers and court appointed special advocates : by Donald N. Duquette D.C. Heath and Company (125 Spring Street, Lexington, Massachusetts 02173), 1990, 160 pp., hardcover—$19.95

Advocating for the child in protection proceedings: A handbook for lawyers and court appointed special advocates : by Donald N. Duquette D.C. Heath and Company (125 Spring Street, Lexington, Massachusetts 02173), 1990, 160 pp., hardcover—$19.95

Infant Bioethics Committees: Dispute Over Guidelines

Right-to-life groups and groups representing the disabled are criticizing the "Guidelines for Infant Bioethics Committees" released by the American Academy of Pediatrics on 27 April 1984. Opponents charge that the guidelines fail to back unequivocally a "best interests of the infant" standard for decision making, that no one is authorized to act as a "special advocate for the infant," and that a "quality of life" criterion for treatment decisions is implicit in the guidelines.

Competence, paternalism, and public policy for mentally retarded people

This article examines two currently disputed issues regarding public policy for mentally retarded people. First, questions are raised about the legal tradition of viewing mental competence as an all-or-nothing attribute. It is argued that recently developed limited competence and limited guardianship laws can provide greater freedom for retarded people without sacrificing needed protection. Second, the question of who should act paternalistically for retarded people incapable of acting for themselves is examined. Rothman's claim that special formal advocates are the best representatives for retarded people is discussed and criticized. It is argued that parents, professionals and legal advocates should share decision-making authority on behalf of those who are incompetent.

Court Appointed Special Advocate: The Guardian ad Litem for Abused and Neglected Child

Juvenile and Family Court JournalVolume 29, Issue 3 p. 65-70 Court Appointed Special Advocate: The Guardian ad Litem for Abused and Neglected Child Carmen Ray-Bettineski, Corresponding Author Carmen Ray-BettineskiProgram Director Guardian Ad Litem Program Juvenile Court Department 1211 East Alder Street Seattle, Washington 98122Search for more papers by this author Carmen Ray-Bettineski, Corresponding Author Carmen Ray-BettineskiProgram Director Guardian Ad Litem Program Juvenile Court Department 1211 East Alder Street Seattle, Washington 98122Search for more papers by this author First published: August 1978 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-6988.1978.tb01158.xCitations: 2AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume29, Issue3August 1978Pages 65-70 RelatedInformation

Some Crucial Problems of Mathematical Instruction in the United States

Previous articleNext article No AccessSome Crucial Problems of Mathematical Instruction in the United StatesMarshall H. StoneMarshall H. Stone Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 65, Number 1Spring, 1957 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/442377 Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in The School Review (1893-1979), which is continued by the American Journal of Education (1979-present). Copyright 1957 University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Jennifer Díaz Aceptar los límites históricos de la inclusión: cuando construir una mentalidad matemática no es suficiente, Historia de la Educación 40 (Feb 2022): 157–173.https://doi.org/10.14201/hedu202140157173Charanjit Singh Prosecuting terrorism: secret courts, evidence and special advocates. The panoply of challenges facing criminal justice, the United Kingdom perspective, Current Issues in Criminal Justice 33, no.33 (Dec 2020): 382–408.https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2020.1850166

On the Principles of Musical Notation

Some apology seems necessary for reading a Paper on such a well-worn subject as Notation, especially before those who are not only familiar with it themselves, but in many cases occupied daily in teaching or explaining its principles to others. But Music has now become so universally a part of education, that it is of the utmost importance that we should have the best possible system of notation; and I take it, that the remarkable extent to which thoughtful musicians have lately turned their attention to this subject, and the many alterations which have from time to time been suggested by them, prove that some dissatisfaction is felt with existing systems. That there should be some opposition between rival methods is natural enough, but I think much of this opposition would disappear, could we be brought to consider calmly not so much the merits as the demerits of that particular system in which we live and move. For, having mastered its intricacies, we cease to believe in their existence; and having by long usage condoned its faults, we become loth to admit them to be faults at all. Those among you who happen to be special advocates of, and whose names are by common consent associated with, rival systems, will, I hope, understand that none of my remarks are intended to be personal; and that my only desire to-day is to ask you to consider calmly with me what are the true principles of Musical Notation, and how far those systems now in common use are built upon these principles.