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CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE NEWS University of Miami School of Law Volume 8, Issue 2 Spring 2009 CHILDREN & YOUTH LAW CLINIC: A DECADE AND A HALF LATER CENTER AWARDS By Clinical Professor Bernard Perlmutter-CYLC Director EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD , U NIVERSITY OF MIAMI he fall 2009 semester marks the start of the 15th year of the SCHOOL OF LAW , 2009 founding of the Children & Youth Law Clinic. Although we did INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC not open our doors until the spring 1996 semester, we had INTEREST AWARD , U NIVERSITY OF T MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW , 2009 established temporary offices on campus and were hard at work planning and organizing our new clinic. Since the UM law school had CLEA O UTSTANDING STUDENT AWARD , C LINICAL LEGAL never housed a live-client clinic, we began with a blank slate, although we EDUCATION ASSOCIATION , 2009 were able to visit and borrow ideas from several venerable clinics at INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC Chicago-area law schools. It is hard to conceive that our modest INTEREST AWARD , U NIVERSITY OF experiment in clinical education, which was initially given a one-year MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW , 2007 lease, renewed tenuously on an annual basis for nearly a decade, is now WILLIAM PINCUS AWARD, an established component of the law school, sought out by record ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN numbers of students, celebrated nationally as a preeminent advocacy LAW SCHOOLS, 2006-2007 organization for the advancement of the legal rights of children, and one FATHER DRINAN AWARD, Bernard Perlmutter ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN CYLC Director of several in-house clinics that have since been established at our law school. LAW SCHOOLS, 2006-2007 Over the past decade, three core ideas have animated our clinic: First, to represent the “whole” C. C LYDE ATKINS AWARD , client by providing “holistic” legal services in areas ranging from dependency and foster care, GREATER MIAMI ACLU, 2005 delinquency, public benefits, health care, mental health, disability, education, and immigration. Second, CHAMPION FOR CHILDREN AWARD , MIAMI DADE COUNTY to engage in innovative appellate, legislative and administrative advocacy and law reform litigation for CHILDREN ’S TRUST , 2005 our clients—children and adolescents in the state foster care system. Third, to use principles of GARY BELLOW SCHOLAR AWARD, “therapeutic jurisprudence” in our direct service and high-impact advocacy. Therapeutic ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN jurisprudence is a field of social inquiry with a law reform agenda that studies the ways in which LAW SCHOOLS, 2004-2005 legal rules, procedures, and the roles of legal actors produce therapeutic or anti-therapeutic ETHICS & PUBLIC TRUST ARETE consequences for those affected by the legal process. AWARD, MIAMI- DADE COUNTY By casting our advocacy mission in this way, and integrating it into the clinic’s teaching mission, our COMMISSION, 2001 students have learned to be versatile problem-solvers for their clients; to see the“big” picture and to use SEVENTH ANNUAL a variety of legal strategies and tools to help clients; and to listen to their clients and promote positive PROFESSIONALISM AWARD, THE FLORIDA BAR, 2000 therapeutic outcomes for them as they navigate through the often emotionally arduous legal process. A few recent examples illustrate how CYLC students have applied these approaches in their clinic work. FACULTY PROFESSIONALISM AWARD, Our students successfully represented“Gina”, a 22-year old former foster youth with two children. Over FLORIDA SUPREME COURT, 1999 the last two years, the clinic obtained a domestic violence injunction against her former boyfriend; GAMBRELL PROFESSIONALISM AWARD, AMERICAN BAR negotiated the speedy resolution of a dependency case when Gina’s children were temporarily removed ASSOCIATION, 1998 from her custody; obtained day care services from her foster care agency; resolved a landlord-tenant dispute; and obtained a custody and child support order from the family court. In addition to providing IN THIS ISSUE specific legal remedies, this advocacy has allowed Gina the stability to provide for her children, get married, work and attend school. CHILDREN & Y OUTH CYLC students represented“Fernando” in an administrative hearing after the Department of Children LAW CLINIC 1 and Families (DCF) cut his Road to Independence (RTI) benefits. RTI is a stipend that is the equivalent of minimum wage available to former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 23 who are enrolled in LAW , P UBLIC POLICY & E THICS 3 school full-time and making satisfactory progress. DCF terminated Fernando’s benefits due to his failure to attend school because of a chronic and acute health condition. The students subsequently appealed MIAMI STREET LAW 4 the DCF decision denying a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to the Third District Court of Appeal. A certified legal intern presented a polished oral argument, but the ETHICS & P ROFESSIONAL appeals court ruled that the agency decision was supported by substantial, competent evidence. RESPONSIBILITY 5 Although we were unable to use this case to expand ADA accommodations under the RTI statute for COMMUNITY ECONOMIC youth with medical disabilities, the DCF secretary was moved by the client’s predicament and offered to DEVELOPMENT & settle the case. Our legal intern negotiated a favorable settlement for Fernando in which the agency DESIGN CLINIC 6 agreed to enroll our client in an online educational program, purchase him a laptop computer, provide him a tutor, and make available support services through his 23 rd birthday. HEALTH & E LDER LAW CLINIC 7 Continued on page 2 1 C ENTER FOR E THICS & P UBLIC S ERVICE N EWS Volume 8, Issue 2, Spring 2009 CENTER FOR ETHICS continued from page 1 & PUBLIC SERVICE DIRECTOR Professor Anthony V. Alfieri CYLC interns worked on an amicus brief filed in the Florida Supreme Court supporting a proposed DEPUTY DIRECTOR Karen P. Throckmorton rule of juvenile procedure that would ban the indiscriminate shackling of children in delinquency court PROGRAM MANAGER hearings. Their brief marshals constitutional and statutory argument, in addition to therapeutic Cynthia S. McKenzie ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT jurisprudence research and scholarship, to critique the practice of forcibly restraining juveniles in court Suzanne Nelson-Trim CHILDREN & YOUTH LAW proceedings. The brief argues that blanket shackling policies create self-fulfilling prophecies. Treated CLINIC Bernard Perlmutter, Director like deviants, shackled children act the part. The brief contends that shackling stigmatizes and harms Kele Williams, Associate Director children, violates due process norms, and vitiates the aims of the juvenile justice system. Carolina Guacci, Staff Attorney Angela Galiano-Acosta, Beyond our direct services advocacy for clients, we participate in the Florida Bar Foundation-funded Administrative Assistant Alissa Boshnack Children’s Legal Services grant program as one of five statewide children’s advocacy projects. As these Henry Bandier Fellow Junilla Kershner examples show, individual client cases handled by the CYLC are complex, raise novel or cutting-edge Florida Bar Foundation Fellow Kristofor Nelson legal issues, and strive to effect broader statewide systems change through test case litigation, appellate, Florida Bar Foundation Fellow Alex Schimel amicus , legislative or administrative advocacy. Henry Bandier Fellow Corinne Seibert The 28 interns and fellows who participated in the CYLC in 2008-09, like their predecessors over the Akerman Senterfitt Fellow previous 13 years, gained invaluable exposure to real clients with real legal problems, and through the COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & DESIGN CLINIC supervised legal practice opportunities of the clinic experience, honed fundamental lawyering skills Charles F. Elsesser, Senior Fellow Purvi Shah, Visiting Fellow that enabled them to sharpen their understanding of professional responsibility. We thank all of them D. Porpoise Evans , Visiting Fellow for their energetic, thoughtful and creative advocacy this year. Sharif Hannan Greenberg Traurig Foundation Fellow We are immensely grateful to the Florida Bar Foundation for its continuing generosity in supporting Joy Harrison John B. Alfieri Fellow our work. Christopher Jallo John Hart Ely Fellow David Tropin Community Fellow ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM Jan L. Jacobowitz, Director OUR CLINIC WELCOMES Carolina Guacci who has joined the Aaron Blynn Ray H. Pearson Fellow University of Miami School of Law with the Children & Youth Law Clinic as Ingrid Garcia-Ruiz Neal R. Sonnett Fellow aVisiting Instructor/StaffAttorney. She is the newest addition to the growing Kevin Harris Robert A. Ades Fellow clinical setting at the law school. S he earned a B.A. from the University of Janelle Herrera Lewis B. Freeman & Partners Fellow Florida with a dual-major in Philosophy and Gender Studies. She later Steve Sarrell Steven E. Chaykin Fellow received her J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law William R. Seitz Steven E. Chaykin Fellow (2004).While in law school, she participated in the Economic Justice Project Karen Shafrir Robert A. Ades Fellow and with Equality Concentration, two of CUNY’s well-established legal David Snyder Greenberg Traurig Fellow clinics. She was awarded a Public Interest Law Association fellowship Rahim West Bankruptcy Bar Association Fellow and UJA scholarship. From the beginning of her career Guacci has helped HEALTH & ELDER LAW CLINIC JoNel Newman, Director strengthen