Current Issues in Children's Law Seminar

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary seminar is designed to give students an opportunity to engage in an in-depth exploration of current and emerging issues in children's law. The seminar will focus on the legal implications of current child welfare policy and practice, ongoing efforts at child welfare and juvenile justice reform through state and federal initiatives, the use of empirical research in guiding child welfare and juvenile justice initiatives, and long term implications for families and children. Specific topics include, among others, an introduction to the concept of therapeutic jurisprudence, advocacy for children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, the role of race and class in permanency planning for children, the legal and ethical implications of privatized child welfare services, and ancillary domestic relations issues that often arise within child welfare.