Bronx Defenders Mainzer Family Defense Field Clinic

Catalog description

The field clinic will examine child welfare law and policy, and offer students litigation experience in high-stakes child neglect proceedings. Every state is required by federal law to investigate allegations that children have been or are being abused and neglected. The overwhelming majority of such investigations, however, are not of incidents of actual harm but concern a parent's lack of resources, access to services, and poverty that may place a child at risk. The majority of parents charged with abuse and neglect in Family Court are disproportionately poor, and separated from their children at alarming rates. Children languish in foster care while their parents, attempting to cope with the loss, are forced to comply with a multitude of demands and government agencies, all of whom claim to know what is best for them and their families -- often destroying familial bonds and causing damage to individuals and the Bronx community. Because of its unique model of holistic defense, The Bronx Defenders is an ideal placement for students to be first exposed to this emerging public defense field. The Family Defense Practice of The Bronx Defenders provides comprehensive family court representation to parents charged with abuse and/or neglect who are potentially facing termination of parental rights. We connect families to social services that strengthen and empower them. We see our clients not as cases, but as whole people. Our accomplished and committed attorneys, social workers, parent advocates, investigators, and support staff are dedicated to helping our clients grapple with the real repeat offenders - poverty, family dissolution, and despair. This clinic will provide students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in holistic, client- centered advocacy in a warm and collegial environment. Students will gain essential litigation skills and experience by providing…