Center on Children and the Law

The Center promotes access to justice for children, parents, and families. Our team of attorneys and core staff work on a diverse portfolio of national, regional and local projects in the children’s law field throughout the country. Center projects are unified by two complementary goals: improving legal representation and improving the legal systems that impact children and families.

Center News

ABA Summary of ACF Final Rule: Foster Care Legal Representation

On May 10th, 2024 the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) published the final rule for Foster Care Legal Representation. Read the Center on Children and the Law's summary of that final rule. (6/25/24)

Survey and Focus Group Analysis of Attorneys Who Represent a Child Welfare Agency

This analysis includes insights into the landscape of resources and support that are available to attorneys who represent the child welfare agency throughout the United States. (3/26/24)

Immigration Referral Tool for Child Welfare Attorneys

This tool is designed to help attorneys working with children who are in foster care to identify whether a child may benefit from the services of an immigration attorney. (3/12/24)

New Resource: Barrier Crimes and Foster Licensing Memo

This document provides guidance for jurisdictions on how different states approach the process of criminal background checks, barrier crimes, and foster care licensing. (2/9/24)

What Draws Legal Professionals to Child Welfare Practice: Questions to Inform Attorney Retention and Recruitment Strategies

This discussion guide provides strategies and questions to aid attorney retention and recruitment in the child welfare law field. (1/17/24)

Recent Center News & Resources

Access previously published Center news.

2024 Mark Hardin Award Recipients Announced

The ABA Center on Children and the Law is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Mark Hardin Award for Child Welfare Legal Scholarship and Systems Change are Professor Theo Liebmann from Hofstra University School of Law and Kristen Weber from the National Center for Youth Law. (5/21/24)

Immigration Referral Tool for Caseworkers

This tool is designed to help caseworkers working with children who are in foster care to identify whether a child may benefit from the services of an immigration attorney. (3/12/24)

Nicholson’s Four Factors for Judicial Consideration in Cases Involving Domestic Violence and Children

Twenty years after the seminal decision, we partnered with Sharwline Nicholson, Futures Without Violence, and the National Center to Advance Peace for Children, Youth, and Families to examine how the Nicholson legal framework has shaped child welfare law and to identify what attorneys and judges can do to help realize the original goal of the case by preventing the harm of removal. (3/12/24)

Kinship Unity Action Agenda

Generations United, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, and Think of Us released Kinship Unity Action Agenda - a collective advocacy tool to guide the future work to support kinship families and teach individuals how they can take action and advocate to support the well-being of kinship families. (2/8/24)