On January 17, an Indiana Senate committee passed Senate Bill 180, which would provide a court-appointed lawyer in certain types of juvenile cases. The approval reignited conversations regarding representations for children in Child in Need of Services (CHINS) and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) proceedings.
In Indiana, children in child welfare cases do not require direct counsel. But state court judges have the discretion to assign counsel for them.
A direct attorney for a child would be another person around a small table that can get crowded in a collaborative family law proceeding. But advocates for direct representation believed that a direct lawyer would be in the child’s best interest since they can relay precisely what the child wants.
Joshua Oswald, a 24-year-old Indianapolis resident in the foster care system until he was 21, affirmed that he would have found permanency with a family sooner if he got an attorney.
Oswald’s caseworker adopted him in September 2020. Oswald said the love and support from his new family gave him the push to help others caught in the same foster care system that failed him.
Oswald, now a director of strategic partnerships at All-IN Fostering Futures, said the transition into adulthood for young children could be brutal without a family’s support. His nonprofit organization functions as a resource and connector to faith communities and child welfare.
Oswald has been seeking direct representation for young people for years. But the topic garnered attention in Indiana only recently with Senate Bill 180.
Several foster parents supported the bill during the January 10 meeting of the Senate Committee on Family and Children Services. Like Oswald, they believed they could have adopted their children faster if young people had
their lawyers.
Maggie Stevens, president, and CEO of Foster Success, highlighted the struggles children in CHINS and TPR proceedings face without legal representation.
She said that rather than being given a chance to speak confidentially, these children are asked to divulge information about their parents in open court. They have no one to file a petition on their behalf or explain the complicated legal proceedings.
Stevens said that children were left to navigate life-changing situations like being reunited with parents, changing schools, or finding a new foster family by themselves.
Foster Success is a nonprofit in Indiana founded to help youths transition out of foster care. Stevens said they help empower people to begin their journey to self-sufficiency. Part of that journey includes making sure that their voices are heard in all decisions regarding their livelihood.
Jenna Hullet, the foster mother of four-year-old Judah Morgan, testified in support of the bill. The child had been with her for four years when the State returned him to his biological parents.
She tried to warn the Department of Child Services (DCS) of her concerns about Judah’s care and safety, but nobody listened. Then, six months later, Judah was dead. His father was charged with murder, while his biological mother was accused of neglect.
In her testimony, she said that the State should ensure that there would never be another child in Indiana without adequate representation in the foster care system.
