Many parents are outraged when their child or adolescent is questioned by school officials regarding misconduct in a school setting without appropriate Miranda warnings and without notifying the parents. A district court in Michigan recently ruled that a school was able to detain a student for questioning. To detain a student, a school must have a reasonable suspicion that the student violated a law or school rule. A lesser standard is appropriate, the court reasoned, because school officials act in loco parentis for a student and in order to maintain order, a student’s freedom may be restricted in some ways. D.J.Y. v. Ypsilanti Community Schools 115 LRP 6578 (E.D. Mich. 2015).
School Officials Don’t Need Probable Cause to Question Student
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Navigating the Holidays after Divorce
- Plan ahead! Don’t wait until the last minute to work out the details of the holiday. This includes travel plans, pick up and drop off and other details. Let everyone know in advance what the plans and schedule are.
- Try to work together and keep your children at the forefront of any plans.
- If there is a disagreement and you can’t reach a compromise, deal with this in mediation as soon as it is clear that you are at an impasse.
- Keep the kids out of the disagreement.
- Don’t compete with each other on gifts and plans. This is bad for your child and will give the message that it is all about what you get rather than the holiday itself.
- Even though the holidays are times for fun and relaxation, trying to keep some structure is important for the children.
- Establish new traditions and make an effort to celebrate these new events. You can’t go backwards.
- If you or your child are having trouble with the changes, don’t be afraid to seek professional help to talk through the issues with your feelings.
Posted in Divorce & Custody
Tagged Divorce and the holidays
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No Fault Dependency/Custody Relinquishment Prevention Act HB5598HFA2
Several times a year, parents come to our office and ask us to help them relinquish custody to the State in order to get their child needed mental health services. Often these children are adopted, but not always. What they do have in common is severe mental health needs that cannot be met in any other way. These are kids who need a residential placement, intensive therapy, and may be presenting a severe safety risk to their families or themselves. Every case is heartbreaking. From a legal standpoint this has required a legal battle, depending on the county, to prove that the case/parents/kid meets the requirements needed for a no-fault dependency. In one case in McHenry County, a young teenager who was not longer safe at home given his severe violent episodes was to spend months in detention in another county while the State’s Attorney fought to prevent his assessing care and wanted the parent charged with neglect. The Judge agreed that these circumstances merited a finding of a no-fault dependency and he will receive the treatment he needs. There is no happy ending in these cases but access to needed mental health treatment is the goal.
Hopefully, Illinois law is about to change if the Voluntary Custody Relinquishment Act—HB5598 HFA2 passes. The summary of the bill is as follows:
Status
Status: Engrossed on April 10, 2014 – 50% progress.
Action: 2014-05-13-Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Steve Stadelman.
Summary
Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that when a child is voluntarily placed in out-of-home care funded by the Department of Children and Family Services for the purpose of obtaining mental health treatment for the child or treatment for the child’s developmental disability, the Department is prohibited from requesting, recommending, or requiring that a parent terminate his or her parental rights with respect to the child or that a parent or legal guardian transfer legal custody to the Department. Provides that a child voluntarily placed in out-of-home care shall be placed pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement voluntarily entered into by the parents or legal guardian of the child. Provides that for a child to remain in out-of-home care for longer than 180 days, a juvenile court must make a judicial determination within the first 180 of the placement that the placement is in the best interests of the child. Requires the Department to report annually to the General
Assembly concerning (i) the number of children who were voluntarily placed in out-of-home care funded by the Department and (ii) the number of parents or legal guardians who relinquished custody of their children for the purpose of seeking mental health treatment for the child or treatment for the child’s developmental disability. Contains provisions concerning: an interagency agreement between specified State agencies to prevent children from becoming wards of the State and entering the child welfare system solely for the purpose of treatment of a child’s serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disability; certain protocols that must be included in the interagency agreement; and reporting requirements. Effective immediately.
Posted in Current Events, Juvenile Law, Mental Health / Disability
Tagged Custody Relinquishment Prevention Act, No Fault Dependency
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A Word on Affordable Health Care or the Lack Thereof
Today’s articles in the New York Times, and discussions with our clients over the past week that have resulted in tears regarding the lack of access to appropriate health care, has prompted me to write this blog post. The headlines read: As Hospital Prices Soar, A Single Stitch Tops $500.00: Huge Emergency Bills Shock Patients and Reflect System with Few Controls. (New York Times, December 3, 2013); A New Wave of Challenges to Health Care Law. (New York Times, December 3, 2013).
If you haven’t been living under a rock, you are probably aware that certain people are opposed to the Affordable Care Act (A.C.A.) or Obama Care. This has more than baffled me over the months and years that this controversy has played out in Congress and in the media. In my office, I represent families and children with disabilities. Many, if not most of these families, have spent every cent they have on securing appropriate interventions for their children. Some have lost their homes and retirement savings. The worst stories in our office are of those who have lost their children. Sadly, the ability to secure appropriate scientific based interventions for children and young adults is a luxury afforded the wealthy in this country. This surely can’t be the America I believe in that would deny access to good quality care to everyone but the affluent. Living and getting well shouldn’t be foreclosed to all but a select few.
The tragedy isn’t simply economic. Many children and adolescents will die or their lives will be forever damaged because they cannot access health care and interventions available to those with money who can privately pay for this care. This is especially problematic in the areas of mental health and addiction treatment which has been mostly unavailable or very limited even to those with health insurance. Yes, there have been gains. Some children with autism can now receive Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) covered by insurance in Illinois.* Still many cannot because their parents employers refuse to cover this service. Mental health treatment is in a dark place where parents cannot find psychiatrists or pay for medication that would help their children.
Sitting across a table counseling parents about interventions and services available is often very hard. It is much easier when a family can afford the proper treatment. Our goal is to help to secure services for families, primarily from school districts and other government agencies. While school are an important linkage in the intervention chain for children with disabilities, they are only a part of the solution. Access to health care, including mental health care is essential. For those who oppose access to health care, regrettably will have blood on their hands, since surely people will die as a result of their efforts to deny this access.
It is unthinkable to me that anyone regardless of party affiliation, can stand for anything less than full health care coverage for all Americans. It is not a luxury to have access to health care-it is a moral imperative.
*ABA is a research based intervention that has been proven effective as an intervention for children on the autism spectrum.
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Posted in Current Events, General Information, Mental Health / Disability, Reflection
Tagged Affordable Care Act, Health Care Reform, Obamacare
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On Families
On Tuesday, November 26, 2013, the New York Times ran a lengthy piece entitled Families: The Changing American Family. The article chronicles the changing face of the American family and the complexities behind those statistics. In this article, the families were complicated. They were bi-racial, gay and lesbian, Protestants, Catholics, married, single, blended families, rich and poor. These families didn’t exist fifty years ago. In reading the article and looking at the photographs, I realized that these are the families we represent in our office. Our families have adopted children, complicated step-parents, grandparents and parents who are incarcerated. Yet they remain families committed to helping one another.
I want to urge everyone to read the article because when we get starry-eyed or nostalgic about family, it is important to note that the expanding definition of what it means to be a family reflects a different but more inclusive concept. I am thankful for that inclusion and celebrate and welcome the families who turn to our office for help in all of their complexity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/health/families.html
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Last week I received a call from a lawyer who had reviewed a CLE presentation I had done on School Discipline. He was handling his first expulsion case and wanted some advice. I was busy and thought for a brief moment that I just couldn’t take the time to help. I called the lawyer. He was grateful and we talked about the implications of a student with special education issues and school discipline. The child’s family had few resources and this lawyer was trying to assist in assuring that this 13 year-old wouldn’t be expelled without access to education.
Over the years, I have had many of these calls. I have always tried to reach back and help because access to legal advocacy in special education, in most instances, depends on a family’s ability to afford an attorney or advocate. The stakes are very high. Removal from school is disastrous for all children. Failure to get the right resources can damage a child forever.
There are only a handful of private special education attorneys in the Chicago area. There are far fewer, if any, as we move away from the greater Chicago area. The need is the same. Access to these resources is critical. It is a shared responsibility.
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Posted in Juvenile Law, Mental Health / Disability, School Discipline, Special Education / School Law
Tagged Expulsion, School Discipline, Special Education Law
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Reflections of a Special Education Lawyer
Yesterday, I traveled to Rockford, Illinois, to give a presentation on Special Education Law to a group of parents of children with autism. The parents had arrived early on a Saturday morning, anxious to hear how to navigate the labyrinth of the special education system. I agreed to trek nearly two hours away on this early morning to give people information that hopefully would help them advocate for their children.
This is my 18th year practicing special education law, a career shift inspired by my own efforts to advocate for my son. The first year of my practice, in a combination of serendipity, skill, experts, determined resourceful parents and circumstances, I handled my first autism case. Ultimately, that case went to the 7th Circuit and represented a victory for parents of young children with autism. At the time, I had no idea that following the T.H. v. Palatine case the world would experience what felt and still feels like an epidemic of autism. In my naivety, I thought that schools would take notice and parents would be empowered to request research-based interventions for their children. This happened on a small scale.
However, yesterday I was struck by questions that reminded me that despite the fact that recent CDC statistics now indicate that 1 in 50 children have a diagnosis of autism, parents are still struggling mightily to get educational interventions for their children. The parents in the audience were a mixed group. Many could not afford an attorney. They were desperate for information, asking for specific language they could use to make their schools listen. Several special education teachers were in the room and they too wanted to know how to help the children and parents get much needed services.
The parents asked questions and clearly didn’t know how to respond when their school answered by refusing their requests for summer school. One family told me that they were not sure what to do because their district told them that “they didn’t offer extended school year for anybody.” The parents couldn’t afford an attorney and couldn’t pay for a summer program. I provided resources to the Illinois State Board of Education and links on the web that they could use to advocate for their children. I offered to help them if they needed more assistance.
The stories continued in the question and answer period following the presentation. The parents were told by their school districts that there was simply no money for the resources they were requesting. The parents understood the answer. This was a problem they shared with their school districts. Almost everyone in the room believed that things would get worse for their kids with the upcoming funding cuts.
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Posted in Autism, Current Events, Reflection, Special Education / School Law
Tagged Autism, Extended School Year, Parents of Autistic Children, Special Education Law
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More Thoughts on Gun Violence
Two Days ago, as I drove home from work, it was announced that the police have charged two people in the murder of Hadiya Pendleton. Like everyone, I was relieved. The radio announcer went on to give the names and ages of these young me, 18 and 20. These young men are two more casualties of the epidemic of violence in our city. Their lives are also over before their 21st birthday. Their families’ lives are forever altered.
The path that led them to Harsh Park was in motion for years before that January day. I can only feel sadness for the wasted lives and the fate of so many young people that continues unabated on a daily basis. More police may help stem the shooting, but how do we as a community interrupt and intervene in the situation well before the need for police?
I do not know the answer but believe that we/everyone must ask this question and commit to do something.
This is not to excuse the senseless killing of Hadiya but to say that all of us share responsibility for making a change. To turn a blind eye because it isn’t happening in your backyard is to be complicit in a system of apartheid that presumes that this fate is an unavoidable circumstance based on race, economics and the neighborhood where you were born.
Resources:
The Interrupters: cureviolence.org
Prevention Institute: www.preventioninstitute.org
National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention
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Posted in Current Events, Juvenile Law, Reflection
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Thoughts on Gun Violence
On Saturday, I was working at home and decided to turn on the news. I found the broadcast of Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral and stayed to watch. I was deeply moved by her death and this celebration of her life. The choir sang “We Shall Overcome”. We must. This is a civil rights issue at its most fundamental level. We must have a city and country where it is possible to grow up in every neighborhood without an expectation that you will die before you are 20 and that opportunities for life outside of a gang exist. The news media called Hadiya “the face of an epidemic.”
At the end of every weekend, I drive to work on Mondays and hear from the radio announcers the faceless, nameless reports of 7 or 12 shooting deaths in Chicago over the past few days. There are typically no names reported and often a range of ages is mentioned. These young people have mothers, fathers, sisters and friends. They have not had a chance in this world. Their funerals are not events and no one of note attends. I wonder why we as society are not all alarmed, terrified for the young people of our city. It is unimaginable to think of my child growing up in a neighborhood where this was the normal. I ask myself what I must do to help.
As terribly sad as this funeral and her loss is, I hope that it would become a galvanizing moment for everyone, not simply another statistic.
Last week, I listened to the news as one mother was interviewed about the loss of all of her 4 children to gun violence. As a mother I cannot imagine this loss. I am sure I could not go on. This is not happening in a third world country but less than an hour from my house. It is simply not possible to ignore this fact if you are a person of good conscience.
Posted in Current Events, Juvenile Law, Reflection
Tagged Gun violence
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Twenty Somethings – A Unique Practice Area
In the early days of opening our child -focused practice, we represented mostly children and adolescents. However, as the years have gone by, our focus has expanded to include legal representation of emerging young adults as a significant population.* (ages 18-29). For young people with disabilities, including learning disabilities and mental health issues, this period of their lives can be a particularly difficult time.
A few facts regarding this group helps explain the necessity of providing informed legal services to assist in the transition. These twenty-somethings tend to have a higher rate of involvement in the legal system, specifically the criminal justice system.
“For young adults, it can be a stressful time. High rates of anxiety, depression, motor-vehicle accidents and alcohol use are at their peak from ages 18 to 25, trends that tend to level out by age 28.” (Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2012, Delayed Development: 20 Somethings Blame the Brain). The top 10 causes of death in young people, including motor vehicle accidents, homicides and suicides, are all preventable issues related to judgment, not illness.
Below are a few facts regarding this group:
* Adolescents and 20-something brains are also particularly vulnerable to trauma, abuse, alcohol and drugs. Brain scans have shown that heavy drinking defined as 20 or more drinks a month in young people can lead to decreased cognitive function, memory and attention.
* Some severe mental illnesses also become apparent between ages 15 and 25. (e.g. schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder)
Our role as attorneys goes beyond simply showing up in court or filing motions. In our office, the emphasis is on a multidisciplinary approach in addressing the legal needs of our clients. The goal is to identify appropriate interventions that will not only deal with the immediate legal issues but also prevent further deterioration. For example, as part of our representation of young adults with mental health issues or developmental disabilities, we insist on an evaluation, encourage treatment, and work in a therapeutic way to use the current legal matter as an opportunity for intervention.
Obviously our goal is to prevent or mitigate the life altering consequences of a conviction or other serious long term consequences attendant to poor decision making and impulsive behavior.
Resources:
Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road for the Late Teens Through the Twenties ( Oxford University Press, 2004).
The Child and Family Law Center, Highland Park, IL (847)-926-0101. www.lawforchild.com
NAMI Cook County North Suburban: namiccns.org
Yellowbrick. A unique treatment program located in Evanston, Illinois specializing in the mental health and other issues designed specifically to address the needs of the emerging adult population.
www.yellowbrickprogram.com
Posted in Juvenile Law, Mental Health / Disability
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