GR 9 COVER SHEET   

 

Suggested Amendments STANDARDS FOR INDIGENT DEFENSE

Rules CrR 3.1/CrRLJ 3.1/JuCR 9.2 Stds

Submitted by the Washington State Bar Association

 

 

A.           Name of Proponent:

 

Washington State Bar Association WSBA Council on Public Defense

 

B.           Spokesperson:

Sunitha Anjilvel, WSBA President

Washington State Bar Association, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98101-2539

 

Jason Schwarz, Chair, Council on Public Defense

Washington State Bar Association, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98101-2539 | jason.schwarz@co.snohomish.wa.us | (425) 388-3032

 

Maialisa Vanyo, Chair-elect, Council on Public Defense

Washington State Bar Association, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98101-2539 | mvanyo@co.whatcom.wa.us | (360) 778-5686

 

WSBA Staff Contact:

Bonnie Sterken, Equity and Justice Lead

Washington State Bar Association, 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98101-2539 | bonnies@wsba.org | (206) 727-8293

 

C.           Purpose:

 

The purpose of the suggested amendments to the Standards for Indigent Defense is to update standards applicable to family defense practice to ensure family defense attorneys have the supervision and training, caseloads, and access to social work professionals necessary to allow them to provide adequate, ethical defense to their clients. In October 2023, the Washington Supreme Court requested that the Washington State Bar Association’s Council on Public Defense (CPD) review and update caseload standards in the Court’s Standards for Indigent Defense. In March 2024, the CPD recommended, and the WSBA Board of Governors approved, comprehensive amendments to the Standards for Indigent Defense, including revised caseload standards. At that time, CPD and the WSBA Board reserved the matter of standards pertaining to family defense cases due to differences between family defense practice and felony and misdemeanor practice and because the resources available to develop felony and misdemeanor standards did not address family defense cases. The WSBA Board and CPD concluded the standards applicable to family defense should be reviewed by individuals with expertise in that practice area and CPD convened a committee of family defense practitioners to update those standards.

In developing the suggested amendments, the committee conducted extensive research on appropriate family defense practice standards. With respect to caseload standards, the committee worked with a national public defense workload expert to conduct a study of Washington family defense attorneys to determine the amount of time necessary to provide constitutional and ethical representation in family defense cases. Based on this study and research, the committee recommended revisions to the WSBA Standards for Indigent Defense Services and the Court Indigent Defense standards focused on three primary areas: social work staff requirements, training and qualification standards, and caseloads. The WSBA Board of Governors adopted the recommended amendments to the WSBA standards and approved the recommended amendments to the Court standards on September 7, 2024.

First, the suggested amendments would require the agencies responsible for administering family defense funding to provide one social worker for every one full-time attorney representing parents in family defense proceedings by July 3, 2028. This recommendation is based in part on a large study of family defense cases that found that an interdisciplinary approach to parent representation—one in which parents are represented by a team that includes social workers or non-lawyer parent advocates— decreased the time children spent in foster care and promoted timely “permanency” for children.1 In addition, family defense clients often require significant support to assist them in making the changes to their lives that will ultimately resolve their cases. This standard was developed in consultation with the Office of Public Defense (OPD) leadership responsible for administering existing defense social work supports.

Second, the current standards have no meaningful experience or supervision requirements for family defense representation. Therefore, the suggested amendments provide for proficiency determinations and a system for consultation with more experienced practitioners for attorneys who lack the necessary practice skills. These revisions reflect new supervision and training systems being developed by OPD and the Office of Civil Legal Aid (OCLA).

Lastly, the suggested amendments create a caseload maximum for family defense attorneys of no more than 35 clients with no more than 40 total open and active cases at any given time. This standard was developed using a recent workload study of Oregon family defense practitioners. Oregon’s family defense system is similar to Washington’s and served as a starting point for revising the Washington standard. The family defense subcommittee then worked with a public defense workload expert to conduct a condensed workload study of Washington family defense practitioners to adapt the Oregon findings to Washington. The suggested amendments are drawn from the results of that study.

 

1 Gerber, Lucas A., Yuk C. Pang, Timothy Ross, Martin Guggenheim, Peter J. Pecora, and Joel Miller. "Effects of an interdisciplinary approach to parental representation in child welfare." Children and Youth Services Review 102 (2019): 42-55.

 

D.           Hearing: A hearing is not requested. The Court, however, has scheduled a public hearing for September 25, 2024, to consider the previously proposed amendments to the Standards for Indigent Defense. Proponents do not oppose consolidating the suggested amendments relating to family defense with the hearing on the comprehensive amendments to the Standards.

 

E.           Expedited Consideration: Expedited consideration is requested.

 

F.            Supporting Material:

 

1.    Cover memo to the WSBA Board of Governors dated August 12, 2024