Washington Courts: Judicial News Report Detail

6th annual Children's Justice Conference: A need for more judicial participation

When judges open their mail next month, they may ask, "Do I have to register for ‘98 conferences already?"

"Yes!" say organizers of the 1998 statewide Children’s Justice Conference.

Considered the state’s most comprehensive conference on juvenile justice issues, sponsors of this year’s event, set for April 20-21 in Bellevue, are pushing especially hard for increased judicial participation. Registration forms will be sent to judges throughout the state in late January.

Judges needed

To Mike Curtis, juvenile court specialist with the Office of the Administrator for the Courts, increasing judicial registration at this year’s conference is a high priority. Although there was a significant increase in judicial participation over past years, of the more than 1,600 individuals attending last year’s event, only a relative handful were judges.

As was the case last year, the OAC Court Improvement Program is offering cost incentives to get judges to attend. Funding has been set aside to cover pro tem expenses for 45 attendee-judges, "if not more," said Curtis, and Board for Court Education funds have been requested to cover the cost of the individual, $75 registration fees. "I would say that we can find funding for any judge that wants to attend," Curtis said.

The increased effort in behalf of this year’s effort is due partly to findings of an August ‘96 Washington Juvenile Court Improvement Project study, conducted by the National Center for State Courts. Judges’ response to the survey, a statewide poll of judges, guardians ad litem, case workers, court clerks and administrators, identified a need for additional training in child development and medical/psychological aspects of child treatment. "It was really a self-identified need," explained Curtis.

In response, a 16-member project oversight taskforce identified two key training tools. First, basic education relating to reasonable efforts and permanency planning would be encouraged through regional, one-day "reasonable efforts" symposiums. One such symposium was held last month in Richland.

Advanced training relating to the various aspects of child abuse, the taskforce decided, would be encouraged through attendance at the annual Children’s Justice Conference.

"This type of training is an important tool, especially in the field of juvenile dependency, because you are dealing with so many different variables that a law education doesn’t provide," Curtis said.

Noting that some may be reluctant to sign up, Curtis encouraged judges to speak with colleagues who have attended in past years. A total of twenty-nine judges and commissioners attended the ‘97 conference, and those he heard from gave very positive feedback, Curtis said.

Program highlights

The program’s goal is to foster interactive discussions between child welfare professionals, law enforcement personnel, educators, and judicial officers. Breakout sessions will be limited to 200 attendees per session.

A number of keynote speakers will headline the event. Speakers include:

• Andrew Vaachss, a New York attorney who will keynote the Tuesday morning session. Speaking on "Child Advocacy," Vaachss seemed to be the perfect choice. "His business card reads, ‘Limited to matters Concerning Children and Youth,’" said conference organizer Orlando Manaois. Vaachss’ law practice deals exclusively with child abuse and neglect, delinquency, custody and visitation matters. He is the author of subject-related novels, including, False Allegations, Sheila, Batman: The Ultimate Evil, and Born Bad.
• Patrick Murphy, public guardian for Illinois’ Cook County, which manages 500 disabled elderly individuals and represents abused children in juvenile court, recently authored WASTED: The Future of the Child Welfare System and the Plight of America’s Unwanted Children.
• Alvin Poussaint, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who is also media center director at the Center for Children of the Judge Baker Children’s Center In Boston. Considered an expert on race relations in America, he has authored Why Blacks Kill Blacks, Black Child Care, and Raising Black Children.
• David Finklehor, a professor and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, who is a sociological researcher in family, mental health, sexual behavior, family violence and criminology. Recent publications include Effects of Partner Violence on Children, Sexually Abused Children in a National Survey of Parents, and Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrown Away Children in America.

An estimated 2,000 attendees are expected to take advantage of a multitude of breakout choice sessions at this year’s event. To register for the two-day conference, attendees must choose four sessions from a total of forty-one options included in registration sign-ups (see sidebar for listing).

Lead sponsors of the conference are the state Department of Social and Health Services’ Children’s Administration and the Children’s Justice Interdisciplinary Task Force. Cooperating agencies include the Office of the Administrator for the Courts; the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime; the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; the Casey Family Program; the Washington State Psychological Association; and the state Office of Correction Operations.

Registration forms will be mailed to judges statewide in late January. For answers to questions about the conference, or for names of judges who have attended in the past, contact Mike Curtis at (360) 705-5227.

Children’s Justice Conference:

BREAKOUT SESSION CHOICES

• Child abduction and homicide
• Child physical abuse / characteristics
• Interviewing the offender / evidence gathering
• Can we all agree? What is neglect?
• Domestic violence and child abuse: Understanding and breaking the connection.
• Child and adolescent sexual abuse
• Hear their cries: Religious and secular communities responding to child abuse
• Craft and self-care: How professional helpers can keep soul and body alive
• Sexually aggressive youth: Youth child assessment and reunification
• The Casey Family Program: Lessons learned
• Cognitive-behavioral treatment of child physical abuse
• Cultural issues in interventions for sexual abuse
• ‘98 Legislative session update/summary on child welfare issues
• Washington State’s comprehensive response to managing convicted adult sexual offenders.
• Gay/lesbian adolescents: Unseen but not unharmed
• Prevention/management of sexual and physical child abuse
• Post-mortal evaluation of child physical abuse
• Neurological, legal and psychological implications of child maltreatment
• Children’s cross-cultural linguistics
• An approach to medical neglect
• Open Forum: How and what to do to enhance your effectiveness in the juvenile judicial system
• Allegations of abuse in divorce: Research
• Allegations of abuse in divorce: Case management issues
• Child memories: Trauma specific
• New directions for the 21st Century in child welfare
• Physical abuse, discipline and culture
• Present and future issues: Child welfare system
• Child memories: Accuracy