House Judiciary Committee reviews bill to form child-and-parent legal representation task force

The House Judiciary Committee on April 30 reviewed H.193, a bill that would create a child and parent legal representation task force to study whether Vermont should reform how children and families are represented in CHINS (children in need of care or supervision) proceedings, relief‑from‑abuse petitions and substantiations of abuse or neglect, and whether the state can draw down federal Title IV‑E funds to support such reforms.

The draft before the committee would make the chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court (or a designee) the task force chair and list membership including the court administrator or designee; the commissioner of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) or designee; the defender general; the child, youth and family advocate; the executive director of Voices for Vermont’s Children or designee; and the executive director of the Vermont Parent Representation Center. The draft directs the task force to assess standards recommended by the American Bar Association and the U.S. Children’s Bureau and to consider the May 2021 National Center for State Courts study of CHINS case processing in Vermont.

Supporters told the committee the primary goal is to position Vermont to access Title IV‑E funding and to design an interdisciplinary model of representation that pairs attorneys with social‑work and family‑support staff. “This bill gives us the authority to do that,” said Larry Criss, director…