This is the second in a series of articles about representing children in the Dependency Branch of Family Court at 1801 Vine St. Last week, you read about the Defender Association of Philadelphia’s Child Advocacy Unit (CAU), the agency that represents the vast majority of children in Dependency Court. Each year the CAU represents more than 5,000 dependent children in cases that are court-involved due to allegations of abuse, neglect or other issue 5 concerning the safety or well being of the children.
This article focuses on the work of the Support Center for Child Advocates, an agency that also represents children in Philadelphia Dependency Court. Child Advocates is the oldest pro bono children’s law agency in the country. For 30 years, Child Advocates has been training lawyers and representing children in civil child welfare cases and criminal prosecutions where the child is a victim or witness. Child Advocates represents 700 children every year, relying upon private attorneys in a pro bono capacity to represent a child or sibling group. Each volunteer lawyer is paired with a Child Advocates staff social worker, creating a multi-disciplinary advocacy team.
