A newly released study says that multidisciplinary representation of parents in child welfare cases has multiple benefits when compared to traditional legal representation, including achieving family reunification more often in the early years and shortening children’s stays in foster care, according to a Bronx Defenders news release about the study.

The study, which examined more than 28,000 New York City child welfare cases, also found that “full implementation of a multidisciplinary representation model” would create some $40 million in annual savings for the foster care system, added the Bronx Defenders, which says it runs a multidisciplinary family defense office with teams of lawyers, social workers and parent advocates.