MCLE Training Sessions for
New Dependency Court Counsel

With funding from the federal Children’s Justice Act, awarded by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the University of San Diego School of Law’s Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI) held two 20-hour MCLE training sessions for attorneys who are practicing in Juvenile Dependency Court and have been doing so for one year or less. The purpose of this training is to ensure that attorneys appearing in Dependency Court are properly prepared for the extremely important, unique, and challenging work in which they are engaged. The 2007 sessions were held in San Diego on November 9–11, 2007, and in Sacramento on December 5–7, 2007. The San Diego segments were videotaped and are now available for online viewing, as are the handouts for those segments.

• San Diego Course Syllabus
• Sacramento Course Syllabus
• Segment 1: Welcome / Course Goals & Objectives (15 minutes), presented by Prof. Robert C. Fellmeth, Executive Director, Children's Advocacy Institute, and Price Professor of Public Interest Law, University of San Diego School of Law — Handout
• Segment 2: The Context of Child Welfare Law / Overview of Child Maltreatment (2 hours), presented by Robin Vanderlaan, Dr. Marilyn Kaufhold, and Lisa Conradi of the Chadwick Center for Children & Families — Handout 1 — Handout 2 — Handout 3 — Handout 4
• Segment 3: The Legal Framework of Child Welfare Law and Practice (1 hour and 45 minutes), presented by Prof. Robert C. Fellmeth, Executive Director, Children's Advocacy Institute, and Price Professor of Public Interest Law, University of San Diego School of Law — Handout
• Segment 4: Department of Social Services Procedures (30 minutes), presented by Michelle Neumann-Ribner, Senior Deputy County Counsel, San Diego County
• Segment 5: The Child Welfare Legal Process (Part 1) (2 hours), presented by Frank Birchak, Deputy Alternate Public Defender, San Diego Alternate Public Defender Conflict--Parent Office; Candi Mayes, Deputy Public Defender for the County of San Diego; Michelle Neumann-Ribner, Senior Deputy County Counsel, San Diego County; and Christina Riehl, Staff Attorney, Children's Advocacy Institute, University of San Diego School of Law — Handout 1 — Handout 2
• Segment 6: The Child Welfare Legal Process (Part 2) (1 hour and 30 minutes) (see above for presenters)
• Segment 7: The Child Welfare Legal Process (Part 3) (2 hours) (see above for presenters)
• Segment 8: The Appellate Process and Collateral Proceedings (2 hours), presented by Barbara Duey, Supervising Attorney/CARE Unit Director, Children's Law Center; and Martha Matthews, Appellate Attorney, Children's Law Center — Handout
• Segment 9: Educational Advocacy (30 minutes), presented by Katie Ford, Staff Attorney--Children's Rights, Public Counsel Law Center — Handout
• Segment 10: Community Resources for the Child Client (30 minutes), presented by Melanie Delgado, Staff Attorney, Children's Advocacy Institute — Handout
• Segment 11: Developmentally Appropriate Lawyering (1 hour), presented by foster youth advocates Sophia Herman and Cassandra Harris
• Segment 12: The Role and Duties of Legal Counsel in Child Welfare Proceedings (2 hours), presented by Christopher Wu, Supervising Attorney, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, Administrative Office of the Courts
• Segment 13: Dependency Court Trial Advocacy -- Overview (2 hours), presented by Marvin Ventrell, President and CEO, National Association of Counsel for Children — Handout
• Segment 14: Dependency Court Trial Advocacy -- Special Issues (2 hours), presented by John E.B. Myers, Professor of Law, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law — Handout