The Conversations podcast features informal discussions with experts focused on key topics in child welfare. Each episode offers education and practice tips designed to inform and support judges, attorneys, and others who serve Texas children, youth, and families experiencing the child welfare system. While episodes are geared towards judicial and legal audiences, they are available to anyone who may be interested. Podcast episodes and accompanying resources are linked below.
Episode 1: Introduction to the CCC
In this inaugural episode of Children's Commission Conversations, Executive Director Jamie Bernstein introduces the work of the Children's Commission and highlights available resources.
Resources:
All resources referenced in this episode can be found on the Children's Commission website.
Episode 2: Pre-Petition Advocacy in Child Welfare Cases
Attorney Cindy Dyar joins us to talk about the impact of pre-petition advocacy on the parent client and on the family, and shares practice tips for parent attorneys taking pre-petition cases.
Guest Bio:
Cindy Dyar is a managing attorney at Texas Legal Services Center, where she oversees the Family Helpline and Kincare Project. Before joining TLSC, she directed the Family Defense Project at Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, which represents indigent families in all stages of DFPS intervention with a focus on pre-petition representation. Cindy is TBLS Board Certified in Child Welfare Law and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a Darrow Scholar and a student in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic.
Resources:
Episode 3: Preserving Sibling Connections in Child Welfare Cases
In this conversation, Professor Diane Sumoski, discusses the positive impact of keeping siblings connected at all stages of a case and related best practices for attorneys ad litems.
Guest Bio:
Ms. Sumoski is a Clinical Professor of Law and the Director and Supervising Attorney of the Child Advocacy Clinic at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University. She received her B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, and her J.D., cum laude, from Cornell Law School. As the Director of the Law School’s Child Advocacy Clinic, she supervises law students in their representation of children in the child welfare system as the children’s guardian and attorney ad litem and in their representation of youth who have aged out of the foster care system. Ms. Sumoski is TBLS Board Certified in Child Welfare Law and has served on the Exam Commission for the Child Welfare Law Board Certification.
Resources:
Foster Care Bill of Rights, Texas Department of Family Protective Services
Additional Resource:
Sibling Relationships are Sacred: Benefits of Sibling Placement and Contact, American Bar Association
