1. Representing Social Services Agencies
Aimee will introduce the topic

2. Plan How are the models of representation different?
What type of work should a DSS director expect from the attorney?
What are some of the challenges?
How can a DSS director or administrator best support the legal team?
Aimee will describe the questions we plan to answer today

3. Models of Representation
County Attorney/Asst. County Attorney
Social Services Staff Attorneys
Contract Attorneys
Special County Attorneys for Social Services*
Aimee will briefly identify the four models
* G.S. 108A-16

4. Panelists Jamie Hamlett Alamance Lori Gershon Guilford
County Attorney/Asst. County Attorney
Social Services Staff Attorneys
Contract Attorneys
Special County Attorneys for Social Services*
Lori Gershon Guilford
Jamie Hamlett Alamance
Aimee will introduce the panelists and associate them with the model in their county
Frank Bradshaw Sampson
Images: LinkedIn, The Times-News

5. How are the models of representation different?

6. Describe Your Model Who is your boss? What do you do?
What types of cases are you involved with?
What else are you involved with at the agency?
How is your role different from other attorneys involved with the agency?
Aimee will ask the general question and highlight some of the subquestions. Rather than ask each question separately, each panelist should take a few minutes to describe their model, embedding answers to these questions but also offering other information they think is important.
When referring to “other attorneys,” I mean county attorneys, parent attorneys, attorney advocates. The goal is to highlight WHO the client is. This answer is always “the county” legally but Jamie and Lori will have slightly different spins.

7. What Are Some Challenges?
What type of work should a director expect from the attorney?

8. What to Expect? Cases Number of cases/ families per attorney
Types of cases
Staffing cases
Support staff needs
Other Work
Governing board
Personnel
Other?
Aimee will introduce the topics for this question (this slide) but before turning it over to the panelists, she’ll provide some background info about caseloads.

9. ABA Practice Standards
General
Know the law, stay current
Protect and promote the agency’s credibility
Advice and counsel
All legal matters and policy issues
Court preparation, hearings, appeals
Preparation
Timeliness
Thoroughness
Participation
Accuracy
Aimee
ABA Practice Standards, 2004

10. Caseloads Recommendation for agency attorneys
ABA  no more than 60
Wide range of recommendations for child attorneys
NACC  100 active clients
Judicial Council of California  77 cases
Mass/ Public Counsel Services  75 open cases
Pennsylvania  65 cases
QIC-ChildRep study  60 cases
Image:
Aimee

11. Caseloads – 2016 Survey Average number of families per FTE  93
Average number of children per family  1.75
86% of NC attorneys have support staff
Average weekly hours
In court for child welfare:
Preparing for child welfare hearings: 13.38
Drafting orders and filings: 12.11
Advising agency: 8.02
Aimee
Aimee will also talk about the listserv discussion and the range of answers that were provided, highlighting the variation
Stephenson and Moraites, Managing the Unmanageable (2016)

12. What to Expect? Cases Number of cases/ families per attorney
Types of cases
Staffing cases
Support staff needs
Other Work
Governing board
Personnel
Other?
Aimee turns it over to the panel.
It would be great if someone could address
Relationship with board (contrast Jamie v. Frank)
Personnel
Will the attorney help with personnel issues or not (contrast Jamie v Lori)
Will the attorney advise individual employees about legal issues?

13. What Are Some Challenges?
Staff contacts
What are some challenges?

14. Challenges Caseload Complexity of cases Emotional investment
Professional roles
Others?
Aimee will briefly introduce this topic

15. 2016 Survey “Managing the Unmanageable”
Presentation by Angie Stephenson and Robynn Moraites
The number of cases may not be as important as type.
I feel like I am constantly shortchanging my social workers and my cases because I’m pulled in so many different directions.
Aimee will share some of the responses simply to illustrate some of the stresses.
I do the work of at least two attorneys.

16. The work is emotionally consuming…
2016 Survey
The work is emotionally consuming…
…soul-killing…
…the emotional trauma from dealing with the most serious cases in child welfare has begun to take its toll on me. I think of families and children and their circumstances often when I’m away from work and I often wake up in the middle of the night with thoughts of a certain child.

17. Professional Role Where is the line between social work and law?
DSS director or staff asks the attorney to file a petition. The attorney believes the case isn’t ready.
Staff contacts attorney for advice on a case – “what should we do?”
Attorney reviews petitions, orders, and reports prepared by staff and finds them lacking.
Aimee introduces this stressor
Image: cpawilmingtonnc.org

18. Challenges Caseload Complexity of cases Emotional investment
Professional roles
Others?
Aimee turns it back over to the panel

19. What Are Some Challenges?
This is all panel – no prompts!
How can a director support the legal team?

20. Questions?