CAI’s Lawsuit Looks to Provide Legal Counsel for Indiana Kids in Welfare Cases

SAN DIEGO (February 12, 2019) – University of San Diego (USD) School of Law Children’s Advocacy Institute’s (CAI) lawsuit was reported on Indianapolis Fox59 this week highlighting that the class action looks to provide legal counsel for Indiana kids involved in child welfare cases.

According to a class action lawsuit filed in federal court on February 6, 2019, Indiana is violating the constitutional rights of abused and neglected children by failing to provide them with legal representation in dependency proceedings.

According to the article representatives from the Marion County Public Defenders Agency say that if the suit is successful, they would be on board for representing children in future cases.  In addition, the article states that a spokesperson from the Attorney General’s Office said, they are “conducting a review to determine if the state plays a role in this litigation.”

Read the article and watch the televised story on Indianapolis Fox59 here.  To read the Class Action Complaint filed in Indiana click here.

About the Children’s Advocacy Institute

The Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI), founded at the nonprofit University of San Diego School of Law in 1989, is one of the nation's premiere academic, research, and advocacy organizations working to improve the lives of children and youth, with special emphasis on improving the child protection and foster care systems and enhancing resources that are available to youth aging out of foster care.

In its academic component, CAI trains law students and attorneys to be effective child advocates throughout their legal careers. Its Child Advocacy Clinic gives USD Law students three distinct clinical opportunities to advocate on behalf of children and youth, and its Dependency Counsel Training Program provides comprehensive training to licensed attorneys engaged in or contemplating Dependency Court practice.

CAI's research and advocacy component, conducted through its offices in San Diego, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C., seeks to leverage change for children and youth through impact litigation, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and public education. Active primarily at the federal and state levels, CAI's efforts are multi-faceted—comprehensively and successfully embracing all tools of public interest advocacy to improve the lives of children and youth. To support CAI’s work, please visit law.sandiego.edu/caigift.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

Each year, USD educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world.  The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest and taxation.

USD School of Law is one of the 84 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates.  The law school's faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 36th nationally among U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact and 29th nationally in past-year faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.