Vermont H. 193: An act relating to liability for damage to customer-owned, underground electric service lines

Bill Text

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H.193 1
Introduced by Representatives Bluemle of Burlington, Christie of Hartford, 2
Garofano of Essex, and Rachelson of Burlington 3
Referred to Committee on 4
Date: 5
Subject: Judiciary; child abuse and neglect; proceedings; legal representation 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create a 7
working group to design a system of child and parent legal representation to 8
assist both parents and children in CHINS proceedings. 9
An act relating to a child and parent legal representation working group 10
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11
Sec. 1. CHILD PROTECTION; PROCEEDINGS; LEGAL 12
REPRESENTATION; WORKING GROUP; REPORT 13
(a) Creation. There is created the Child and Parent Legal Representation 14
Working Group to design and propose an interdisciplinary model of legal 15
representation for children, parents, custodians, and legal guardians involved 16
in the child protections system. 17
(b) Membership. The Working Group shall be composed of the following 18
members: 19
(1) the Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court or designee; 20

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(2) two current members of the House of Representatives, not all from 1
the same political party, who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House; 2
(3) two current members of the Senate, not all from the same political 3
party, who shall be appointed by the Committee on Committees; 4
(4) the Defender General or designee; 5
(5) the Commissioner for Children and Families or designee; 6
(6) the Child, Youth, and Family Advocate or designee; 7
(7) a representative from Voices for Vermont’s Children; 8
(8) a representative from the Vermont Parent Representation Center; and 9
(9) an individual with lived experience in Vermont’s child protection 10
system who was represented by the Office of the Defender General, appointed 11
by the Defender General. 12
(c) Powers and duties. The Working Group shall study and design a 13
system of child and parent legal representation for use in Vermont’s child 14
protection system. The Working Group’s design shall be consistent with the 15
recommendations contained in the Study of CHINS Case Processing in 16
Vermont, authored by National Center for State Courts published in May of 17
2021; caseload recommendations identified by the American Bar Association; 18
and the Children and Youth Services Review’s 2020 study entitled 19
Understanding the Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental 20

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Representation in Child Welfare. The Working Group’s design study shall 1
focus on the following: 2
(1) identifying the appropriation to the Office of Defender General for 3
the representation of parents and children in child protection proceedings; 4
(2) the average Vermont compensation of: 5
(A) attorneys employed by, or contracted with, the Attorney General, 6
Defender General, or a State’s Attorney office to represent children and 7
parents in CHINS proceedings; and 8
(B) social workers employed by the Department for Children and 9
Families and contracted social workers with the Defender General; 10
(3) anticipated costs to provide legal representation for child abuse and 11
neglect substantiation appeals in CHINS cases; 12
(4) recommended compensation levels for attorney and social service 13
personnel who represent parents and children in the child protection system; 14
(5) estimated federal funds that can be leveraged to support 15
interdisciplinary legal representation in the child protection system; 16
(6) not less than one recommended structure for the administration and 17
operation of interdisciplinary legal representation in the child protection 18
system; and 19

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(7) the number of children under State custody who are eligible for Title 1
IV-E funding and the percentage of those children represented by the Defender 2
General. 3
(d) Assistance. The Working Group shall have the administrative, 4
technical, and legal assistance of the Office of Court Administrator. The 5
Working Group may also consult and seek assistance from child protection 6
experts it deems necessary, including the American Bar Association Center on 7
Children and the Law and the New York City Center on Family 8
Representation. 9
(e) Report. On or before December 15, 2025, the Working Group shall 10
provide a written report to the Senate Committees on Health and Welfare and 11
on Judiciary and the House Committees on Human Services and on Judiciary. 12
The report shall include: 13
(1) a proposal for administrative programs providing an interdisciplinary 14
approach to effective legal representation for both children and parents 15
involved in the child protection system that are separate from the system of 16
criminal defense provided in CHINS proceedings;