Vermont H 797: An act relating to student athlete compensation

Bill Text

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H.797 1
Introduced by Representatives Christie of Hartford, Burrows of West Windsor, 2
and Rachelson of Burlington 3
Referred to Committee on 4
Date: 5
Subject: Children in need of care or supervision; interdisciplinary legal 6
representation program; Defender General’s Citizens Advisory Board 7
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to require the 8
Defender General to establish an interdisciplinary legal representation program 9
for children and families dedicated to prepetition and postpetition 10
representation and advocacy for children and families involved with 11
substantiations of abuse and neglect and petitions filed pursuant to such 12
substantiations; and to require the Defender General to establish the Defender 13
General’s Citizens Advisory Board for the purpose of evaluating and 14
improving the interdisciplinary legal representation system through the review 15
of policies, practices, procedures, and training to evaluate how effectively the 16
Office of the Defender General is discharging its responsibilities. 17
An act relating to an interdisciplinary model of legal representation for 18
children and families involved in proceedings related to child abuse or neglect 19

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It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 1
Sec. 1. FINDINGS 2
The General Assembly finds: 3
(1) Multiple large-scale studies and government evaluations in the 4
United States show that implementing an interdisciplinary model of legal 5
representation for children and families involved in proceedings related to 6
child abuse or neglect leads to improved outcomes, faster reunification, greater 7
cost savings, and preservation of child safety and family stability. 8
(2) Empirical findings show that children spend up to four months less 9
time in foster care and are reunified with families earlier with the use of such a 10
model. Annual government cost savings are estimated at $40 million in 11
reduced foster care days and earlier permanency decisions. Families with 12
complex needs experience greater stability, lower rates of reinvolvement in the 13
child welfare system, and more equitable outcomes across racial and ability 14
lines. Further, these models do not increase subsequent child maltreatment 15
rates. Cases close more quickly and are more likely to result in kinship 16
placements, thereby preserving family ties and reducing trauma for children. 17
(3) Federal policy now allows the use of child welfare funds for support 18
of interdisciplinary teams for representation. As a result of these findings, in 19
its 2021 Study of CHINS Case Processing in Vermont, the National Center for 20

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State Courts recommended that Vermont adopt a high-quality interdisciplinary 1
legal representation program. 2
(4) An interdisciplinary legal representation program can benefit from, 3
and provide critical information to, the Vermont Supreme Court’s Sequential 4
Intercept Model in its mission of fostering communication across services, 5
while cataloguing service availability and effectiveness. 6
Sec. 2. 33 V.S.A. § 5323 is added to read: 7
§ 5323. INTERDISCIPLINARY LEGAL REPRESENTATION PROGRAM; 8
DEFENDER GENERAL’S CITIZENS ADVISORY BOARD 9
(a) The Defender General shall establish an interdisciplinary legal 10
representation program for children and families dedicated to prepetition and 11
postpetition representation and advocacy for children and families involved 12
with substantiations of abuse and neglect and petitions filed pursuant to this 13
chapter. The program shall do each of the following: 14
(1) Work closely with the Department for Children and Families to 15
leverage federal funding pursuant to Title IV-E of the federal Social Security 16
Act. 17
(2) Appoint, compensate, evaluate, and retain attorneys, social workers, 18
peer advocates, and other staff in a manner that provides for the highest quality 19
of interdisciplinary representation for children, parents, custodians, or 20
guardians whose children are, or are at risk of being placed, in the legal 21

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custody of the Department for Children and Families and who may have 1
substantiations related to their cases. All employees shall be compensated at 2
rates comparable to employees of the Attorney General’s office and State’s 3
Attorneys’ offices. 4
(3) Utilize attorneys and other staff or contractors in an organized team 5
approach in each case as determined by client need. 6
(4) Provide routine mandatory training, supervision, and evaluation 7
relative to specified performance measures. Regarding employees or agencies 8
under contract, work shall be supervised by a contract attorney designated by 9
the Defender General for that purpose to ensure the contractor meets 10
performan