Children’s Representation Program

Overview

The Office of Civil Legal Aid’s (OCLA) Children’s Representation Program (CRP) underwrites and oversees the delivery of standards-based, trauma-informed, and culturally competent attorney representation for children and youth subject to dependency and termination proceedings in Washington State.

Dependency proceedings have a profound impact on many critical aspects of a child’s rights and future. Standards-based legal representation has been shown to result in more timely permanence, stability, and contact with parents and siblings for youth involved in the child welfare system. The Washington State legislature formally recognized these facts in 2021 when it enacted RCW 13.34.212(3) expanding the right to standards-based legal representation to dependent children and youth across the state. The Legislature also found “that Black and Indigenous children and youth and other youth of color are much more likely to be removed from their parents' care, placed into foster care, and remain in the child welfare system longer than White children” and that the “expansion of legal representation actively combats this disproportionality.”¹

OCLA does not directly provide legal services. Instead, subject to both the availability of funds and a phase-in schedule, OCLA contracts with a panel of attorneys to represent children and youth in dependency and termination cases where the child is eight years old or, at any age, upon the filing of a termination of parental rights petition. The CRP must achieve statewide implementation by January 2032. Until the CRP achieves full, statewide implementation of RCW 13.34.212(3), the CRP also contracts with a panel of attorneys to represent children whose parents’ rights have been terminated and who remain dependent six months post-termination, commonly called “legally free” children.

_{1. S.S.H.B 1219, 67th Leg. §1 (2021).}

Standards of Practice

Washington State Supreme Court - Commission on Children in Foster Care, Representation of Children and Youth in Dependency Cases Practice, Caseload, and Training Standards (Rev. Sept. 2022).

Client Voice and Community Impact Initiative

The Children’s Representation Program statute ensures that legal services are standards-based and are informed by involvement of interest holders including youth and young adults impacted by the child welfare system. To ensure youth and young adult-centered engagement, the CRP staffs a Client Voice and Community Impact Coordinator who oversees the program’s interactions with lived-experience experts and ensures alignment with trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate practices. The CRP is committed to ensuring that the Client Voice and Community Impact Initiative is a space for lived experience input where young people can engage in personal and professional development opportunities. 

If you are a young person with lived experience in the foster care system and are interested in learning more, please fill out the interest form here.

Implementation Schedule

The implementation schedule for the CRP's expanded right to counsel program is set by RCW 13.34.212(3)(c). The expanded program will be fully operational in the following counties by the dates listed below:

• July 1, 2022: Cowlitz, Grant, & Lewis.
• Jan. 1, 2023: Benton, Franklin, Kittitas, Walla Walla, & Yakima.
• Jan. 1, 2024: Adams, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Mason, Pacific, Skamania, & Thurston.
• Jan. 1, 2025: Ferry, Pend Oreille, Pierce, Stevens, & Wahkiakum.
• Jan. 1, 2030: Asotin, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Douglas, Garfield, Lincoln, Okanogan, Spokane, & Whitman.
• Jan. 1, 2031: Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, Skagit, Snohomish, & Whatcom.
• Jan. 1, 2032: Island, King, & San Juan.
   

Attorney Feedback

If you have any feedback regarding an attorney under contract with the Children's Representation Program, please complete the appropriate form below and email to Bailey Zydek, Program Director, at bailey.zydek@ocla.wa.gov.

• Feedback Form for Youth.
• Feeback Form for Non-Youth.