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Extended Agenda:
All MCLE credit allocations are pending.
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Monday, September 30, 2024
7:00am - 8:30am: Registration | Location: Lobby
8:00am - 8:30am: Breakfast & Networking | Location: Senator Alex Ceccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
8:30am - 9:00am: Land Acknowledgement and Welcome | Location: Senator Alex Ceccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
9:00am - 10:30am: Plenary 1:
- Angela Tucker | The Intersection of Transracial Adoption & Racial (in)Justice
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Location: Senator Alex Ceccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
Presenter: Angela Tucker
Description: Many transracial adoptions occur without a deep examination of classism and racism, which can lead to adoptees being deracinated from their biological family and roots. Through storytelling, Angela shares her experience as a transracial adoptee and the insights she has gained over the last 15 years of experience as a mentor to adoptees, consultant to adoptive families and a cultural commentator.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Ethics: Equity
10:30am - 10:45am: 15-minute Break
10:45am - 12:15pm: Breakout Session 1:
- Child Welfare and White Privilege
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Location: Ballroom A
Presenters: Tonia McClanahan, Chris Page, Michael Rihtarich, & Ashley Albert
Description: An invitation to examine white privilege and how that might impact interactions with families and professionals of color. How centering professional voices of color, with or without lived experience is an appropriate use of privilege, position and power. Attendees should be willing to have bold associations with these voices and experiences, double down on equity in space, without irrational fear of the reflexive negative response seen historically from the status quo. To have a more equitable child welfare system, collaborative energy and intention toward change is a requirement, not a request.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Ethics: Equity
- Navigating Ethical Dilemmas - A Shared, Multi-disciplinary Framework
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Location: Ballroom B
Presenters: Tarena Coleman, Ambrosia Eberhardt, & Erin Gallagher.
Description: Ethical dilemmas can be daunting and isolating. We will introduce and practice a framework that can be utilized as a guide for contractors to navigate these dilemmas when they inevitably arise. We will learn how to consider and weigh the complexities of the professional values and ethics of our multi-disciplinary teams, our contractual obligations, and relevant state laws. This framework is a practice tool that can be used independently and with colleagues to support making sound and comprehensive practice judgements and decisions in our everyday practice that will best support and protect our clients and ourselves.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Ethics
- Understanding the Role of Stress Management and Self-Regulation in Supporting Families Impacted by Child Welfare
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Location: Ballroom C
Presenters: Heather Cantamessa & Laura Vogel.
Description: Help transform stress into strength and support families on their journey to well-being. Using the iconic imagery of the Hulk, we will explore the impacts of toxic stress and how professionals can use effective self-regulation strategies to help support families involved with child welfare. The Hulk’s transformation mirrors the impact of the stress response on the human brain and nervous system, which can lead to overwhelming emotions and behaviors. Attendees will learn to identify the stressors that families face and discover practical strategies that help families “tame the Hulk” within by promoting calm and constructive responses to stress. Join this session learn more about self-regulation techniques for all ages and test out different, tools and toys designed to build self-regulation skills, such as HeartMath, MindFlex, and the Purrble.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Personal Development and Mental Health
- Practice Series Part 1: Overview of Discovery Tools
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Location: Ballroom D
Presenter: Ken Chang.
Description: The essentials of civil discovery tools for public defenders, focused on written discovery and the procedural aspects of depositions. More detailed look on depositions will be covered by Sonja Hardenbrook. This will cover CR 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34 and 36. What roles each of the available civil discovery tools play in your overall discovery plan and trial strategy, and the procedural steps required to effectuate these discovery tools.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
Fundamental written discovery.pptx
request for admission blank.docx
sample rog objections by kc.docx
sample objections to er 904.docx
- Case Law Update
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Location: South Ballroom 200/500
Presenter(s): Marci Comeau & Jeffrey Adams.
Description: In 2023 and 2024, we saw significant developments in dependency and termination caselaw around issues including the Indian Child Welfare Act, the requirement for 30-day shelter care hearings, the definition of a dependent child, the interpretation of the standard for out-of-home placement at the disposition phase, the interpretation of HB 1747 and whether a guardianship is available for purposes of RCW 13.34.180(1)(f), and various evidentiary issues impacting dependency and termination trials. Further, the 2023-2024 legislative session brought about the passage of legislation that substantially impacts dependency and termination practice. Some of this legislation includes ESSB 5908, which changes the eligibility requirements for extended foster care; E2SSB 6068, which obligates the Administrative Office of the Courts to develop a plan for reporting on outcomes related to “relational permanency;” and E2SSB 6109, which requires the court to give “great weight” to the lethality of high-potency synthetic opioids at various stages of the dependency case, including at the shelter care hearing and at the disposition hearing; and much more.
This session will provide an overview and summary of the caselaw that has been decided over the past year, as well as the legislation that went into effect during the 2023-2024 session. This session will also provide a forum for participants to ask questions and engage in discussion about the relevant caselaw and legislative updates.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
- Legal Interest Representation? What's That??
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Location: South Ballrooms 300/400
Presenter: Bailey Zydek.
Description: In today’s legal landscape, even babies may at some point be appointed legal counsel in the course of a dependency. How does a lawyer represent a client too young to state a position? In this presentation, participants will learn the mechanics of rendering this model of representation as well as its history, development, and rationale. After getting oriented to the legal interest model participants will have a chance to put their new knowledge to the test by working through hypotheticals based on common yet challenging legal scenarios that arise while representing children who are unable to direct representation themselves.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
12:15pm - 1:15pm: Lunch | Location: Senator Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
1:15pm - 2:45pm: Plenary 2:
- ABA Resolution 606: The Origin Story of Racism in Child Welfare Law from Washington D.C. to Washington State
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Location: Senator Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
Presenters: Prudence Beidler Carr, Joyce McMillan, & Ashley D. Williams.
Do you know where language like “best interests,” “parental fitness,” and “contrary to the welfare of the child” comes from? Have you ever wondered why foster care funding eligibility is connected to Aid to Dependent Children? Do you know the connection between Brown v. Board of Education and the original architecture of federal foster care? In 2022, the ABA called on all legal professionals to learn about and understand how laws dating back to the country’s founding have led to oversurveillance of and underinvestment in Black families and serve as a root cause of the ongoing disproportionate involvement of Black parents and children within our juvenile and family courts. We invite you to join us in exploring this important history, learning how it has shaped practice in Washington State, and charting where to go next.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Ethics: Equity
2:45pm - 3:30pm: Plenary 2.5:
- ABA Resolution 606: Next Steps
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Location: Senator Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
3:15pm - 3:30pm: 15-minute Break
3:30pm - 5:00pm: Breakout Session 2:
- Centering Client Need: Strategies for Effective Client Communication
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Location: Ballroom B
Presenters: Bailey Zydek, Mira Cardozo, Sahara Cannon & Leah Legee.
Description: This presentation will cover how trauma impacts the development of a secure attorney-client relationship and provide concrete strategies for attorneys to overcome these hurdles. A panel of lived experts will further discuss the significance of trauma-responsive representation in the context of both parent and youth representation.
MCLE Credits: 1.0 Personal Development, 0.5 Ethics
- Race, Patriarchy, and the Law
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Location: Ballroom C
Presenter: Raymond Delos Reyes.
Description: Based on the bell hooks book “Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem,” this workshop will explore how the history of race and patriarchy has impacted Black and brown citizens, the effects this has on how Black and brown parents raise their children, and in turn, how our child welfare system perpetuates classic notions of race and patriarchy. This presentation will call for discussion with the audience on how we as practitioners and/or social workers may implicitly participate in these systems, how we can identify when race and patriarchy present barriers to reunification and how to effectively litigate these issues.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Ethics: Equity
- Practice Series Part 2: Enforcing Discovery
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Location: Ballroom D
Presenter: Ken Chang.
Description: Now that you sent a discovery request, what do you do? What happens if they failed to answer and if they answer with complete non-sense? This will focus on CR 37, as well as CR 26 and CR 11, with some discussions on RCW Chapter 7.21, in enforcing the discovery compliance.
MCLE Credits: Law and Legal Procedure
enforcing civil discovery.pptx
lawless plead motion to strike reply.doc
lawless plead motion to strike pleading.pdf
lawless plead motion to strike and msj states response.pdf
- The Harms of Removal (Infants and Toddlers)
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Location: South Ballrooms 200/500
Presenters: Laura Vogel, Jacob D’Annunzio, & Ambrosia Eberhardt.
Description: The idea of taking young children first and sorting it out later to “avoid” abuse is one of the biggest paradoxes in the history of governmental practice. The child welfare system has historically undervalued the enormous impacts of removal to children, especially infants and toddlers, and has largely failed to recognize that even temporary separation can result in irreparable damage. In 2023, Washington became one of the first states in the nation to statutorily require courts to consider the likely harms a child will experience if removed from their home. This training will introduce the concept of “harm of removal” with a specific focus on infants and toddlers. Attendees will leave the session with an enhanced understanding of the harms that young children experience as a result of forcible family separation and the available tools that support harm of removal arguments and advocacy for families.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
- Advocating for Housing in Dependency Proceedings: Insights from the Washington State Family Defender Appellate Strike Team
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Location: South Ballrooms 300/400
Presenters: Marci Comeau, Christopher Desmond, Connor O’Neil, Elizabeth Halls, Emily Nelson, Jan Trasen, Jodi Backlund, & William Wolf.
Description: The Washington State Family Defender Appellate Strike Team’s mission is to identify specific, targeted issues to be brought before the Court of Appeals and to assist family defense attorneys as we work to create family-friendly case law in dependency, guardianship, and termination of parental rights cases. This session will delve into the team's role in family defense, followed by an in-depth discussion on one of the team’s target issues for 2024: housing assistance. This training will delve into the best legal arguments to compel courts to order the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to provide housing support for parents in dependency proceedings. The session will also provide practical tips and skills around how to create the best record for proceeding with a discretionary review or an appeal.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
Before you file that appeal.pdf
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
7:00am - 8:00am: Guided Yoga Session | Location: South Ballrooms 100/600
8:00am - 8:30am: Breakfast & Networking | Location: Senator Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
- 8:30am - 10:00am: Agency Breakout Sessions
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OCLA
Location: Ballroom A
Parents 4 Parents
Location: Ballroom B
OPD (Social Workers & Attorneys)
Location: Ballroom C
10:00am - 10:30am: Half Hour Break
10:30am - 12:00pm: Plenary 3:
- Public Health Guidance on High-Potency Synthetic Opioids & the Administration of Naloxone
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Location: Senator Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
Presenters: Bob Lutz & Laura Garcia.
Description: According to the CDC, in 2015, synthetic opioids other than methadone (mostly fentanyl) surpassed heroin among drug overdose deaths in the U.S. As of 2020, fentanyl, most illicitly manufactured, was the most common drug detected in fatal drug overdoses across the United States. Similarly, overdose deaths among Washington residents since 2021 reflect the same trend.
This presentation will provide participants an understanding of overdose trends, an appreciation of the lethality associated with illicitly manufactured fentanyl, and knowledge of clinical and public health guidance to address the epidemic. This presentation will also address current guidance on recognizing an opioid overdose, the administration of intranasal naloxone (Narcan), and discuss state and local resources as a part of the training.
MCLE Credits: 1.0 Law and Legal Procedure, 0.5 Nexus Subject APR 11(f)(7)
12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch | Location: Senator Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
1:00pm - 2:30pm: Breakout Session 3:
- Supporting Yourself and Others Through Grief and Loss
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Location: Ballroom A
Presenters: Heather Cantamessa, Joe Terhaar, Dana Gibson, Natalya Kinder, Ross Anderson, Paula Davenport, & Tarena Coleman.
Description: Grief is a deeply prevalent yet often overlooked experience in child welfare cases. This session offers an illuminating and compassionate exploration of the neurobiological response to grief, examining how societal norms, court structures, and systemic dynamics impact both families and professionals within the child welfare system. Led by an expert clinician, participants will gain a scientific understanding of grief and hear from a multidisciplinary panel, including parent leaders, who will share practical strategies for supporting oneself and others through the complexities of grief.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Personal Development and Mental Health
- Ensuring Meaningful QEW Testimony
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Location: Ballroom B
Presenters: Jeffrey Adams, Sonja Ulrich & Nicole Miller.
Description: By the late 1970’s, the United States Congress could no longer ignore the alarmingly high percentage of Native American families that were being broken up by the unwarranted removal of Native American children at the hands of nontribal public and private agencies. Most of these children were destined for placement in non-Indian foster and adoptive homes or other non-Tribal institutions. Such was the seriousness and inescapable reality of this abuse that Congress was compelled to pass the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Regrettably, history has shown that ICWA’s QEW requirement often receives little scrutiny by child welfare practitioners despite the importance of the QEW to making sure that Indian child-welfare determinations are not based on “white, middle-class standards.”
This presentation will introduce participants to the historical antecedents of ICWA, WICWA, and the QEW requirement, the law in Washington State on QEWs (teaser there is little) and a new way to think about the QEW requirement from another jurisdiction, practical lessons from a QEW, including best practices, how, who, when and what to expect. This presentation will also invite audience feedback on a path forward in Washington State QEW practice.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
- Litigating Shelter Care Hearings: Your Client as the Star!
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Location: Ballroom C
Presenters: Marci Comeau & Matt Bjork.
Description: The shelter care hearing is often the most important hearing in a dependency case. Compared to the Department, the parent is often the expert on their children, themselves, and their family circumstances. Focusing the shelter care hearing, and the case presentation, around the parent can be a winning strategy in achieving the parent's goal.
In this training, participants will learn how to uplift the parent's voice as a litigation strategy in a contested shelter care hearing. Participants will learn how to put trust in their clients to "be the architects of their own destinies," and will learn specific, practical tips about how to have the discussion with the parent about the decision to contest or agree at the 72-hour shelter care hearing. Participants will also receive tips on how to prepare a parent for a contested 72-hour shelter care hearing; we will engage in a robust discussion of how to prepare parents for direct and cross-examination, how to address potential criminal liability, how to solicit and locate "good evidence" and witnesses, and how to determine a strategic direction for the 72-hour shelter care hearing.
Participants will also hear from the Office of Public Defense about the tools, services, and technical assistance available to attorneys to effectively litigate a shelter care hearing. Participants will learn about expert services, including types of potential experts that might be useful at a 72-hour shelter care hearing. Participants will also learn about the different types of technical assistance available to contractors from OPD, including case staffing and briefing.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
- Practice Series Part 3: Depositions
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Location: Ballroom D
Presenter: Sonja Hardenbrook.
Description: Sonja Hardenbrook will present on Doing and Defending Effective Depositions based on 20-years as a public defender. The CLE will review the goals of a deposition, logistics & applicable court rules, preparation, organization – the funnel method, ground rules/basics, DOs and DO NOTs, documents & rabbits, objections & turkeys, how to defend a deposition well, and how to collaborate with social workers (if useful in parents rep context). Examples and stories will illustrate course content. There will be a question an answer at the end.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
- GALs: The Bane of Our Existence
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Location: South Ballrooms 200/500
Presenters: David Hunter & Chris Page.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Law and Legal Procedure
- Safety Planning Post 6109
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Note: This breakout has been cancelled but will be its own separate training coming next summer.
Description: Children safety is a broad term that encompasses the physical, mental, and psychosocial wellbeing of children. Understanding how safety is assessed in the context of child welfare and the fentanyl crisis in Washington State is crucial to protecting children from harm while avoiding unnecessary intrusions into family, including forcible child removal. Assessing child safety requires consideration of the overall context of children’s lives, including their history, culture and environment. Existing frameworks are used to gather this information and assess imminent threats to child safety, along with creating safety plans that enhance the capacity of caregivers and safety network to provide protection for their children. These assessments of safety provide courts with current information that guides decision-making in child dependency cases.
2:30pm - 3:00pm: Half Hour Break
3:00pm - 4:30pm: Plenary 4:
- Judge Andrea S. Jarmon: A Perspective from the Bench
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Location: Alex Deccio Ballroom (Rooms C & D)
Presenter: Judge Jarmon.
Description: Judge Jarmon will talk about her experiences as a homeless youth, attorney, and judge. She will discuss how her experiences have impacted her perspective and the way she views things from the bench as well as the importance of the work that parents and youth contractors.
MCLE Credits: 1.5 Professional Development
4:30pm: Conferencing Closing
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If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to either christopher.grande@opd.wa.gov or renee.villa@ocla.wa.gov.