by Mary Leigh Martin, Esq.
THE CHILDREN’S CORNER II
Specializing in an Area of Need:
Child Welfare Law Certification for Vermont Attorneys
An interview with Leslie Hanafin, Esq., Juvenile Contract Counsel, Vermont Defender General and
Pamela A. Marsh, Esq., Marsh & Wagner, P.C., Contract Juvenile Public Defender, Vermont Defender General
Less than a handful of Vermont attorneys
are certified as Child Welfare Law Specialists. The Child Welfare Law Certification, offered by the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC),1 aims to improve
the practice of juvenile law and establish juvenile law as a recognized legal specialty.
The certification is modeled after physician
board certification and is accredited by the
American Bar Association. Presently in Vermont, only two practicing attorneys are
certified as Child Welfare Law Specialists:
Leslie Hanafin and Pamela Marsh.2 Attorney Hanafin has practiced juvenile law for
sixteen years and obtained her certification
in September of 2014. Attorney Marsh has
practiced law for thirty-five years and has
held her certification since 2012. This interview explains what this prestigious certification is and what motivated these two attorneys to pursue it.
Mary Martin: While a student at VLS,
and later after law school, I worked on child
welfare issues at the Court Administrator’s
Office. There I learned how complex and
multi-disciplinary this area of the law is, yet
how rewarding it can be. What motivated
to you to obtain the certification?
Leslie Hanafin: I had practiced juvenile
law for sixteen years and was motivated
on multiple levels. First, I wanted to elevate my level of knowledge and practice. I
also wanted to raise the national status of
Vermont juvenile law practitioners. Lastly,
I wanted to have the Vermont bar recognize that child welfare law is a discrete and
important practice of law that is worthy of
specialization recognition.
Pam Marsh: I had been working in this
field since 1985, representing parents and
children. I had attended conferences and
obtained CLEs, but professionally, for myself, I wanted to obtain the certification because I had devoted so much of my practice
to serving children and families. I hoped to
use it to be a mentor to other juvenile attorneys and for expanding my practice to
do private juvenile cases outside of Addison County.
MM: What are the advantages of obtaining the certification?
www.vtbar.org
LH: The advantage of obtaining the certification is that it elevates juvenile or child
welfare law’s stature with the Vermont bar.
It gives me a tremendous sense of professional achievement. Certification helps
people recognize your specialization and
field questions to you.
PM: This certification is a really good way
for younger attorneys to fill in blanks on areas they have not been trained in and to
develop skills needed for handling all aspects of a juvenile case. The quality of representation of parents and children is really
important.
MM: Is there a shortage of juvenile attorneys in Vermont?
LH: There is a shortage of good juvenile
attorneys in our state. In practice, juvenile
law is quite unique in that substantive and
procedural practice is only part of the discipline.
PM: There is a shortage of juvenile attorneys taking contracts with the Defender General’s Office. There is a lot of pressure on current juvenile attorneys and they
are spread too thin. The Defender General
cut the Family Support Program that provided social workers to work with parents
because of budget rescissions. Juvenile
attorneys often have to pick up the social
work pieces too because parents cannot
find housing, get into treatment, and follow their case plans without support. Children and families are short-changed. In addition, the huge upswing in abuse and neglect cases over the last year, mostly related to parental substance abuse and mental health issues, has resulte [