State Funding to Help Parents in Custody Cases Finally Reaches Lewis County

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Starting this summer, Lewis County parents fighting for custody of their children will have access to legal resources created to help kids avoid long-term stays in foster care.

The Parents Representation Program will launch July 1 at the Lewis County Juvenile Court, completing the years-long phase-in of the program to every county in Washington. It provides attorneys and social workers to needy parents struggling to navigate the court system and meet the requirements to retain their parental rights.

The program originated when the state realized it was putting far more resources into pursuing cases against parents than in seeking to help them hold onto their rights. 

“There were equal justice problems,” said Joanne Moore, director of the Washington State Office of Public Defense. Moore has been working with Lewis County to get the program ready for implementation. “There were situations where a parent could do better in rehabilitating their lives and having their children return ... but they weren't getting enough of the legal advice and representation that they needed to be able to do that. The goal of child welfare is to return children safely to their parents as much as possible.”

PRP launched with a pilot program in 2000 and has gradually spread into counties across the state. As of late 2017, 34 of Washington’s 39 counties were part of the program. The rest, including Lewis County, will be on board by July.

The program’s expansion was secured in the two-year budget passed last summer and sponsored by Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia. 

“This has been a long term priority,” Braun told The Chronicle.

He admitted some initial skepticism at expanding another government program, but after looking at the Parents Representation Program’s results in the counties where it’s been implemented, he realized the importance of introducing it statewide.

“As we work through reuniting families, it's important that the parents have representation,” he said. “What it leads to is a quicker, often more amicable (resolution). Quickness is the key here. The longer these drag out, the less chance you have of long-term success.”

Data backs up that claim, Moore said. A 2010 study found that children in counties that have the program are reunified with their parents 11 percent more often and adopted at a rate 83 percent greater than counties without the resource. PRP also leads to faster outcomes, with reunifications occurring one month sooner on average and adoptions and guardianships coming a full year ahead of normal timelines.

“[Reunions] have gone up significantly, and the case resolution has really shortened,” Moore said. “Another aspect of this is that kids aren't in foster care as long, and that's a really positive thing.”

Prior to the program’s rollout, cases were often delayed as overworked attorneys struggled to keep up with their caseloads. The bolstering of state resources has helped with that, Moore said. Attorneys in the program are limited to 80 open cases and given practice standards. 

In Lewis County, Moore expects to see two full-time attorneys and a part-time social worker making up the program when it launches, possibly reinforced by part-time attorneys. It will be funded at $295,000 a year in the county. Once it’s up and running, the program’s role will be a simple one.

“It's making sure that the parent knows what they have to do, and that they're not blocked from doing it,” Moore said.