TCBA SPOTLIGHT
In 2000, Tulsa Lawyers for Children (“TLC”) was incorporated to ensure legal services for Tulsa County’s abused and neglected children involved in child welfare cases when conflicts prevent representation by the Tulsa County Office of the Public Defender. Child welfare cases, also referred to as deprived cases, are a niche arena of legal procedures designed with the intent to “provide the foundation and process for state intervention into the parent-child relationship whenever the circumstances of a family threaten the safety of a child and to properly balance the interests of the [parents, child, and state].” 10A O.S. § 1-1-102(B). Deprived cases are designed to react to allegations of abuse and neglect, including substance abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and medical neglect, and when possible provide rehabilitative services to assist in the safe reunification of families. When a deprived case is initiated, the children involved are guaranteed legal representation. In Oklahoma, an expressed interest state, attorneys for children are required to maintain as normalized an attorney-client relationship as possible and advocate for the child’s expressed wishes and goals. While there are nuanced positions in every case, advocacy generally aims to achieve the client’s preferred permanency plan, i.e. reunification with family, guardianship, adoption, or planned alternative placement (also referred to as aging out of custody). In situations where the child lacks competency to direct an attorney’s representation, attorneys for children are statutorily required to substitute their judgment for the child based on objective criteria and advocate for a position which serves the best interest of the child.
cases. However, conflicts in representation can arise when there are pending criminal matters against parents who are represented by an assistant public defender or, because we are an expressed interest state, when siblings disagree and desire different legal outcomes in their case. These conflicts require the assistant public defender withdraw from representation, which leaves a child without legal representation. TLC fills this gap. When an assistant public defender withdraws from representation, the judges of the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice appoint TLC. In turn, TLC assigns a staff attorney to immediately represent the interests of the child pending assignment of the client to a volunteer attorney who donates their time and skills to represent children. TLC recruits, trains, and mentors these volunteer attorneys, asking them to meet with their clients monthly, to advise and counsel their clients about the legal system and the facts of the case, and to advocate for the clients’ expressed interests in and out of court. In some situations, the underlying case is particularly complicated or the children are placed in homes outside of Tulsa County. When this occurs, staff attorneys remain assigned to the child and continue to provide legal representation.
In 2021, TLC provided legal representation for 272 children, 15.9% of Tulsa County Children involved with Oklahoma Human Services. TLC is exploring opportunities to increase capacity, seeking sufficient funding to hire a third staff attorney, allowing each attorney to be assigned to one of the three primary deprived dockets. There are four deprived dockets in Tulsa County: two general child welfare dockets, one Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) docket, and one In Tulsa County, the Office of the Public Family Treatment Court Docket. The ICWA and general Defender has a department, consisting of four attorneys, child welfare dockets are the largest dockets. Only when representing approximately 1400 children in deprived certain factors exist in a case, including significant 20 Tulsa Lawyer
