On RFD-TV: Michelle Paxton

RFD TV Author

01/19/2022 Added

80 Plays

Description

Michelle Paxton, director of the Children's Justice Law Clinic at the University of Nebraska College of Law, talks about the program live on RFD-TV, Jan. 8, 2022.

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:00.330]Well, rural communities often face a lack of resources compared to
[00:00:04.440]urban areas, including finding access to high quality attorneys.
[00:00:09.120]The University of Nebraska Children's Justice Clinic is now expanding
[00:00:12.990]into rural areas as law students prepare to help fill that void.
[00:00:17.310]Director of the children's justice clinic Professor Michelle Paxton
[00:00:20.970]joins us now with the latest on this effort.
[00:00:23.130]And Michelle, thank you for your time here this morning.
[00:00:25.470]So if you would tell us briefly about the clinic and why it's needed.
[00:00:30.150]Well, Janet, thank you for having me here today.
[00:00:32.549]The reality is there is a shortage of high quality attorneys to
[00:00:36.419]represent children in juvenile court.
[00:00:38.790]Because the traditional law school experience does not provide
[00:00:42.450]students with the training and support they need to be effective.
[00:00:46.770]So at the Children's Justice Clinic, we represent children that have
[00:00:50.850]been abused or neglected through no fault of their own.
[00:00:54.660]And they are thrown into the world of juvenile court, where crucial
[00:01:00.060]decisions about their lives will be made, prompting the need for a
[00:01:04.500]most powerful voice at the table.
[00:01:06.780]So when we have a program like this, it ensures those children have
[00:01:10.470]their own fighter in the corner, who is going to be extremely zealous
[00:01:15.270]for what they want, and what is there in their best interest.
[00:01:18.420]Now the clinic gives our third year law students an opportunity to
[00:01:23.040]represent these real children and youth who are going through the
[00:01:26.220]system and ensures those children have a high quality law student by
[00:01:30.360]their side the entire way.
[00:01:32.280]Michelle, what do these law students learn through the clinic that
[00:01:35.580]they may not get through the traditional law school experience?
[00:01:40.170]That's such a great question.
[00:01:41.580]So parents and children entering the juvenile court system often
[00:01:46.140]experience complicated circumstances such as domestic violence,
[00:01:51.390]substance use, mental illness, cognitive limitations, and the daily
[00:01:57.630]stressors of living in poverty.
[00:02:00.500]To effectively represent these children with such complex needs and
[00:02:04.670]family dynamics, attorneys must have a working knowledge of these
[00:02:08.960]issues, understand how they impact children, parenting and family
[00:02:13.490]functioning, and be able to advocate for plans that ensure child
[00:02:18.050]safety, permanency, and well being.
[00:02:22.220]Now the curriculum at the Children's justice clinic not only focuses
[00:02:26.030]on essential courtroom skills, federal and state child welfare laws,
[00:02:30.260]and the child welfare process, but ensures each of these law students
[00:02:34.370]have a working knowledge of all those complicated issues as well.
[00:02:37.000]Michelle, how is the program working to impact rural Nebraska
[00:02:41.590]communities?
[00:02:42.220]As we know Nebraska has a vast area that is definitely rural.
[00:02:48.580]Absolutely. The success that we found here in Lancaster County with
[00:02:52.570]the Children's Justice Clinic, prompted us to expand the program to
[00:02:57.190]the rural communities you mentioned who desperately need attorneys to
[00:03:00.790]be effective advocates in juvenile court.
[00:03:03.970]The sad fact is that despite the lower population density of our rural
[00:03:08.620]counties, over 60% of the petitions filed for abuse or neglect
[00:03:14.170]originate in those parts of the state.
[00:03:16.690]And to make matters worse, currently, 12 of our Nebraska 93 counties
[00:03:21.580]have no attorneys at all.
[00:03:23.800]So by expanding this program, our goal is to increase the availability
[00:03:28.570]and quality of all attorneys interested and willing to represent
[00:03:32.920]children and families in juvenile court matters across our state.
[00:03:37.030]All right. Well, Michelle, thank you very much for your insight today.
[00:03:39.880]University of Nebraska Children's Justice Clinic director professor
[00:03:43.300]Michelle Paxton.
[00:03:44.440]Go online to law.unl.edu for additional information.
[00:03:48.430]Thank you, Michelle.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

On RFD-TV: Michelle Paxton

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments