The State of Due Process in the Massachusetts
Juvenile Court: Is there transparency and equity in our
proceedings?
The Massachusetts Bar Association’s Juvenile & Child
Welfare Law Section is excited to present its Seventh Annual Juvenile &
Child Welfare Conference on Friday, June 14 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at the UTEC
Center. This year's conference will focus on state of due process in
Massachusetts Juvenile Courts and transparency and equity in
proceedings. The conference will
challenge practitioners to address systemic inequity. Please join youth
and special needs advocates, court representatives, private-practice attorneys,
and employees of state agencies to discuss important recent decisions and legal
trends in the field of juvenile and child welfare.
This year's keynote speaker will be Tatiana Rodriguez,
founder of Family Matters First (FMF), which strengthens families by providing
legal tools, peer support, advocacy and mutual aid to end the separation of
Black, Brown and low-income families. FMF holds monthly peer support groups,
legal workshops, advocacy meetings, protests, documentary storytelling, surveys
and community partnerships. FMF partners with numerous local organizations,
including Harvard Law School, the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, Boston University’s
Center for Antiracist Research, Mass. General Hospital, JMAC for Families, UPenn Law
School and Rutgers Law School. Rodriguez is a first-generation, Afro-Latina
college graduate in social science. Rodriguez’s firsthand experience with the
foster care system and advocacy groups led her to found FMF in 2020 to organize
other impacted families.
Do not miss this exclusive opportunity to network with colleagues, program
faculty, and the leaders of the juvenile and child welfare bar.
The Massachusetts Bar Association’s Juvenile & Child Welfare Section
Council is proud to announce that the recipient of the Fifth Annual Juvenile
and Child Welfare Award is Maryellen Cuthbert, Esq. Attorney Cuthbert has
spent over four decades in private practice as a tireless fighter for the rights
of indigent youth in both criminal and civil cases. She is truly one of the
Youth Advocacy Division’s “heroes of the bar.”
This conference is approved for 6 YAD credits.
Special pricing of $50 is available for practitioners on the CAFL,
YAD, and Mental Health Litigation Division panels. Call MBA Member Services to
register at (617) 338-0530.
Registration for the conference is required
by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11,
2024.
Faculty:
Hon. Audrey Murillo, Conference Co-chair
Massachusetts Juvenile Court
Hon. Jay Blitzman (ret.), Conference Co-chair
Erica Cushna, Esq., Conference Co-chair
CPCS-Salem, Salem
Patricia A. Johnston, Esq., Conference Co-chair
CPCS-CAFL, Boston
Tatiana Rodriguez , Keynote Speaker
Family Matters First of Boston, Boston
Hon. Kenneth King, Panelist
Middlesex County Juvenile Court, Cambridge
Hon. Gloria Tan, Panelist
Middlesex County Juvenile Court, Cambridge
Josh Dankoff, JD, Panelist
Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Boston
Cristina Freitas, Esq., Panelist
CAFL Training Unit-CPCS Training Department, Lowell
Debbie Freitas, Esq., Panelist
CAFL Training Unit-CPCS Training Department, Lowell
Rebecca Greening, Esq., Panelist
WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, Jamaica Plain
Charles Lerner, Panelist
Massachusetts CASA Association, Boston
Leon Smith, Esq., Panelist
Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Boston
Christian Williams, Esq., Panelist
Harvard Law School-Criminal Justice Institute, Cambridge
Marian Ryan, Esq., Panelist
Middlesex County District Attorney, Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, Woburn