Title
Juvenile Law | Federally Funded Dependency Representation Program
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Summary
Beginning with the Budget Act of 2019, increased federal funds have been made available to support court-appointed dependency counsel representing children and parents at every stage of a dependency proceeding. This funding became available with a change to the federal Child Welfare Policy Manual, which now permits claiming federal foster care dollars (title IV-E funds) for attorneys to provide legal representation to a title IV-E-eligible child in foster care or to the child’s parents. Over the past year, Judicial Council staff have worked to execute a contract with the California Department of Social Services to pass these funds through to dependency representation providers and have entered into contracts with 60 providers in 29 courts to allow these funds to be used to improve the quality of representation for families and children in child welfare proceedings.