Child advocate, clinical law professor, author, and academic
Awards
Ernie Moore Justice for Children Award, Governor’s Task Force (Michigan) on Child Abuse and Neglect Lifetime Achievement Award, National Association of Counsel for Children
Donald N. Duquette is an Americanchild advocate,clinical law professor,author,and academic. He is a Clinical Professor of Law Emeritus and the Founding Director Emeritus of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School.[1] He is most known for his contributions to the area of child advocacy and child welfare and has been a recipient of numerous awards,including the Michigan Governor's Task Force on Children's Justice Ernie Moore Justice for Children Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Counsel for Children.[2]
He has authored peer-reviewed articles that cover topics including child abuse and neglect,[3][4] the role of the children's lawyer,characteristics of attorneys who represent children in child welfare cases,[5]child protection,[6] and legal representation of children.
In 1975,following law school graduation,he began his academic career as an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development,College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. In 1976,he became an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. Later,he was promoted to Clinical Professor of Law. He retired in 2016 and is currently a Clinical Professor of Law Emeritus and Founding Director Emeritus of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic.[1]
From 1979 to 1989,Duquette was co-director of the University of Michigan's Interdisciplinary Project on Child Abuse and Neglect,a training,service,and research project including Schools of Law and Social Work,and Medical School Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry.[7]
The Child Advocacy Law Clinic,which Duquette founded in 1976,[1][8] is the first such clinical law program focused on matters related to child abuse and neglect. As the Founding Director,he oversaw the organization and administration of the clinic,taught companion simulations and seminars on topics such as trial advocacy,negotiation,interviewing,and child abuse and neglect law and policy,and supervised student attorneys in preparing and trying actual cases.[9] In this clinic,law students represented children,parents,or the government agency in separate Michigan counties,bringing or defending child protection or termination of parental rights cases in court. Typically each student team was assigned a variety of child welfare cases,providing a comprehensive understanding of the different perspectives and concerns of each legal role.[10]
Community service
From 1981 to 1989 Duquette was elected four times to member of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Democrat).[11]
Scholarship
Duquette's research interests encompass aspects of child advocacy and child welfare law and practice. In his first book,Advocating for the Child in Protection Proceedings:A Handbook for Lawyers and Court Appointed Special Advocates,he proposed the first nationwide evaluation of child representation,which was subsequently mandated by the United States Congress.[12] Between 1994 and 1998,he collaborated with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation on their Families for Kids Initiative intended to reduce the number of children entering foster care and improve the experience of children who entered care. As part of the Clinton administration's Adoption 2000 Project,he served as a Legal Consultant to the U.S. Children's Bureau (1997–98) where he managed an expert work group convened by the Bureau. He co-drafted the final report,Guidelines for Public Policy and State Legislation Governing Permanence for Children (1999).[13]
In a contribution to the child welfare field,Duquette initiated and co-directed a project with the National Association of Counsel for Children,which defined a legal specialty in child welfare law and established a national certification in that specialty approved by the American Bar Association.[14] He was the principal editor of the first three editions of the book,Child Welfare Law and Practice:Representing Children,Parents,and State Agencies in Abuse,Neglect,and Dependency Cases.[15]
National Quality Improvement Center for Child Representation in Child Welfare Cases
From 2009 to 2016,Duquette directed the National Quality Improvement Center for Child Representation in Child Welfare Cases (QIC-ChildRep),a seven-year program funded by the US Children's Bureau. The QIC-ChildRep evaluated the state of legal child representation nationwide and developed a best practice model. Random-assignment empirical research demonstrated that the QIC Model improved a child's legal representation. The findings of this project provide empirical evidence on the legal representation of children which is reported in Children's Justice:How to Improve Legal Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System.Children's Justice recommends ways to improve the legal representation of children in America's child welfare system.[16][17]
Awards and honors
1998 –Adoption Activist Award,the North American Council on Adoptable Children [2]
2012 –Ernie Moore Justice for Children Award,Governor's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect.[8]
2015 –Lifetime Achievement Award,National Association of Counsel for Children[18]
Bibliography
Books
Advocating for the Child in Protection Proceedings:A Handbook for Lawyers and Court Appointed Special Advocates (1998) ISBN9780669214659
Child Welfare Law and Practice Representing Children, Parents, and State Agencies in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Cases (2005) ISBN9781938614552
Duquette, D. N., & Haralambie, A. M. (2010). Child welfare law and practice: Representing children, parents, and state agencies in abuse, neglect, and dependency cases. (No Title).
Duquette, D. N., Haralambie, A. M., & Sankaran, V. S. (2016). Child welfare law and practice: Representing children, parents, and state agencies in abuse, neglect, and dependency cases. (No Title).
Children's Justice: How to Improve Legal Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System (2016) ISBN9781634257572
Articles
Duquette, Donald N.; Ramsey, Sarah H. (January 1986). "Using lay volunteers to represent children in child protection court proceedings". Child Abuse & Neglect. 10 (3): 293–308. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(86)90005-0. PMID3742276.
Duquette, Donald (1997). "Developing a Child Advocacy Law Clinic: A Law School Clinical Legal Education Opportunity Authors". University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. 31 (1): 1–32. doi:10.36646/mjlr.31.1.developing.
Duquette, Donald; Danzinger, Sandra; Abbey, Joan; Seefeldt, Kristin (1997). "We Know Better Than We Do: A Policy Framework for Child Welfare Reform". University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. 31 (1): 93–157. doi:10.36646/mjlr.31.1.we.
↑Duquette, Donald; Ramsey, Sarah (2025). "Representation of Children in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases: An Empirical Look at What Constitutes Effective Representation". University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. 20 (2): 341–408. doi:10.36646/mjlr.20.2.representation. OCLC11008746026.[non-primary source needed]
↑Orlebeke, Britany; Zinn, Andrew; Duquette, Donald N.; Zhou, Xiaomeng (2015). "Characteristics of Attorneys Representing Children in Child Welfare Cases". Family Law Quarterly. 49 (3): 477–507. JSTOR24576186.[non-primary source needed]
↑Duquette, Donald N.; Jones, Carolyn Okell (January 1979). "Interdisciplinary education of lawyers and social workers as advocates for abused children and their families". Child Abuse & Neglect. 3 (1): 137–143. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(79)90023-1.[non-primary source needed]
↑Duquette, Donald (1997). "Developing a Child Advocacy Law Clinic: A Law School Clinical Legal Education Opportunity Authors". University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. 31 (1): 1–32. doi:10.36646/mjlr.31.1.developing.[non-primary source needed]
↑Duquette, Donald N. (1999). Guidelines for Public Policy and State Legislation Governing Permanence for Children. At head of title :Adoption 2002: The President's initiative on adoption and foster care. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau. hdl:2027/mdp.39015050476939. OCLC44670131. OL4781680W.[non-primary source needed]
↑Child Welfare Law and Practice: Representing Children, Parents, and State Agencies in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Cases. Bradford Publishing Company. 2005. ISBN978-1-932779-14-1.[pageneeded]
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