Donald N. Duquette | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | 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 |
Academic background | |
Education | B.A. in Social Science Juris Doctor |
Alma mater | Michigan State University University of Michigan Law School |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Michigan Law School |
Donald N. Duquette is an American child 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.
Duquette completed his undergraduate studies in social science,majoring in sociology,psychology,and social work from Michigan State University in 1969. In 1974,he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. [1]
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]
From 1981 to 1989 Duquette was elected four times to member of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Democrat). [11]
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]
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]
Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as "any human being below the age of eighteen years,unless under the law applicable to the child,majority is attained earlier." Children's rights includes their right to association with both parents,human identity as well as the basic needs for physical protection,food,universal state-paid education,health care,and criminal laws appropriate for the age and development of the child,equal protection of the child's civil rights,and freedom from discrimination on the basis of the child's race,gender,sexual orientation,gender identity,national origin,religion,disability,color,ethnicity,or other characteristics.
Child advocacy refers to a range of individuals,professionals and advocacy organizations who speak out on the best interests of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically seeks to protect children's rights which may be abridged or abused in a number of areas.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is a national association in the United States that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. CASA are volunteers from the community who complete training that has been provided by the state or local CASA office. They are appointed by a judge,and their role is to gather information and make recommendations in the best interest of the child,keeping the child's personal wishes in mind.
Robert ("Bob") Fellmeth is an American lawyer. He is a tenured Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law,holder of the Price Chair in Public Interest Law,and executive director of the Center for Public Interest Law and the Children's Advocacy Institute.
Child abuse is physical,sexual,emotional and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child,especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to act by a parent or a caregiver that results in actual or potential wrongful harm to a child and can occur in a child's home,or in organizations,schools,or communities the child interacts with.
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University,a private research university. The law school is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law is considered part of the T14,an unofficial designation in the legal community as the best 14 law schools in the United States.
Suellyn Scarnecchia is a clinical law professor at the University of Michigan. She previously served as the general counsel and vice president at the University of Michigan from 2008 to 2012. From 2003 to 2008 she was the dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law,the first woman to fill that position.
Child protective services (CPS) is the name of an agency in many states of the United States responsible for providing child protection,which includes responding to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names,often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices,such as department of children and family services (DCFS). CPS is also sometimes known by the name of department of social services,though these terms more often have a broader meaning.
Michael Wishnie is a Clinical Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
Stephen Wizner is the William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He also has a Special Appointment as the Sackler Professor of Law at Tel Aviv University.
Bet Tzedek is an American non-profit human and poverty rights organization based in Los Angeles,California.
Bridget Mary McCormack is an American lawyer,professor,and retired justice. She served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 2013 to 2022,first as an associate justice,and as chief justice from 2019 to 2022. Previously she was a professor at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor,where she taught criminal law and legal ethics and oversaw the law school's clinical programs as associate dean of clinical affairs. Her academic work focused on practical experience in legal education. McCormack launched and worked in a pediatric advocacy law clinic focusing on children with health problems,and a domestic violence clinic. She retired from the Supreme Court at the end of 2022 and became President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Arbitration Association in February 2023.
Gladys Carrión is an Adjunct Research Scholar with Columbia University's Justice Lab. She was the Commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS) until 2017 and a nationally recognized advocate for improving child well-being.
Institutional abuse is the maltreatment of a person from a system of power. This can range from acts similar to home-based child abuse,such as neglect,physical and sexual abuse,and hunger,to the effects of assistance programs working below acceptable service standards,or relying on harsh or unfair ways to modify behavior. Institutional abuse occurs within emergency care facilities such as foster homes,group homes,kinship care homes,and pre-adoptive homes. Children who are placed in this type of out of home care are typically in the custody of the state. The maltreatment is usually caused by an employee of the facility.
The Legal Aid Justice Center is a Virginia based non-profit organization which provides legal services and advocacy to low income individuals. It was founded in 1967 when its Charlottesville office was opened. It has three other offices,in Falls Church,Petersburg,and Richmond.
Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD) was from 1983 to 2017 an American nonprofit membership organization that worked to stop child abuse and neglect based on religious beliefs,cultural traditions,and quackery. CHILD opposed religious exemptions from child health and safety laws. These exemptions have been used as a defense in criminal cases when parents have withheld lifesaving medical care on religious grounds. These exemptions also have discouraged reporting and investigation of religion-based medical neglect of children and spawned many outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and deaths. CHILD publicized the ideological abuse and neglect of children,lobbied for equal protection laws for children,and filed lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs in related cases.
A children's ombudsman,children's commissioner,youth commissioner,child advocate,children's commission,youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of children and young people,either in society at large,or in specific categories such as children in contact with the care system. The agencies usually have a substantial degree of independence from the executive,the term is often used differently from the original meaning of ombudsman,it is often an umbrella term,often used as a translation convention or national human rights institutions,dealing with individual complaints,intervening with other public authorities,conducting research,and –where their mandate permits them to engage in advocacy –generally promoting children's rights in public policy,law and practice. The first children's commissioner was established in Norway in 1981. The creation of such institutions has been promoted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child,and,from 1990 onwards,by the Council of Europe.
In many parts of the world,mandated reporters are people who have regular contact with vulnerable people such as children,disabled persons,and senior citizens,and are therefore legally required to ensure a report is made when abuse is observed or suspected. Specific details vary across jurisdictions—the abuse that must be reported may include neglect,or financial,physical,sexual,or other types of abuse. Mandated reporters may include paid or unpaid people who have assumed full or intermittent responsibility for the care of a child,dependent adult,or elder.
Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers,Inc. (LADL) is a non-profit organization that represents parents in juvenile dependency proceedings in Los Angeles County. A dependency hearing is a court proceeding involving a child,typically in cases of parental abuse or neglect. The organization consists of five separate law firms and an executive office that is headed by Dennis Smeal.
Hendrika Bestebreurtje Cantwell is a German-born American retired physician,professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver,advocate for abused and neglected children,and parenting educator. She was one of the first physicians in the United States to work for a child protection agency,serving with the Denver Department of Social Services from 1975 to 1989. Her work there brought her in contact with an estimated 30,000 cases of suspected child abuse and she testified as an expert witness in thousands of court cases. An author of peer-reviewed journal articles,book chapters,and teaching manuals on the detection and treatment of child abuse,she has also conducted workshops and training programs for professionals throughout Colorado. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1990.
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