Legal advocacy reimagined . . .
About the PLA/PP National Cohort
Preventive legal advocacy and pre-petition programs play a crucial role in reducing over-reliance on the child welfare system by focusing on early legal intervention and hollistic support for at-risk families and parents facing child protection investigations. These programs address underlying civil legal issues and other barriers impacting family stability before they lead to family separation. By providing legal guidance, social services, and resources to at-risk families, early legal advocacy programs promote family integrity, protect against the trauma of child welfare interventions, and reduce entries into foster care.
The PLA/PP National Cohort is a learning collective that brings existing and emerging early legal advocacy programs and stakeholders together to provide an invaluable opportunity for collaboration and knowledge exchange. Despite new widespread interest in these types of programs, preventive legal advocacy and pre-filing defense remains a relatively new field. By fostering a sense of community among programs, advocates, and community stakeholders, the cohort serves as a free space to explore common practices and share resources, ideas, and information to enhance program impact and further the field of early legal advocacy.
“Sometimes the strangeness of proactive legal work in the area of family preservation feels daunting, and it is very helpful to me to know that others are doing it successfully and effectively.”
– Kristen Foster, Family Advocacy and Support Team Clinic, Arizona
Monthly Meeting Information
Meeting Schedule
Next Meeting: December 17, 2024 (specially set – time TBA)
The Cohort meets via Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EST to explore topics relevant to program design and implementation and the effective practice of early legal advocacy.
Each meeting is recorded and the Cohort maintains an archive of these sessions. If you are interested in viewing these materials, or joining us for our next meeting, please use the form below to join the Cohort and access meeting archives and other program resources.
Meeting Topics
Upcoming Meeting Topic:
CWARE KYR Toolkit Release – Virtual Event
Past Meeting Topics:
- Washington VPA Hotline
- New Rule title IV-E Legal Rep.
- Mandated Reporter Education
- Strength Based Intake Assessment
- Common Funding Sources
- Outcome Measures
- Radical Early Defense
- Know Your Rights Advocacy
- Effective Community Partnerships
- Peer Partner Training and Support
- Family Miranda Efforts
- Hidden Foster Care
- NPRM for Title IV-E Legal Rep.
- Principals of PLA & PP Rep
- New Program Development
- Title IV-e draw down “How To”
Cohort Members by State
Click on a state below to view members from each jurisdiction. To view national partners, click on the National Orgs section.
California
A New Way of Life
Andy Mazingo
Leah Moritz
Ashle Walcott
Casey Family Programs
Justin Lee
Center for Families, Children & the Courts
Marymichael Smrdeli
Melani Snider
Erin Thurston
Children’s Law Center
Tiffani Cortez
Jody Green
Maria Griglio
Kaveh Landsverk
Lucia Murillo
Dependency Advocacy Center
Sara Cook
Katie Joh
Hillary Kushins
East Bay Family Defenders
Eliza Patten
Legal Assistance for Seniors
Kristen Boney
Mariel Kusano
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Arielle Reisman
Meredith Wallis
Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers
Jessie Bridgeman
Pari Lucero
Office of the Public Defender – Orange County
Brian Okamoto
Public Counsel
Sharon Balmer
UC Berkeley School of Law
Addie Gilson
Kyndra Cleveland
Oregon
Juvenile Court Improvement Program
Jayne Cooper
Heidi Strauch
Oregon State Bar Legal Services Program
Keren Farkas
Youth, Rights & Justice
Jennifer Stoller
Liz Kay Williams
Washington
Amara Family FOCUS Program
Bill Jones
Casey Family Programs
Rob Wyman
F.I.R.S.T. Clinic
Taila Ayay
Adam Ballout
Washington State Health Care Authority
Zach Robinson
Arizona
Casey Family Programs
Rob Wyman
Gillespie, Shields & Taylor
DeeAn Gillespie Strub
Maricopa County Office of the Public Advocate
Shannon Burns
Maricopa County Office of Public Defense Services
Kristen Foster
Pima County Public Defender’s Office
Derek Koltunovich
Jean C. Morrill
Nevada
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of Nevada at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form at the bottom of the page to register!
Utah
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of Utah at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Idaho
Administrative Office of the Courts
Teresa Vance
Montana
Child Protection Unit
Brooke Baracker-Taylor
Montana Child Protection Alliance
Denise Johnson
Montana Legal Services
Michelle Weltman
Office of the State Public Defender
Kelly Driscoll
Lisa Woodward
Private Attorney
John Guinn
University of Montana
Fred “Brett” Fisher
Jeff Folsom
Wyoming
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of Wyoming at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Colorado
Colorado Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel
Jill Cohen
Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative
Sheri Danz
Jefferson County Attorney’s Office
Jennifer Mullenbach
Office of Children, Youth and Families
Gretchen Russo
New Mexico
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of New Mexico at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
South Dakota
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of South Dakota at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
North Dakota
Court Improvement Project Taskforce
Heather Traynor
Kansas
Kansas Department for Children and Families
Arielle Erwine
Kansas Legal Services
Shila Estes
Noah Hahs
Marilyn Harp
Will Hartenstein
Jennifer Irwin
Alex Pearsona
Megan Storiem
Anson Tullis
University of Kansas
Stef Sloan
Megan Cizek
Nebraska
Department of Children and Family Services
Michaela Hirschman
Lisa Jurrens
Legal Aid of Nebraska
Patrick Carraher
Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
Nathan Busch
Nebraska Court Improvement Project
Deb VanDyke-Ries
University of Nebraska School of Law
Michelle Paxton
Oklahoma
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma
Aubrie Comp
Gwendolyn Clegg
Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Ronald Baze
Brittnay Hunt-Jassy
Texas
Casey Family Programs
Anne Heiligenstein
Tiffany Roper
Robin Sage
Central Texas Parent Advocacy Group
Michelle Cummings
Foster Care Advocacy Center
Tara Griggs Green
Texas Children’s Commission
Dylan Moench
Texas Legal Services Center
Sarah Bryant
Travis County District Court
Hon. Aurora Martinez Jones
Hon. Leigh Mathews Rodriguez
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Andrew Brown
Texas RoiGrande Legal Aid, Inc.
Cindy Dyer
Illinois
Ascend Justice
Sara Gilloon
Emory Robertson
Elizabeth Newland
Cook County Public Defender
Catherine Diebel
Family Defense Consulting
Diane Redleaf
Legal Aid Chicago
Melissa L. Staas
Leah Yaris
Moran Center for Youth Advocacy
Megan McClung
Iowa
State Pubic Defender
Jeff Wright
Nicole Mundy
Missouri
Jackson County CASA
Claire Terrebonne
Arkansas
ABA Center on Children & the Law
Jey Rajaraman
Louisiana
State Office of Juvenile Justice
Curtis Nelson
Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic – My Community Cares
Emily Aucoin
Mississippi
Department of Child Protection Services
Ta’Shia Gordon
Caroline Johnson
Tennesse
Department of Children’s Services
Sammi Maifair
Kentucky
Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky
Valerie Frost
Minnesota
Blahnik, Prchal & Stoll
Mallory Stoll
Children’s Justice Initiative
Rebecca Vanden Hanen
Health Equity Legal Project
Hannah Burton
Anne Carlson
Hannah Dietrich
Loan Mai
Brittany Metzger
Jessica Ryan
Institute to Transform Child Protection
Joanna Woolman
The ICWA Law Center
Shannon Smith
Wisconsin
Children’s Court Improvement Program
Justin Wolff
Department of Children and Families
Kristie J. Buwalda
University of Wisconsin Law School
Jennifer Binkley
Cary Bloodworth
Indiana
Casey Family Programs
Dan Cowan
Child Advocates
Phyllis Armstrong
Cynthia Booth
Toby Gill
Indiana Health Advocacy Coalition
Kerry Hyatt Bennett
Indiana Public Defender Commission
Julia Stevens
Indian Public Defender Council
Torrin Liddell
Kids’ Voice of Indiana, Inc.
Nicole Goodson
Alabama
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of Alabama at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Georgia
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
Ayanna Jones-Lightsy
Barton Child Law & Policy Center
Melissa Carter
Emilie T. Cook
FLOTE Services
Amber Walden
The Law Office of Arianne E. Mathe’, P.C.
Ari Mathe
The Law Practice of Ivy M Hurt
Ivy Hurt
The Office of Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit
Emma Brown-Bernstein
Renee Cooper
Together With Families
Debora Childs
Sarah Winograd
Wellroot Family Services
Christina Lennon
Janet Walden
Florida
Bay Area Legal Services
David Gray
Casey Family Programs
Jessica Hanak-Coulter
Citrus Family Care Network
Allison Schild
Children’s Board of Hillsborough County
Genet Stewart
Community Law for Families and Children
Octavia Brown
Valentina Villalobos
Cooke Law, PA
Stewart Cooke
Florida Department of Children and Families
April E. Rolle
Florida Department of Public Health
Nathan Scott
Heart Gallery of Tampa
Christy Lee
Jacksonville Center for Children’s Rights
Betsy Dobbins
Bay Area Legal Services, Inc.
Jennifer Hodges
Miami Law Children and Youth Clinic
Alex Cinney
Kele Stewart
NAMI Sarasota and Manatee Counties
Blake Neathery
Sonya Johnson
Office of Regional Counsel – Region 3
Isis Gonzalez
Margaret Julien
Office of Regional Counsel – Region 4
Grace Cambareri
Kristen DeSimone
Parent Defense Council
C. Michael Kelly
South Carolina
Casey Family Programs
Christopher Church
Children’s Law Center
Tina B. Leonard
Cody Lidge
North Carolina
Andrews Law Office (Rowan County)
B. Ashley Andrews
Carolina Parent Defenders
Kaushiki Chowdhury
Pisgah Legal Services
Jaclyn Kiger, JD, MSW
Robin Merrell
Virginia
Court Improvement Project
Jennifer Newman
Legal Aid Justice Center
Fallon Speaker
Washington D.C.
ABA Center on Children and the Law
Prudence Carr
Cathy Krebs
Jey Rajaraman
Children’s Law Center
LaShanda Adams
Jennifer Masi
Lash Consulting, LLC
Karen Lash
Mother’s Outreach Network
Reana May Alcantara
Beverli Wynn Euell
Shezreh KhanMelody Webb
Danielle McCoy
West Virginia
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of West Virginia at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Ohio
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE)
Christina Brown
Ryan Davis
Cuyahoga Office of the Public Defender
Jennifer Simmons
Erie County Public Defender
Doug Clifford
Kelli Jelinger
Office of the Prosecutor, Cuyahoga County
Anthony Beery
Michelle Meyers
The Ridge Project
Heidi Hathaway
Summit County Juvenile Court
Heidi Day Hall
James Warner
Supreme Court of Ohio
Debra Copeland, MS
Wayne County Parent Representation Pilot
Chelsea Wallace
Michigan
Lakeshore Legal Aid
Maryann Bruder
Brittany Tucker
Legal Services of Eastern Michigan
Taylor Karam
Jill Nylander
Legal Services South Central Michigan
Jill Bauer
Michigan School of Social Work
Rick Barinbaum
Neighborhood Defender Services of Detroit
Maya D. Cain
Smart Move Training, LLC
Richard Smart
University of Michigan
Vivek Sankaran
Van Buren County Juvenile Court, Family Division
Veronica Stillson
Maryland
Maryland Family Network
Melissa Rock
Office of the Public Defender
Natasha Khalfani
Hayley Lichterman
Alexa Richardson
Nena Villamar
University of Baltimore School of Law
Shanta Trivedi
Delaware
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of Delaware at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Pennsylvania
HELP MLP
Mackenzie Libbey
New Jersey
Legal Services of New Jersey
Sylvia Thomas
Office of the Public Defender
Robin Veasey
New York
Action Research
Emily Rodriguez
Bronx Defenders
Miriam Mack
Brooklyn Defender Services
Jessica Marcus
Center for Family Representation
Malena Arnaud
Ysmerlyn Baez
Shayne Larkin
Columbia Law School
Josh Gupta-Kegan
CUNY School of Law
Julia Hernandez
Tarek Ismail
Legal Services of the Hudson Valley
Tornisha Destin
Joanne Sirotkin
Judicial Commission on Justice for Children
Kristen Conklin
Narrowing the Front Door (NYC)
Angela Burton
NYU School of Law
Christine Gottlieb
Connecticut
Office of the Chief Public Defender
Joshua Mitchtom
Rhode Island
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of Rhode Island at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Massachusetts
Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts
Jessica Berry
Committee for Public Counsel Services
Andrew Don
Community Legal Aid
Laura Hancock Barry
Madeline Blanchette
Sophie Chambers
Sara Conroy
Brianda Miranda
Corinne Ryan
Child Welfare Court Improvement Project
Sally Padden
Greater Boston Legal Services
Alyssa Rao
Harvard Law School
Rebecca Greening
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
Jacob Chin
Elizabeth Tuttle Newman
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Susan Elsen
MetroWest Legal Services
Kirsten Root
Elizabeth A. Soule
Northeast Legal Aid
Maureen Lynch
Lorainee Medrano
Northeaster Univ. School of Criminology
Katherine Hazen
South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc.
Kris Lyons
Vermont
Vermont Office of the Child, Youth, and Family Advocate
Matthew Bernstein
New Hampshire
Unfortunately, we don’t have any participants from the state of New Hampshire at this time. Interested in joining the Cohort? Please use the form below to register!
Maine
Law Office of Chelsea S. Peters
Chelsea Peters
Richter Law, LLC
Julia Richter
Alaska
Alaska Legal Services Corporation
Pearl Pickett
Kin Support Program – Haa Yaitx’u Saiani
Hollis Handler
Law Office of Nicole Daussin
Nicole Daussin
Office of Public Advocacy
Megan Comolli
Jennifer Hite
Hawaii
National Center for Youth Law Skadden Fellow
Dana Matsunami
Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation
Angela Correa-Pei
National Organizations
ABA Center on Children and the Law
Prudence Carr
Jey Rajaraman
ABA National Alliance for Parent Representation
Susan Jacobs
ABT Associates
Frank Alexander
Care Access Strategies
Sara Manns
Casey Family Programs
Angie Cavaliere
Jessica Hanak-Coulter
Rachel Konrad
Sheri Freemont
Cecelia Rivas
Kristin Rudlang-Perman
Robin Sage
Carol Self
Brooke Silverthorn
Sheldon Spotted-Elk
Rob Wyman
Coalition to End Hidden Foster Care
Josh Gupta-Kegan
Dianne Redleaf
Friend’s Research Institute
Dr. Mishka Terplan
if when how
Noran Elzarka
National Association of Counsel for Children
Allison Green
National Center for State Courts
Alicia Davis
Miguel Trujillo
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Andrew Wachter
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Danielle King
Participatory Action Research Collective
Dr. Stef Sloan
The ICWA Law Center
Shannon Smith
The Imprint
John Kelly
Think of Us
Jesse Noonan
Whitney Robertson
Susmita Sukla
Zero to Three
Erinn Havig
Learning Center
Join the PLA/PP National Cohort
Interested in learning more about the Cohort? Please fill out the adjacent form to join. While we’re always excited to welcome new programs to the group, you don’t have to be part of an existing PLA/PP program to participate in the Cohort. The Cohort is intended to serve as a free resource for any stakeholders interested in learning more about early legal advocacy and its capacity to prevent unnecessary family separation. For questions about the Cohort, please e-mail Emilie Cook at etcook2@emory.edu.