Vermont 2025-2026 Regular Session

Vermont House Bill H0193 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	BILL AS INTRODUCED H.193
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5	5	VT LEG #380176 v.1
6	6	H.193 1
7	7	Introduced by Representatives Bluemle of Burlington, Christie of Hartford, 2
8	8	Garofano of Essex, and Rachelson of Burlington 3
9	9	Referred to Committee on 4
10	10	Date: 5
11	11	Subject: Judiciary; child abuse and neglect; proceedings; legal representation 6
12	12	Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create a 7
13	13	working group to design a system of child and parent legal representation to 8
14	14	assist both parents and children in CHINS proceedings. 9
15	15	An act relating to a child and parent legal representation working group 10
16	16	It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11
17	17	Sec. 1. CHILD PROTECTION; PROCEEDINGS; LEGAL 12
18	18	REPRESENTATION; WORKING GROUP; REPORT 13
19	19	(a) Creation. There is created the Child and Parent Legal Representation 14
20	20	Working Group to design and propose an interdisciplinary model of legal 15
21	21	representation for children, parents, custodians, and legal guardians involved 16
22	22	in the child protections system. 17
23	23	(b) Membership. The Working Group shall be composed of the following 18
24	24	members: 19
25	25	(1) the Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court or designee; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.193
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30	30	(2) two current members of the House of Representatives, not all from 1
31	31	the same political party, who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House; 2
32	32	(3) two current members of the Senate, not all from the same political 3
33	33	party, who shall be appointed by the Committee on Committees; 4
34	34	(4) the Defender General or designee; 5
35	35	(5) the Commissioner for Children and Families or designee; 6
36	36	(6) the Child, Youth, and Family Advocate or designee; 7
37	37	(7) a representative from Voices for Vermont’s Children; 8
38	38	(8) a representative from the Vermont Parent Representation Center; and 9
39	39	(9) an individual with lived experience in Vermont’s child protection 10
40	40	system who was represented by the Office of the Defender General, appointed 11
41	41	by the Defender General. 12
42	42	(c) Powers and duties. The Working Group shall study and design a 13
43	43	system of child and parent legal representation for use in Vermont’s child 14
44	44	protection system. The Working Group’s design shall be consistent with the 15
45	45	recommendations contained in the Study of CHINS Case Processing in 16
46	46	Vermont, authored by National Center for State Courts published in May of 17
47	47	2021; caseload recommendations identified by the American Bar Association; 18
48	48	and the Children and Youth Services Review’s 2020 study entitled 19
49	49	Understanding the Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.193
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54	54	Representation in Child Welfare. The Working Group’s design study shall 1
55	55	focus on the following: 2
56	56	(1) identifying the appropriation to the Office of Defender General for 3
57	57	the representation of parents and children in child protection proceedings; 4
58	58	(2) the average Vermont compensation of: 5
59	59	(A) attorneys employed by, or contracted with, the Attorney General, 6
60	60	Defender General, or a State’s Attorney office to represent children and 7
61	61	parents in CHINS proceedings; and 8
62	62	(B) social workers employed by the Department for Children and 9
63	63	Families and contracted social workers with the Defender General; 10
64	64	(3) anticipated costs to provide legal representation for child abuse and 11
65	65	neglect substantiation appeals in CHINS cases; 12
66	66	(4) recommended compensation levels for attorney and social service 13
67	67	personnel who represent parents and children in the child protection system; 14
68	68	(5) estimated federal funds that can be leveraged to support 15
69	69	interdisciplinary legal representation in the child protection system; 16
70	70	(6) not less than one recommended structure for the administration and 17
71	71	operation of interdisciplinary legal representation in the child protection 18
72	72	system; and 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.193
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77	77	(7) the number of children under State custody who are eligible for Title 1
78	78	IV-E funding and the percentage of those children represented by the Defender 2
79	79	General. 3
80	80	(d) Assistance. The Working Group shall have the administrative, 4
81	81	technical, and legal assistance of the Office of Court Administrator. The 5
82	82	Working Group may also consult and seek assistance from child protection 6
83	83	experts it deems necessary, including the American Bar Association Center on 7
84	84	Children and the Law and the New York City Center on Family 8
85	85	Representation. 9
86	86	(e) Report. On or before December 15, 2025, the Working Group shall 10
87	87	provide a written report to the Senate Committees on Health and Welfare and 11
88	88	on Judiciary and the House Committees on Human Services and on Judiciary. 12
89	89	The report shall include: 13
90	90	(1) a proposal for administrative programs providing an interdisciplinary 14
91	91	approach to effective legal representation for both children and parents 15
92	92	involved in the child protection system that are separate from the system of 16
93	93	criminal defense provided in CHINS proceedings; 17
94	94	(2) a proposal for a source of revenue and appropriation to support child 18
95	95	and parent legal representation programs; 19
96	96	(3) a plan to use Title IV-E funds to support the proposals; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.193
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101	101	(4) proposed standards and performance measures for attorneys and 1
102	102	social workers involved in the child protections system; 2
103	103	(5) requirements for training, supervision, and performance monitoring 3
104	104	to ensure competent and effective representation and services; and 4
105	105	(6) whether an Office of Child Representation and an Office of Parent 5
106	106	Representation should be established as independent agencies within the 6
107	107	Judiciary or in any other form. 7
108	108	(f) Meetings. 8
109	109	(1) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or designee shall call the 9
110	110	first meeting of the Working Group to occur on or before August 1, 2025. 10
111	111	(2) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or designee shall be the 11
112	112	chair and may designate a member of the Working Group to be co-chair, if 12
113	113	necessary. 13
114	114	(3) A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. 14
115	115	(4) The Working Group shall cease to exist on January 15, 2026. 15
116	116	(g) Compensation and reimbursement. 16
117	117	(1) For attendance at meetings during adjournment of the General 17
118	118	Assembly, a legislative member of the Working Group serving in the 18
119	119	member’s capacity as a legislator shall be entitled to per diem compensation 19
120	120	and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 2 V.S.A. § 23 for not more than 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.193
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125	125	10 meetings. These payments shall be made from monies appropriated to the 1
126	126	General Assembly. 2
127	127	(2) Other members of the Working Group shall be entitled to per diem 3
128	128	compensation and reimbursement of expenses as permitted under 32 V.S.A. 4
129	129	§ 1010 for not more than 10 meetings. These payments shall be made from 5
130	130	monies appropriated to the Office of Court Administrator 6
131	131	(h) Appropriation. The sum of $18,830.00 is appropriated to Office of the 7
132	132	Court Administrator from the General Fund in fiscal year 2026 for per diem 8
133	133	compensation and reimbursement of expenses for members of the Working 9
134	134	Group. 10
135	135	Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 11
136	136	This act shall take effect on passage. 12