An innovative initiative by former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Helen Meyer helps to support parents who have been accused of abusing their children.
According to Myer, repairing the relationship between the parent and child is worth the effort and resources if it prevents the child from having to be placed in out-of-home care or adopted.
Myer’s program will train law students on how to represent parents subject to child abuse investigations. According to Myers, these parents in particular need skilled attorneys who can represent them well. In the KSTP report, Myers says, “More often than not our clients are vilified,” said Courtney Allensworth, a Mitchell law student who’s working in the clinic. “But I think to say that somebody can’t learn how to parent, or be an effective parent, sort of defeats the idea of the child protective system.”
In addition, Myers states that removal is “a traumatic event. And so you should do it very cautiously. And you should do it only when necessary.”
For more, see the video from KSTP 5 below.