The Michigan Judicial Institute will present a webinar on “Centering Children’s Voices and Relational Permanency in the Best Interest Determination.” Hosted by Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Services, the webinar will take place Thursday, Sept. 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. via Zoom.
This session reframes the best interest inquiry by asking what permanency actually means to children themselves.
It will distinguish legal permanency from relational permanency and examine what research and lived experience tells about how children understand belonging, family, and stability.
The session will explore the harms that termination of parental rights can inflict on children, including the loss of identity, kinship connections, and continuity of relationships, and how those harms might factor into the best interest analysis.
Participants will be invited to consider how courts and child welfare professionals can elevate children’s relational worlds in their decision making, and how a closer look at the costs of termination of parental rights might lead to better permanency outcomes.
Speaking at the webinar will be:
• Vivek Sankaran, director of Child Advocacy Law Clinic, University of Michigan Law School
• Rick Barinbaum, clinical professor, University of Michigan School of Social Work
This training is intended for all child welfare professionals including jurists, prosecutors, attorneys, Lawyer-Guardians Ad Litem, CPS and foster care workers, service providers, and Foster Care Review Board members.
This event is sponsored by the Michigan Court Improvement Program (Federal Grant CFDA 93.586).
To register for the free webinar, visit https://mjieducation.mi.gov and click on “events.” Anyone with questions may email Katy Todd, court analyst, SCAO-Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Services, at ToddK@courts.mi.gov.
This session reframes the best interest inquiry by asking what permanency actually means to children themselves.
It will distinguish legal permanency from relational permanency and examine what research and lived experience tells about how children understand belonging, family, and stability.
The session will explore the harms that termination of parental rights can inflict on children, including the loss of identity, kinship connections, and continuity of relationships, and how those harms might factor into the best interest analysis.
Participants will be invited to consider how courts and child welfare professionals can elevate children’s relational worlds in their decision making, and how a closer look at the costs of termination of parental rights might lead to better permanency outcomes.
Speaking at the webinar will be:
• Vivek Sankaran, director of Child Advocacy Law Clinic, University of Michigan Law School
• Rick Barinbaum, clinical professor, University of Michigan School of Social Work
This training is intended for all child welfare professionals including jurists, prosecutors, attorneys, Lawyer-Guardians Ad Litem, CPS and foster care workers, service providers, and Foster Care Review Board members.
This event is sponsored by the Michigan Court Improvement Program (Federal Grant CFDA 93.586).
To register for the free webinar, visit https://mjieducation.mi.gov and click on “events.” Anyone with questions may email Katy Todd, court analyst, SCAO-Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Services, at ToddK@courts.mi.gov.
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