Preventive legal services provide proactive legal support to parents before a child welfare case is filed. This representation is intended to safely reduce unnecessary removals of children that are driven by issues related to poverty, joblessness, substandard housing, and other situations that could be remediated through the provision of legal services. As they build their program, the Colorado Lab is working with the ORPC on early steps to building evidence, including helping to define the program model, developing an implementation guide, identifying opportunities to enhance implementation, and assessing program reach and early outcomes.
Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel Preventive Legal Services Implementation Guide