On April 13, 2010, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Travis County Model Court for Children and Families sponsored the Family Search and Connectedness Training at the Austin Children's Center. Hon. Darlene Byrne, Model Court Lead Judge, hosted the seminar. The speaker was Kevin Campbell, Director of the Seneca Center for Family Finding and Lifelong Connections and internationally known youth permanency expert. To read highlights from the seminar, click here. For more information about Campbell's training programs, click here.

The State Bar's Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect is seeking nominations for its annual Fairy Davenport Rutland Award for Distinguished Service to Children and Families. The award is named after Ms. Rutland in recognition of her exceptional leadership as a founding member and chair of the Committee for over 20 years and her continuing dedication and many ongoing contributions to the field of child welfare. The award honors an attorney who has made a substantial contribution to the field of advocacy for abused and neglected children. The deadline for nominations is April 1, 2010. Click here to view the nomination form.

On March 17, 2010, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district court's injunction that barred a Pennsylvania district attorney from prosecuting a teenager for "sexting." The district attorney had threatened to prosecute the child for felony child pornography unless she attended a class and wrote an essay. The child's mother filed suit on her behalf, alleging First and Fourteenth Amendment violations. The court of appeals decided that the mother was likely to prevail on her claims, as the activity in which her daughter engaged was not illegal; therefore, she was entitled to an injunction against prosecution until the case was resolved. The opinion details the lessons to be taught in the class designed by the district attorney and social services agencies, noting that the lessons taught invaded the parental right to direct the moral upbringing of children. The court found that the essay required to be written under threat of prosecution was a violation of the child's right of free expression. Click here to view the court's opinion.

Family law expert Charles Childress, who is TLC's volunteer consulting attorney and a commentator for Sampson & Tindall's Texas Family Code Ann., will answer judges' questions on legal issues as available. To submit a question, judges may simply send an email to Barbara@TexasLawyersforChildren.org. Mr. Childress' response will be sent to Hon. Gil Jones to transmit to the Colleague Connection -- Judicial email network. Judges who are not yet registered for this email network may do so by signing in on this website's home page. Then, from "Communication Tools" on the blue menu bar above, click on "Colleague Connection Email Networks" and follow the registration instructions to "Join List" for colleagueconnectionjudicial, which is the first email network listed on the page. (TLC also has new email networks for Drug Court Judges and for Juvenile Law Judges, and judges can register for all 3 networks.) Participation in all judicial email networks is strictly limited to active Texas judges and those sitting by assignment. For registration questions, please contact TLC's Help Desk at 800-993-5TLC (5852). Click here to view Mr. Childress' resume.

TLC is pleased to announce the launch of a new email network, "Colleague Connection--Juvenile Law Judges," as well as a new Discussion Board and Document Vault, for judges handling juvenile delinquency cases. Participation in all three of these secure, private communication tools is strictly limited to active Texas judges. Judges can use the email network to seek colleagues' expertise on questions of interest and to discuss best practices. The Discussion Board provides a place for ongoing statewide dialogue. The Document Vault allows judges to share documents with each other. TLC thanks Hon. Gil Jones for serving as the moderator for these tools. To enroll in the email network or to access the other tools, judges who are already registered for the TLC website's services can sign in and go to "Communication Tools" on the blue menu bar above. Be sure to enroll today so you don't miss out on the messages! You are always welcome to call TLC's Help Desk at 800-993-5TLC (5852) with any questions.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report to the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor on the use of seclusion and restraint in public and private schools and treatment centers in order to provide an overview of laws concerning use of these methods, to verify whether allegations of abuse and death from such methods are widespread, and to examine the facts of cases where students died or suffered abuse as a result of being secluded or restrained. The GAO found that no federal laws restrict the use of seclusion and restraint in schools and that state laws vary widely. While the GAO could not determine if allegations of abuse and death are widespread, it did find hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death due to use of restraint and seclusion methods. One theme the GAO mentioned is that children with disabilities are sometimes restrained or secluded even without parental consent. To read the report, including the details of cases and state and federal laws, click here.

The mother of three young daughters is challenging a law that allows parents to show children pornography. The mother said that the children's father awoke two of the daughters during the night to show them pornography on his computer and that the girls later told a counselor, who reported it to authorities. The DA concluded that he was unable to prosecute the father due to Texas' public-indecency law. To read more about the situation and the conflicting opinions about the law, click here.

On Monday, October 26, in Eldorado, Texas, the first criminal trial against a member of the Eldorado FLDS sect began with jury selection. Raymond Merrill Jessop is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl whom he allegedly took as his wife. The original jury call affected the small town of Eldorado, causing some offices to close for the day. The pool of potential jurors included members of the FLDS sect. Voir dire began Monday afternoon. Click here to read a local newspaper article about the trial. Click here to read about the impact on the town, and here to read about the status of the jury selection process.

TLC is pleased to announce the launch of a new email network, "Colleague Connection--Drug Court Judges." This secure, private email network is being provided to assist any Texas judge presiding over a family drug treatment court and judges who are considering developing a family drug treatment court. Judges can seek colleagues' expertise on questions of interest and discuss best practices in drug court issues and policies. Participation is strictly limited to active Texas judges. TLC thanks Hon. Gil Jones for graciously agreeing to serve as the moderator for this email network. To enroll, judges who are already registered for the TLC website's services can simply go to "Communication Tools" on the blue menu bar above; then click on "Colleague Connection Email Networks" on the resulting drop-down. You will then be able to click on "Join list" for Colleague Connection--Drug Court Judges. Be sure to enroll today so you don't miss out on the first messages! You are always welcome to call TLC's Help Desk at 800-993-5TLC (5852) if you have any questions regarding signing up for this new, free service. For more information about family drug treatment courts, please see Section 264.801 of the Texas Family Code.

Charles Childress, a contributor and commentator for Sampson and Tindall's Texas Family Code Annotated, has graciously provided TLC with his compilation of the 2009 legislative changes of interest to judges and attorneys handling child protective services cases and child support matters. This legislative update provides a comprehensive report of substantive changes to the Texas Family Code made in the 81st legislative session, as well as changes to other statutes of interest. TLC is delighted that Mr. Childress joined TLC's team of attorneys as a Consulting Attorney this spring. Click here to view the legislative update.

TLC's Director, Barbara Elias-Perciful, was honored by the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division as the Distinguished Lawyer Recipient of the 2009 Child Advocacy Award for her service on behalf of abused and neglected children. This prestigous award is based on an individual's personal achievements and impact in helping abused and neglected children. Ms. Elias-Perciful was presented with the award at a ceremony during the ABA's annual meeting in Chicago this August. Click here to view the ABA's announcement of the award. Click here for more details.

Sandra Hachem, Co-Chair of the Subcomittee on Legislation for the State Bar's Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, has graciously provided TLC with her compilation of the latest updates of legislation concerning child abuse and neglect. Click here to view Ms. Hachem's update on legislation from the 81st Legislative Session.

On June 25, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona school officials violated the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches when they strip searched a teenage girl to try to find prescription-strength ibuprofen. In the 8-1 opinion, the Court held that the school's searches of the girl's backpack and outer clothes were permissible but that the school officials acted illegally when they asked to search her underwear. Justice David Souter wrote that there was no indication that the girl posed a danger to the other students, and there was no indication that the pills were in her underwear. Additionally, the Supreme Court ruled that the school officials in this case are immune from liability, but the Court remanded for consideration whether the school district is liable to the student. To read the opinion, please click here.

TLC is delighted to announce that Charles Childress has joined TLC's team of attorneys as a Consulting Attorney. Mr. Childress has made significant and numerous contributions to the field of child advocacy, having served as Co-Director of the Children's Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, Senior Attorney at the Department of Family and Protective Services, and Chief Staff Attorney for the Fourth Court of Appeals, to name a few. He serves as a contributor and commentator for Sampson and Tindall's Texas Family Code Annotated. He was instrumental in the passage of landmark legislation that limits children's time in foster care and was named outstanding legislative liaison for the 2001 legislative session by the DFPS Office of General Counsel. Mr. Childress has devoted his career to serving children and families and was the 2008 recipient of the Fairy Davenport Rutland Award for Distinguished Service to Children and Families, given by the Texas State Bar's Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect. .Click here to read Mr. Childress' resume.

On March 10, 2009, the House Committee on Human Services heard invited testimony related to Child Protective Services. Click here to view a report of the testimony.