Symposia

Reinventing Juvenile Law: A New Construct for Practice and Policy

April 30-May 1, 2009

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The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law Justice for Children Project will present a two-day symposium on juvenile law on April 30-May 1, 2009.

NEW! Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland will deliver the keynote address at the symposium on Thursday, April 30, from 11:15 a.m. until noon. First Lady Strickland’s speech, titled “By the Want of Means for Their Cultivation,” is expected to discuss educational reform and how a strong educational system not only benefits the children enrolled in the program but entire communities as well.

The symposium will focus on timely and cutting edge issues pertaining to delinquency, abuse, neglect, dependency, and termination of parental rights cases. The symposium will look at reinventing juvenile law in light of developments in neurological and socioscientific research and the growing incorporation of these concepts in legislative acts and judicial decisions.

Among the topics to be discussed are changing our outdated perceptions of juvenile competency, culpability, and responsibility, ways to optimize juvenile practice, reconsidering the manner in which we try delinquency, abuse, neglect, and termination cases, the Supreme Court's proposed standards of guardian ad litem represention, the on-going implications of the juvenile Adam Walsh Act, and caselaw and legislative updates. CLE credit will be requested.

The symposium will be held at the Barrister Club, a state-of-the-art facility at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Located in the heart of the University district in downtown Columbus, the Barrister Club is across the street from the Gateway, an urban venue for markets, shops, restaurants, and movie theaters.

A limited number of scholarships from the Office of the Ohio Public Defender will be available to public defenders and pro bono counsel.

NEW! This course has been approved by the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Continuing Legal Education for 12.75 total CLE hours of instruction.

Topics

• What Science Can and Cannot Tell Us About the Best Interests of the Child
• Reinventing PCC Hearings
• Reforming Child Welfare
• Caselaw Update: Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency
• Follow the Money: The Impact of State and Local Funding Strategies on Child Welfare Policies
• Neuroscience in the Courts
• Competency, Culpability and Kids: Why We Must Abolish the Juvenile Court System
• Juvenile Sex Offenders
• Is There a Lawyer in the House? Medical-Legal Partnerships and the Future of Child Representation
• Caselaw Update: Delinquency
• Back to the Future: The Importance of Gault
• Using Collaborative Strategies to Reduce School Referrals
• Using the Economic Stimulus to Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Strategies to Use Stimulus Education Funds to Improve School Climate
• By the Want of Means for Their Cultivation

Accommodations

The University Plaza Hotel & Conference Center is holding a block of rooms for symposium attendees at a rate of $99.00 a night plus tax. Free buffet breakfast, free parking, free wireless internet, and free transportation to the University is included in the room rate. Please use code OSUCOL when booking. For more information about the University Plaza please visit their website or call (614) 267-7461

Past Symposia

• 2008 - Juvenile Law Seminar
• 2006 - Juvenile Law Seminar
• 2005 (Fall) - Juvenile Law Seminar
• 2005 (Spring) - The Mind of a Child: The Relationship Between Brain Development, Cognitive Functioning, and Accountability Under the Law
• 2002 - Special Needs Adoption
• 1999 - The Implications of Welfare Reform for Children
• 1995 - Justice for Needs of Children: Defining Public and Private Responsibilities