CBA Record September-October 2025

PRO BONO WEEK 2025 – JUSTICE CAN’T WAIT

Helping Families Navigate the Family Regulation System: Attorneys Play a Critical Role By Kimberly Washington

A toddler has bruises on their shins, and the parents are not quite sure how they got there. A domestic violence survivor is attacked in front of their child. A child plays alone in a play ground near their dad’s job because child care plans fell through. A parent struggles with mental illness, addiction, or poverty. All these circumstances can, and do, bring families into contact with the Illi nois family regulation system (also known as the child welfare system or DCFS). Legal representation for parents and fami lies who are impacted by the system is a vital component of a just, equitable, and humane legal framework. At its core, family defense seeks to protect family integrity by ensuring that parents and caregivers are treated with dignity, that their rights are protected, and that state intervention in family life occurs only when necessary and in the least intrusive manner possible.

Parents who are facing possible termination of their parental rights are entitled to counsel. However, parents and caregivers facing DCFS investigations or allegations of abuse or neglect out side of juvenile court are not appointed attorneys, which means that they frequently face life-changing intrusion and intervention without legal assistance. High Stakes if an Allegation is “Indicated” After a DCFS investigation, the investigator and their supervi sor decide whether an allegation is either “unfounded” or “indi cated.” An “indication” is an administrative finding by DCFS that some credible evidence exists of child abuse or neglect. While not equivalent to a criminal conviction, an indication can have long-lasting, devastating consequences for parents and caregivers. These findings land people on the State Central Reg ister (SCR) as a child abuser or neglector for 5, 20, or 50 years, depending on the severity of the finding. This can restrict par ents’ employment prospects, damage their reputations, prevent their involvement in children’s activities and volunteering, and interfere with their ability to provide care not only for their chil dren, but also to others in their family and communities. The consequences of a DCFS indication can be felt immediately,

especially for those who are low-income, Black, Brown, immigrant, disabled, or otherwise marginalized. It can trigger employment dis qualification in sectors such as healthcare, education, and caregiv ing. It can create significant barriers to housing, higher education, and the ability to serve as a foster or adoptive parent. Moreover, indications are often issued after brief investigations with minimal procedural safeguards. Poorly trained investigators with excessive caseloads may rely on hearsay, draw conclusions from incomplete evidence, or misinterpret poverty-related cir cumstances, such as food insecurity, lack of childcare, or unsafe housing, as signs of neglect. The only way to remove an indicated finding after it is reg istered in the SCR is to have it overturned through the DCFS administrative expungement appeal process. These hearings are the first opportunity to contest the findings. They are also fre quently navigated without legal counsel. Thus family defense in this context is not just helpful—it is essential. Racial and Economic Justice An often-overlooked aspect of the family regulation system in the United States is how it disproportionately surveils, investigates, and separates Black, Brown, and Indigenous families. Structural

28 September/October 2025