State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title46b > Chap815t > Sec46b-123dSec. 46b-123d. Chief Child Protection Attorney. Duties. Contracts for legal services. (a) The Chief Child Protection Attorney appointed under section 46b-123c shall:
(1) Establish a system to provide (A) legal services and guardians ad litem to children, youths and indigent respondents in family relations matters in which the state has been ordered to pay the cost of such legal services and guardians ad litem, provided legal services shall be provided to indigent respondents pursuant to this subparagraph only in paternity proceedings and contempt proceedings, and (B) legal services and guardians ad litem to children, youths and indigent legal parties in proceedings before the superior court for juvenile matters, other than legal services for children in delinquency matters. To carry out the requirements of this section, the Chief Child Protection Attorney may contract with (i) appropriate not-for-profit legal services agencies, and (ii) individual lawyers for the delivery of legal services to represent children and indigent legal parties in such proceedings;
(2) Establish a system to ensure that attorneys providing legal services pursuant to this section are assigned to cases in a manner that will avoid conflicts of interest, as defined by the Rules of Professional Conduct; and
(3) Establish training, practice and caseload standards for the representation of children, youths, indigent respondents and indigent legal parties pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. Such standards shall apply to each attorney who represents children, youths, indigent respondents or indigent legal parties pursuant to this section and shall be designed to ensure a high quality of legal representation. The training standards for attorneys required by this subdivision shall be designed to ensure proficiency in the procedural and substantive law related to such matters and to establish a minimum level of proficiency in relevant subject areas, including, but not limited to, family violence, child development, behavioral health, educational disabilities and cultural competence.
(b) Any contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section may include terms encouraging or requiring the use of a multidisciplinary agency model of legal representation.
(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 45; P.A. 06-187, S. 23; P.A. 07-159, S. 3.)
History: P.A. 06-187 added provisions re guardians ad litem, deleted references to contempt and paternity, replaced "parents" with "legal parties", added provision re matters in which state has been ordered to pay cost of legal services and replaced "representation of" with "legal services for" in Subdiv. (1), inserted provision re standards applicable to representation of indigent respondents in Subdiv. (3), and made technical changes; P.A. 07-159 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a) and amended same by inserting references to youths in Subdivs. (1) and (3), adding provision re legal services provided to indigent respondents in paternity and contempt proceedings in Subdiv. (1), replacing "Ensure" with "Establish a system to ensure" in Subdiv. (2), deleting provision re initial and in-service training and making conforming changes in Subdiv. (3) and making technical changes, and added Subsec. (b) re contract terms for multidisciplinary agency model of legal representation, effective July 1, 2007.
