Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1993 TAG: 9308040029
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"We hope that all sorts of attorneys will commit themselves to represent children," including lawyers from large and small firms as well as corporate and government lawyers, said the ABA Working Group on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children and Their Families.
Children often are denied legal rights that adults take for granted, the group said in its report, "America's Children at Risk."
"Many children routinely appear in court without benefit of legal counsel in situations where any adult who had the resources or know-how would retain a lawyer," the group said.
The report set many long-range goals for improving children's lives, including decent family income, child care, housing, education and health care.
"We've got to do whatever it takes," ABA President J. Michael McWilliams said at a news conference. He said lawyers are being encouraged to donate as much of their time as possible, although the working group did not set a specific target.
Attorney General Janet Reno, who has been organizing federal agencies to coordinate their work on children's issues, suggested weaving such programs together to cover existing gaps.
"You've got fragmented programs that sometimes spend more money in determining whether the person is eligible than serving the people who need it," she said.
Almost one-fourth of all U.S. children under age 6 live below the federal poverty level, and black children are far more likely than white children to be poor, the report said.
Lawyers can help disadvantaged children before they wind up in court as victims of abuse or neglect or as criminal defendants, the group said.
Children have a constitutional right to a court-appointed lawyer in delinquency cases that could lead to confinement. Many children routinely give up that right under pressure from parents or judges, the report said, adding that rules should be adopted to make it harder for children to do so.
Debbie Segal, a working group member and executive director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, said in an interview it often is easier to convince lawyers to represent children for free than to donate their time to poor adults.
"Some lawyers are not really committed to the institution or the idea of representing poor people," Segal said, but added that when her group began seeking volunteers to represent children, "I found people coming out of the woodwork."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.