Maryland Adoption Lawyers - Family and Foster Care Law, Child Welfare and Social Worker Issues

Harvey Schweitzer has over 30 years experience providing legal advice, representation and law-related training to public agencies and private organizations involved in delivering social services to families, adults and children. He also advises individuals who provide therapy or counseling in professional settings, such as social workers, counselors, addiction counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists.

How We Can Help

Consultation

In consultation with managers and staff, we create strategies to address and anticipate serious or recurring legal problems. This can include a review of contracts with government agencies and funding sources, and an examination of liability, risk management and insurance matters.

Organizations can always benefit by undergoing a “legal audit”. An audit includes a thorough review of organizational policies, procedures and practice models. The goal is assurance that your organization is complying with local, state and federal legal and regulatory requirements and that these legal requirements have been effectively integrated with social work practices. Audits conclude by creating “desk books” containing helpful materials frequently used by staff.

Click here for a sample Table of Contents of a typical “desk book”

Case-Targeted and Specialized Assistance

This service provides legal advice in cases that present new, difficult and unusual legal or ethical issues. These issues may arise when cases are “court involved” or are affected by family team meetings, family group conferences, mediation, service delivery issues in neighborhood-based service environments and using para-professionals such as family advocates.

Training is tailored to respond to specific agency needs. For example, a hospital maternity unit wanted training on adoption laws and practices so they would be better prepared to counsel new mothers who expressed an interest in giving up their child for adoption. We can also attend case reviews and help address specific legal issues or prepare for court.

Skill and Advocacy Development

Because of our extensive court room experience we can provide training that enhances a professional's ability to be better prepared for court and thus more effective as an advocate. Training is not limited to merely being a better witness but how to weather the anticipated cross examination, by undergoing a simulated real-life cross examination based on the facts of the particular case.

Individualized assistance to those who wish to develop and hone their skills as an expert witness is also available.

Click here for a Sample Witness Training Agenda

Presentations

We provide on-site or conference-site presentations that explain the specific statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements that affect the delivery of social work and other social and counseling services. The specific subjects are determined by organizational needs and are not “off the shelf”. The presentations are more than just lectures. Staff are encouraged and expected to engage in discussions that are generated by actual problems and role-playing based on the organization's case load and practice model.

Presentations can address ethical codes and their impact on liability and legal obligations. Many occupations are affected by ethical codes, some of which have the force of law and when, if violated, can subject the actor to liability and exposure to discipline. Our training is significantly different from just showing up, handing out copies of statutes and telling staff what the law is. Instead, together we have the opportunity to review and examine specific problems and topics in advance so that they can be addressed in depth during the presentation. Questions are solicited throughout the presentation and time is allotted to tackle items of interest. We often create “agency-specific” materials that enhance the ability to comply with legal requirements and lower anxiety about exposure to liability.

We can also explain and clarify specific laws and recent judicial opinions of interest, such as paternity, child support, corporal punishment, service members, Indian Child Welfare Act, Interest Compact on the Placement of Children, “Safe Haven” laws (infant abandonment).

A Selection of Past Presentations:

Confidentiality, privacy, privileged communications, nondisclosure laws, informed consent.
Circumstances that trigger a “duty to warn, such as when client is a danger to self or others (suicidal clients, Tarasoff issues)
Subpoenas (trial and grand jury) When to Comply and When to Object
Child maltreatment mandatory reporting issues
Relationship rights of siblings
Adoption, including subsidy, openness, post-adoption visitation, and rights of relatives to intervene in the adoption
Subsidized guardianship

Click here for examples of training outlines

Foster Parent Advocacy and Training

Mr. Schweitzer is the author of Foster Care and the Law: A Primer. As an expert in the field, he can assist in providing information about operating a foster care agency, address such issues as the foster parent-agency relationship, as well as present training to foster parents that will enable them to be more knowledgeable care givers. For example, our training can help foster parents avoid and defend against potential allegations of child maltreatment. Foster care substantive areas include:

Rights of foster children; permanency and reunification; foster parent participation in court and at the administrative hearings; legal relationship of foster parents to the agency; foster parent rights and responsibility.

Click here for Sample Foster Parent Training Agendas

Representation

Mr. Schweitzer also provides legal representation in the traditional lawyer-client relationship. For example, providing advice and representation if the agency or organization is sued or threatened with suit or when faced with license revocation or if staff are confronted with professional licensing or disciplinary issues.

Fees

Fees are negotiated in advance and are affected by many factors, including the nature of the services, the time needed to prepare lectures and materials, the location of the training and the content and scope of presentations. Hourly, daily, and flat fees can be arranged.

PRIVACY NOTICE and DISCLAIMER

The material on this website is general information of an educational nature. Nothing on this website is an attempt to solicit or advise organizations or individuals seeking legal advice. Any and all content on this website is for educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

An attorney-client relationship is not automatically created as a result of any communication or contact arising out of any information obtained from this website. An e-mail generated from a link on this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. Any e-mail transmitted to us is private only to the extent that any other unencrypted transmission over the internet is private. If you have concerns regarding this type of communication, please contact us via telephone, mail or fax.

We are the sole owner of this website and domain name and are licensed to practice law in Maryland and Washington, DC. Our firm's office is located in Maryland.

Privacy notice: all of the information generated by your visit to our website, including any e-mail contact, is private and will not be shared with any other organization.

Last updated on February 25, 2010