Telephone:
(202) 662-1720

Toll-free Telephone:
(800) 285-2221

Fax:
(202) 662-1755

Mail:
American Bar Association
Center on Children and the Law
740 15th Street, NW.
Washington, DC 20005

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Staff

Mimi Laver, J.D., is the Assistant Director for the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. She brings an agency attorney perspective to her supervisory role at the Resource Center having served for seven years as a Deputy City Solicitor in the Health and Human Services Unit of the Philadelphia Law Department. She is an expert in ASFA, court improvement, parent and agency representation, and improving the legal functioning of child welfare agencies. She has written extensively on representation issues post-ASFA and helped author the ABA representation standards for children's, parents', and agency attorneys.She received her J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 1990, and her B.A. from Vassar College in 1987. Phone: 202/662-1736.

Jennifer Renne, J.D., is an Assistant Director of Child Welfare for the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. She brings the child representation perspective to this Resource Center through her eight years experience as an attorney for Maryland's Legal Aid Bureau. She was a staff attorney for five years, and supervising attorney of the Child Advocacy Unit for three years. She also is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Jennifer received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991 and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988. Phone: 202/662-1731.

Shante Bullock, is the Administrative Assistant for the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. She updates, purchases and sends out Resource Center materials as well as distributes publications written by the center staff. Phone: 202/662-1746.

Andrea Khoury, J.D., is an Assistant Director of Child Welfare for the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. She brings the child representation perspective from her 5 years of experience with the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau's Child Advocacy Unit. She was a staff attorney for 3 years and a Senior attorney for 2 years. She received her JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1997 and her BA from the University of Delaware in 1994. Phone: 202/662-1730.

Kathleen McNaught, J.D., is an Assistant Director of Child Welfare for the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. She brings both the child and parent representation perspectives to this Resource Center through 7 years of practicing law in the state of Maryland. She was a staff attorney for three years for Maryland's Legal Aid Bureau in their Child Advocacy Unit. She then went on to private practice, representing parents and children in child welfare cases, as well as in education, delinquency and custody matters. She received her J.D. from The American University, Washington College of Law in 1994, and her B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College in 1991. Phone: 202/662-1966.

Patchanan Owen, M.A., Technology Manager, has extensive experience in developing online communication strategies for the Center's projects. She also manages and enhances the functionality and appearance of the Center's web sites, CLP online database, and handles all the technology needs of the Center. She has previous worked for the Human Resources Department of the Vice President Office at the World Bank Group and maintained and developed the Human Resources Department websites. Phone: 202/662-1743.

Scott Trowbridge, J.D., Staff Attorney, is a attorney working on Resource Center projects. Prior to law school and joining the Center, Scott was employed by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services for 6 years where he was a regional supervisor for the State’s adoption program placing abused and neglected children into permanent homes. Prior to that, he was a caseworker in foster care, juvenile justice, and adoptions. He received his J.D. from the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law and his B.A. in psychology from Queens University of Charlotte. Phone: 202/662-1747.

Charles Teague, B.A., Administrative Assistant, assists staff on the Center’s Permanency Barriers Projects, Legal Education, and the National Child Welfare Resource Center. He is the Center’s Subscription Coordinator for the Child Law Practice.

Other ABA Center on Children and the Law Staff Contributing to the Work of the Resource Center

Howard Davidson, J.D., Director of the Center since 1978. He is an expert on CAPTA-related issues affecting child welfare practice. He has written A Judge's Guide to Improving Legal Representation of Children, co-authored with Kathi Grasso.

Robert Horowitz, J.D., Associate Director of the Center since 1978. He is an expert on various aspects of child welfare, including agency liability and substance abuse, and has developed a judicial guide on the "best interest of the child."

Sharon Elstein, M.S., Senior Social Science Researcher since 1989. She has conducted numerous national research studies on child welfare and on criminal justice issues, including the use of closed circuit television in child protection cases and police and prosecutor practices with respect to child abuse.

Heidi Redlich Epstein, J.D., M.S.W., Assistant Director of State Projects, develops and helps jurisdictions implement reforms and conducts training on barriers to achieving permanency for children in foster care. She also helps child welfare attorneys improve their trial skills at trainings throughout the country. Prior to joining the Center, she was a staff attorney, Child Advocacy Unit, Maryland Legal Aid Bureau. She is an expert on termination of parental rights and child welfare.

Sally Small Inada, M.A., Information Design Director, writes, edits, and produces on-line and print materials including books, manuals, and curricula; she runs focus groups, usability tests, conferences, teletrainings, direct mail and marketing campaigns, and periodical circulation.

Eva Klain, J.D., Director of the Child and Adolescent Health Law Program, specializes in issues related to the health and well being of children and adolescents, with a focus on the collaboration between other professional organizations involved in the development of policy and practice related to adolescent health. Eva also has directed a project on court improvement while at the Center. Previously, she served as a staff attorney for the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse. She is an expert on court improvement, ASFA, child welfare generally, sexual exploitation, and criminal prosecution. She also is the editor of the bimonthly ABA Child CourtWorks, which reports on state court improvement developments.

Anne Marie Lancour, J.D, M.A.T., Director of State Projects, is a national expert on child abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights, adoption, and foster care. She also directs the Center's Trial Skill Program, produces teletrainings, drafts legal manuals, and trains on a variety of child welfare topics. She previously was an Assistant County Attorney for Broome County (NY) Department of Social Services.

Claire Chiamulera, B.A., Legal Editor for the Center since 1993. She is editor of the award-winning ABA Child Law Practice, a monthly subscription periodical for lawyers and judges who practice in the child welfare arena. She has also edited, written, and provided research assistance for several Center books, reports, and judicial training curricula.

Consultants and Organizational Partners

Judge Bill Jones (ret.), is the former Chief Judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he served for twenty-five years on the bench. He has extensive expertise in improving how courts serve children and families in child abuse and neglect and in domestic violence cases. Bill was the Lead Judge for the Charlotte Model Court and has participated as a federal reviewer in Child and Family Services Reviews.

Craig J. Dorsay, J.D., is a recognized national expert on ICWA and has represented numerous tribes in hundreds of ICWA cases throughout the country. He trains on ICWA, ASFA, Title IV-E, tribal court systems, and customary adoption.

Diane Boyd Rauber, M.Ed., J.D., has co-authored or edited several Center publications, including the Court Improvement Progress Reports, A Judge's Guide: Making Child-Centered Decisions in Custody Cases, and Representing Parents in Child Welfare Cases.

Joanne M. Brown, J.D., M.S.W, a former Juvenile and Family Law Judge in California (Alameda County), consults on ASFA, ICWA, and components of the adult and juvenile criminal justice system, from intervention, to community based diversion, to detention, jail, juvenile corrections and prison master planning and programming, to probation, and alternatives to parole.

Judith Larsen, J.D., has consulted for the ABA Center since 1987, training judges and social workers, authoring monographs and essays on such topics as drug-exposed infants, the impact of drugs on families and courts, standby guardianship and other permanency plans for children, adolescent health, best interests of the child, ethics, foster care law and court improvement.

Karen Aileen Howze, J.D., a Magistrate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, consults on ASFA and Disproportionate Representation of Youth of Color in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems with a focus on strategies to eliminate disproportionality.

Margaret Burt, J.D., (NY), a former NY Department of Social Services attorney, expert on MEPA-IEP, ASFA, ICWA and trial skills, and regular trainer/consultant for the Center.

Judge Richard FitzGerald, J.D., served for twenty five years as a District and Family Court Judge in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He has been a consultant and member of Child Welfare Advisory Groups nationally and has focused his work on Court/Agency/Community partnerships and Court Improvement Programs.

Judge Stephen W. Rideout (ret.), is the former Lead Judge of the Alexandria Model Court Project, winner of a 2003 HHS Adoption Excellence Award, and a 2004 CASA Judge of the Year. He is a judicial resource on ICPC and on court, agency, and community collaboration regarding juvenile and family court issues.