CPCS Website

Traumatizing and Unnecessary: Ending the Practice of Juvenile Strip Searches
2024-02-21 13:00 - 14:30 UTC | Zoom
This complimentary webinar is sponsored by the American Bar Association Litigation Section Children’s Rights Litigation Committee
Strip searches are harmful and traumatizing to children and youth, however they happen regularly in a wide-variety of settings such as jails and detention centers, residential facilities for “troubled teens,” schools, before visits to incarcerated family members in correctional facilities, and by child protective services workers as part of child welfare investigations. Speakers on this webinar<https://form.jotform.com/240106778707157> will discuss the traumatizing long-term effects of strip searches and share tips and tools that can be used to advocate against strip searches so that fewer children and youth will be subjected to this demeaning and dehumanizing practice.
Speakers:
Riya Saha Shah, Senior Managing Director, Juvenile Law Center (moderator)
Tanisha Long, Community Organizer, Abolitionist Law Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Jessica Feierman, Senior Managing Director, Juvenile Law Center, Philadelphia, PA
Amanda Simmons, Ambika Law, PC, Corona del Mar, CA
To register for this complimentary webinar, click here: 2.21.2024 Traumatizing and Unnecessary: Ending the Practice of Juvenile Strip Searches (jotform.com) Register here
NOTE: 1.5 CLE credit for each webinar for attorneys on each of the following panels: CAFL & CAFL Appeals.

CPCS Wellness Committee Mindfulness Program: Mindfulness and Resilience
2024-02-21 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
CPCS Wellness Committee invites BC Law Professor, Filippa Marullo Anzalone, to present: Mindfulness and Resilience
Zoom Webinar Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kmS3EGCjRceOs-uJdO4ikQ
NOTE: 1 CLE credit for each webinar for: CAFL, YAD, Adult Criminal, Post-Conviction, Mental Health Litigation, MHLD Appeals, SORB and SDP Panels,
2 CLEs for YAD Appeals

Advocacy Amplified: Leveraging Social Service Expertise in Guardianship and Commitment Matters
2024-02-22 11:00 - 13:00
Meet Olivia DuBois, the Director of Social Service Advocacy.
•Learn about the purpose and benefit for yourclients to add SSEs to their defense teams.
•Understand how SSEs are used in Mental HealthGuardianship and Commitment cases.
•Describe the mechanics of obtaining an SSE forCPCS-assigned matters.
2 CLE Mental Health & Mental Health Appeals
In person program, 75 Federal St, Boston, presented by RC Toni Hall and MHLD Director of Social Service Advocacy, Olivia Dubois
Register Here:
Advocacy Amplified: Leveraging SSEs in Mental Health Defense Matters. Tickets, Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite

MHLD RED (Race, Equity & Diversity) Talk
2024-02-29 12:00 - 13:00
THIS PROGRAM QUALIFIES FOR 1 CLE ON THE MHLD TRIAL PANEL and MHLD APPEALS PANEL
Drop-in Lunch & Learn to build on other recent race trainings and support you in your MHLD practice!
Bring your lunch and come join your colleagues on MHLD staff and panel to talk informally and brainstorm about raising race in our cases. Do you believe that your client’s mental health treatment, admission to a facility or petition for commitment/guardianship is being impacted by racial bias? During each session we will focus on a different topic arising in our litigation. Come talk about how to tell your client’s story, develop strategy, draft cross and direct examinations, move to admit relevant studies and articles and make effective arguments to the court. This is also a chance to case crunch your cases with your colleagues over lunch!
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvcumurTkoGNYKPzOOjOVnt-3uslg6iXnd

Cancelled: Monthly CAFL Race Equity Drop-In
2024-02-29 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
February CAFL Monthly CAFL Race Equity Drop-In has been cancelled.
CPCS is having an agencywide Black History Month Event on a very important topic that is taking place at the same time as our drop in. It is approved for 1.5 CAFL CLEs. We hope you will sign up for this instead. There are both in person and zoom options.
Please register by 2/28/2024 so we can ensure we have a zoom license large enough.
https://www.cognitoforms.com/CommitteeForPublicCounselServices/CPCSBlackHistoryMonthPresentation
As a reminder, in lieu of our March drop in, we will be presenting a training on Using Data in Litigating Race, on March 20, 2:30-4:30. You can sign up here. We also hope you will join us for our April 3 drop in where we will continue to talk about using data.
Best regards,
CAFL Training & CAFL Racial Justice Task Force

Cops Have Records Too: Using the Full Disclosure Database in Youth Defense Cases
2024-02-29 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
NOTE: 1 CLE credit for each webinar for attorneys on each of the following panels: YAD Trial & YAD Appeals.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrdeugqToiHdCzI3eB0VT5aDNBXDO6b-4P

Negotiating and Litigating Meaningful Family Time
2024-03-04 13:00 - 15:30, 2024-03-14 13:00 - 15:30 | Zoom
Monday March 4, 2024, and Thursday March 14, 2024.
Research has shown that the frequency and quality of family time significantly impacts the chances for reunification and leads to more positive outcomes for children. This makes ensuring frequent, quality family time a cornerstone of every C&P and CRA. Over the course of two afternoons, we will provide an overview of the law of “visitation” – including DCF’s obligations, and the court’s sources of authority to enter orders. Using an interactive format, we will discuss strategies for successfully negotiating and litigating for meaningful family time and share tips for removing barriers to positive family time experiences. Some advance reading required (~1 hour), entitles practitioners to an additional CLE for a total of 6 CLE credits.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErcuCvqzkvHdHUCisSbQRqSP9T6DjuQn9s

Zealous Advocacy in the District Courts
2024-03-05 09:30 - 16:30, 2024-03-07 09:30 - 16:30, 2024-03-12 09:30 - 16:30, 2024-03-14 09:30 - 16:30, 2024-03-19 09:30 - 16:30, 2024-03-21 09:30 - 16:30
CPCS Bar Advocate Training Course for District Court Certification. This course is a hybrid of self-directed work and live session meetings. In order to be placed into the training program, an attorney must submit an application to both CPCS and to the County Bar Advocate Program they wish to practice from. Acceptance into a County Bar Advocate Program does not guarantee acceptance into the CPCS Training Program. The dates for this program are as follows:
February 23, 2023 (Welcome and Introduction to the course) 3:30-5:00 pm (Zoom)
February 26-March 1 (Self directed work on your own)
Live Session Meetings (various locations TBD)
March 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 28, 2024
9:30 am to 4:30 pm (with exception of 3/5 which starts at 9:00 am).
Application is below:
CPCS Bar Advocate Training Application updated 9.2023

MHLD Guardianship Certification
2024-03-05 13:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-08 13:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-12 13:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-15 13:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-19 13:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-22 13:00 - 16:00

Webinar on the New Family Treatment Court in Hampden County Juvenile Court
2024-03-06 13:00 - 15:30 | Zoom
Many of our clients struggle with substance use disorders. The traditional court system has historically penalized our clients for what is now known as the natural course of sobriety which includes relapse. We are excited about the new Family Treatment Court in Hampden County (“FTC”). The FTC offers our clients a path to sobriety that has the potential to speed the process of reunification in a less formal and more supportive environment while helping them pursue recovery. As anticipated, there are many questions about the FTC. Please come to a training on March 6 from 1-3:30 p.m. on Zoom to learn about how Family Treatment Court works. During the training you will have an opportunity to hear from someone with lived experience of the Family Treatment Court in Franklin County as well as court staff and CAFL. We will give a brief overview of the challenges our parent clients with substance use disorder face, discuss why FTC can be beneficial to our clients, and how it works. We will also cover advising clients about it, the role of counsel in FTC cases, and dispelling misconceptions about FTC. There will be plenty of time for questions at the end. And the training is worth 2.5 CAFL CLEs!
March 6, 1:00-3:30 PM.
Note: 2.5 CLE credit for each webinar for attorneys on each of the following panels: CAFL, CAFL Appeals.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkfu2srT4uGdzXMJh6-jC1HqWO9-DLkL-c

Norfolk/Worcester County Regional Coordinator Training
2024-03-08 09:30 - 11:30
CPCS
Mental Health Litigation Division
2 CLE Credits for MHLD
Training Topic: Communicating with Clients
Date & Time: Friday, March 8, 2024, 9:30 pm to 11:30pm
Platform: Zoom
Meeting ID: 882 0614 0063
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Advanced registration NOT required

Presented by:
Susan O’Leary, Norfolk Regional Coordinator
Anna Lembo, Esq., Worcester County Regional Coordinator
Upon completion of this seminar, you will be able to:
– Understand Rule 1.4, Rules of Professional Conduct on client communication
-Review approaches to client interviewing
-Develop an effective approach to interviewing a client with mental illness to improve legal advocacy in mental health matters

New Staff Orientation Bring Back
2024-03-11 09:00 - 17:00 | TBD
More information coming soon.
Location TBD

CAFL Trial Panel Certification Training Spring 2024
2024-03-13 14:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-18 09:30 - 17:00, 2024-03-21 13:00 - 16:30 | Zoom
The sessions include live plenary presentations, large group discussions, and small group discussions and exercises. Before each session, participants are required to complete about 6-8 hours of self-directed, independent work, including: watching videos, reading materials, and completing written assignments. Massachusetts families living in poverty and involved with DCF need lawyers who are well prepared and ready to provide excellent, zealous representation. We look forward to working with a group of lawyers who want to do the important and complex work these cases and these families require.

National Academies: Law Enforcement Use of Probabilistic Genotyping, Forensic DNA Phenotyping, and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Technologies: A Workshop (Day 1)
2024-03-14 09:00 - 16:00
Please join us on March 13-14, 2024, for a two-day public workshop exploring law enforcement use of probabilistic genotyping, forensic DNA phenotyping, and forensic investigative genetic genealogy technologies.
Presentations will explore how these technologies are currently being used by law enforcement, their accuracy and reliability, and key considerations around their application including: issues of disparate impact, civil rights, civil liberties, and other legal considerations and precedents. Speakers will also address institutional procedures to ensure that technologies are used effectively and equitably.

When:

Day 1: Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET
Day 2: Thursday, March 14, 2024, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET

Where:

Attend virtually:

You will receive the relevant link(s) to attend virtually via email.

CLE Credits Approved for the following:
Day 1: 5.5 YAD & Criminal Appeals
Day 2: 4.75 for YAD, 5 for Criminal Appeals
4 CLE Credits for Criminal Trials if they attend the following:

Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy: Considerations for Implementation (1.25)
Probabilistic DNA: Considerations for Implementation (1.5)
Genetic Phenotyping: Considerations for implementation (1.5)

This program is hosted by National Academy. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there. (ssmit@nas.edu). This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.

National Academies: Law Enforcement Use of Probabilistic Genotyping, Forensic DNA Phenotyping, and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Technologies: A Workshop (Day 2)
2024-03-15 09:00 - 16:00

Using Data in Litigating Race: Part I
2024-03-20 14:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
How to Find, Request, and Use Race Data to Advance Your Client’s Position
When: Wednesday March 20, 2024 @ 2:30-4:30pm
Families of color ensnared in the family regulation system face multiple layers of systemic racism as they fight to keep their families intact. As practitioners endeavoring to challenge state oppression, it is vital to address racial bias and treatment as they manifest in each of our cases. Using statistical data and research that underscores existing racism can be powerfully persuasive when your client needs to address issues of race in the court room. This training will help you find, interpret, and use data on racial disparities and race-based research to further your advocacy. It will provide an overview of publicly available resources, explain how to read and interpret data, and review the process of requesting publicly held information. We hope to use the full two hours of this session to not only present information but allow participants to brainstorm through hypotheticals and use the tools they have learned in planning how to find and use case specific data.
NOTE: 2 CLE credit for each webinar for attorneys on each of the following panels: CAFL, CAFL Appeals.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrc–grT8rHdBfIh1zv8ZaTakIpD_6pBR_

33E Gatekeeper Petitions After Smith
2024-03-21 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
This one-hour training will cover the procedural and substantive requirements for gatekeeper petitions (for adults and juveniles) filed pursuant to G.L. c. 278, § 33E.
Samples and resources will be provided.
Presenters:
David Nathanson, Wood & Nathanson, LLP
Afton M. Templin, Director, Juvenile Appeals, YAD/CPCS
NOTE: 1 CLE credit for each webinar for attorneys on each of the following panels: YAD Appeals & Adult Criminal Appeals.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrduqtpz4sEtbF6bSfPgWIL-JQHJ4sh7cE
