CPCS Website

SAMHSA-sponsored Free Webinar: How to Build Peer Support Ecosystems: Peer Services Offered in Communities Make a Difference in People's Lives
2023-05-10 13:30 - 15:00 UTC
This program is hosted by SAMHSA. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there. (SAMHSAInfo@samhsa.hhs.gov). This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.
This program qualifies for 1.5 CLE on the CPCS Mental Health Trial Panel and CPCS Mental Health Appeals Panel
Cherene Caraco, CEO of Promise Resource Network (PRN) in North Carolina, and Vesper Moore, COO of Kiva Centers in Massachusetts, will present on the services their organizations offer to support peers, including those with serious mental illness, in living full lives in the community. Learn about peer-run respites, warmlines, recovery education, wellness centers, trauma-informed peer support, supported employment, housing support, and other innovations in peer-run services. Cherene and Vesper will share how these peer-run services support people in recovering from crisis and in healing from trauma. Learn how these services can serve as an alternative to hospitalization and divert individuals from more expensive and restrictive interventions.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Strategies for Successor Counsel in Guardianship Cases: Addressing the Challenges You Face
2023-05-11 09:00 - 11:00
This program qualifies for 2 CLE on the CPCS Mental Health Trial and Mental Health Appeals Panels.
See link to flyer below for more information and to register:
Strategies for Successor Counsel Registration
If you are unable to access the flyer above, please use link below to register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkduGpqDsuHt2pY752W83WGPwMD2hB85GS#/registration

Persuasive Practice in Superior Court
2023-05-11 09:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-15 09:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-16 09:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-17 09:00 - 17:00
May 8, 9, 10,11, 15, 16, 17, 2023 (in-person event) in Worcester MA
The CPCS Criminal Defense Trainers are accepting applications for Persuasive Practice in Superior Court, a program that focuses on criminal defense practice in the Superior Court. This course is open to all criminal defense attorneys at CPCS and to any Bar Advocates who wish to become certified for the Superior Court Panel. Coaching and training faculty will consist of criminal defense lawyers experienced in Superior Court Practice. The cost for this training program is $100.
The stakes are much higher for clients who have been indicted, and there are important differences in Superior Court practice and District Court practice. The course will address procedural and substantive topics that every criminal defense lawyer practicing in Superior Court must know. Participants will also work on advanced trial advocacy skills in the context of cases commonly encountered in a Superior Court Practice.
The cost for this program is $100.00
Link to Application (Deadline March 15, 2023): THE DEADLINE HAS PASSED – APPLICATION NOT AVAILABLE

Training to Represent Children, Parents and Guardians in Guardianship of Minor Proceedings in the Probate and Family Court
2023-05-11 14:00 - 16:30, 2023-05-18 14:00 - 16:30
This spring CAFL is presenting a training program for attorneys who wish to become certified to represent children, parents and guardians in guardianship of minor proceedings in the Probate and Family Court. The training is open to all CAFL staff attorneys, as well as all private CAFL attorneys in good standing on the care and protection trial panel. (Staff attorneys should check in with their AIC before registering.) If you are already certified to take guardianship of minor cases in the Probate and Family Court and want to come to the training for a refresher, you are welcome. If you are not sure if you are certified to take guardianship cases, please contact Rita Caso at rcaso@localhost/cpcs to find out.
The training will be a mix of in person live sessions and self-directed work. The live sessions will take place on May 11 and May 18 from 2:00-4:30. Attendees will be required to watch recorded lectures and complete assignments before each of the sessions. Total self-directed work should take about 2 ½ hours. You must be available for both live sessions. Approved for 8 CAFL CLEs.
You can register for the guardianship certification here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkdO2upz0rHNZA212cJCdJmJ4fFhuw7Z4t
The registration deadline is April 28, 2023. If you have any questions about the training, please email cafltraining@localhost/cpcs.

Misconduct Summit - May 12, 2023
2023-05-12 09:00 - 17:00
CLE: 6.5 CAFL, Adult Criminal, Criminal Appeals, Mental Health, YAD, Parole/Medical ParoleTickets: $50
Summit flyer with more information can be found HERE.
Registration link here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-systemic-misconduct-summit-tickets-623394207857

MCLE Presents: 10th Annual Legal Services Conference
2023-05-12 09:30 - 13:30
This program is hosted by MCLE. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there. (customerservice@mcle.org). This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.
For more information, including how to register, please click link below:
https://www.mcle.org/product/catalog/code/2230187P01
This program qualifies for 4 CLE on Mental Health and Mental Health Appeals Panels

Boston Bar Association Presents: Using Single Transaction Conservatorships
2023-05-16 12:00 - 13:00
This program is hosted by Boston Bar Association. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there ((617)742-0615) This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.
This program qualifies for 1 CLE on the CPCS Mental Health Panel
Learn strategies for determining when a “single transaction” conservatorship may be useful, the benefits and pitfalls, how to successfully move your petition through the probate court, and how to discharge the special conservator after the single transaction is completed.
For more information and to register, please use link below:
https://bostonbar.my.site.com/LightningMemberPortal/s/lt-event?id=a1Y4W000003uZLQUA2#/Overview

Dorothy Roberts: "How the Family Policing System Endangers Survivors and Their Children"
2023-05-16 14:00 - 15:30
Presented by Jane Doe Inc., the MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.
“Children are taken on grounds of neglect where there isn’t any evidence of severe abuse,” said Roberts, the author of Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families – and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World. “We could imagine a better way of dealing with the families’ and the children’s needs without resorting to this traumatic intervention of seizing children. We shouldn’t think of them as aberrant cases.”
How are adult and child survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, especially BIPOC survivors, impacted by what we call the child welfare system? How is the family policing system connected to sexual violence and the trauma to prison pipeline?
Many survivors become entangled into the child welfare/family policing system in the course of their daily lives – when accessing education, housing, health care, services for survivors of SA/DV and so much more. What is our role as anti-violence survivor-centered advocates in this? How can we continue to support survivors and their families when state agencies become barriers, tools of surveillance, and sites of increased oppression and risk of experiencing violence?
Join us for a virtual talk with Professor Dorothy E Roberts who will explore these tensions and provide insight in how we can continue to support survivors and their families.
ASL & CART will be provided. Please request any other accommodation needs in your registration.
This session will be recorded; HOWEVER, it will only be accessible with a protected link for a year.
About Dorothy Roberts:
Dorothy Roberts is the 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, with joint appointments in the Departments of Africana Studies and Sociology and the Law School, where she is the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights. She is also the founding director of the Penn Program on Race, Science, and Society. An internationally recognized scholar, public intellectual, and social justice advocate, she has written and lectured extensively on race, gender, and class inequities in U.S. institutions and has been a leader in transforming public thinking and policy on reproductive freedom, child welfare, and bioethics.
She is the author of “Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty” (Pantheon, 1997/Vintage, 2017), “Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare” (Basic Books, 2001), “Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century “(The New Press, 2011), and “Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World” (Basic Books, 2022), as well as more than 100 articles and book chapters, including “Race” in the 1619 Project book.
Recent recognitions of her work include 2022 election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; 2022 Juvenile Law Center Leadership Prize; 2019 Honorary Doctor of Law Degree, Rutgers University-Newark; 2019 New Voices for Reproductive Justice Voice of Vision Award; 2017 election to the National Academy of Medicine; 2016 Society of Family Planning Lifetime Achievement Award; 2015 American Psychiatric Association Solomon Carter Fuller Award. Her TEDTalk, “The Problem with Race-Based Medicine,” has 1.5 million views.
1.5: CAFL CLE
REGISTER HERE: https://jdi.coalitionmanager.org/eventmanager/trainingevent/details/288

How to Stop DCF from Taking Children’s SSI/Social Security Benefits
2023-05-16 14:00 - 16:00
Did you know that every month DCF takes about $500,000 of foster children’s SSI and Social Security survivors’ benefits and funnels the money into the Massachusetts general fund? Please join national and local experts to learn what you can do to protect these federal benefits for children and families. We will discuss SSI and Social Security eligibility requirements, DCF’s obligation to screen and apply for benefits; recent changes to DCF regulations regarding its handling of children’s benefits; and legal and practical strategies for ensuring SSI and Social Security payments are conserved for the benefit of children and families. Our expert presenters include: Amy Harfeld, National Policy Director at the Children’s Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C., and local experts Rick Glassman and Linda Landry from the Massachusetts Disability Law Center.Approved for 2 CAFL CLEs.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcO6oqzguE9RStKcmm5aHvKNcuXznywUB

1st Annual CPCS Social Services Conference
2023-05-17 09:00 - 13:00, 2023-05-23 09:00 - 15:00
Please join the CPCS Directors of Social Work and Social Services Advocacy for the first Annual CPCS Social Services Conference.
Please join the CPCS Directors of Social Work and Social Services Advocacy for the first Annual CPCS Social Services Conference, to be held virtually on Wednesday, May 17th from 9am-2pm and Tuesday, May 23rd from 9am-3pm. This conference is meant for both staff SSAs/Social Workers and expert vendor social services professionals who work as part of indigent legal defense teams, including child and family law, juvenile justice and youthful offenders, mental health commitments and adult guardianships, and adult criminal cases.

Agenda: May 17th (4 CLE: CAFL)
9am-9:30am: Welcome and Intro
9:30am-11:00am: Neurobiology of Addiction, Heidi Ginter, MD, FASAM, Recovery Centers of America (RCA), (1 NBCC CEU)
11:15-1:00pm: BSAS 101: Substance Use Disorder Care in Massachusetts, Deirdre Calvert, Director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS)

Agenda: May 23rd (5 CLE: CAFL)
9am-9:30am: Welcome and Intro
9:30-11:30am: Trauma Informed Interviewing, Stephanne Thornton, Clinical Director for the West Virginia Judicial and Lawyer Assistance Program, (2 CEUs pending)*
12:30-2:00pm: Housing 101, Metro Housing
2:00-3:00pm: The 411 on Applying for Housing with Your Client, Yesenia Valentin, Housing Specialist

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1st-annual-cpcs-social-services-conference-tickets-617082599667

Redoubtable Openings & Closings Workshop 2023
2023-05-17 09:30 - 16:30
This program is hosted by MCLE. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there. (customerservice@mcle.org). This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.
In person, MCLE Boston
For more information, including how to register, please click link below:
https://www.mcle.org/product/catalog/code/2230209P01
5.5 CLE: CAFL

To Be Or (How) Not to Be ACC: Understanding How the Armed Career Criminal Act Impacts Your Juvenile Court Practice
2023-05-18 14:00 - 15:00
CLE: 1 YAD
Faculty: Sam Harold & Melanie Roberts

NAMI Presents: PSAN Recovery Speaker Series, Michael Siena recovery story and work at MBRLC
2023-05-18 18:30 - 19:30
This program is hosted by NAMI Greater Boston (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there: 781-819-3282 | info@namiboston.org
This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.
This program qualifies for 1 CLE on the MHLD Appeals Panel
PSAN Recovery Speaker Series, Michael Siena recovery story and work at MBRLC
Hear Michael Siena talk about his recovery story followed by an in-depth description of his work within the Metro Boston Recovery Learning Community (MBRLC) over the last ten plus years. He will cover working on the Peer Support Line as well as working at the Boston Resource Center, giving details of the tools, resources and challenges involved with working in both settings. At the end of the talk, he will go over some things he learned over the years working in the MBRLC and as a person in recovery.
REGISTRATION LINK:
Zoom Meeting ID: 969 8487 4345
https://bostonmedicalcenter.zoom.us/j/96984874345
Dial by your location +1 646 558 8656 US

Asian Women for Health Presents: 14th Annual Asian American Mental Health Forum
2023-05-20 10:00 - 16:00
This program is hosted by Asian Women for Health. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there: info@asianwomenforhealth.org This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues

This program qualifies for 6 CLE on the CPCS Mental Health Trial and Mental Health Appeals Panels
for More information and how to register please use link below:
14th Annual Asian American Mental Health Forum: Embrace Different, Live Well – Disability, Accessibilty, and Mental Health

Issue Spotting Part One of “After the TCH”
2023-05-23 13:30 - 16:00
The Temporary Custody Hearing just ended. DCF has been awarded Temporary Custody. What do you do now? Identifying the potential issues in the case is a critical step for developing a comprehensive case plan. Join us for this zoom training designed to assist you in ferreting out the key issues in your cases. We start with a new, completely original CAFL hypothetical. And it is packed with issues. Your homework is to read the hypothetical and watch a short video. Then join us on May 23rd for the zoom training. After a brief introduction, we will break into small groups where we can unpack the issues presented in the hypothetical. When we rejoin the large group, we will compare lists and discuss how to use this list in your case planning.
This is the first training in the “After the TCH” series. It will be followed later in the year with a training entitled “What to Do After the 72”. CAFL hopes to add to the series as time permits.
REGISTER HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpf-ygqzstE9Yzpzr8qc0offyY-RDgAvhn
3 CLEs

Youth At Risk Annual Conference Lawyers
2023-05-24 07:30 - 16:30
Youth at Risk (YAR) is the region’s leading conference offering affordable continuing education, collaborative networking and self-care opportunities for professionals who serve children, youth, and families. In its 23rd year, YAR has a full schedule of workshops, keynotes, exhibitors, student artwork, and performances with the goal of delivering positive change to Massachusetts youth.
Located at Endicott College in Beverly, the all-day conference is geared toward those working with and caring for youth in various settings—family, community, school, religious, healthcare, human service, and legal. Attendees include social workers, psychologists, youth counselors, family therapists, educators, school adjustment counselors, guidance counselors, community and public health workers, program managers, agency and organization CEOs, police officers, juvenile court personnel, lawyers, and volunteers.
You can find the Workshop Brochure CAFL Here.
Day of Schedule for application CAFL Here
For more information, visit Pathways for Children: https://www.pw4c.org/youth-at-risk-conference
5.5 CAFL CLEs

Whose Case is it Anyway? Come Learn about the MCCJA & PKPA
2023-05-25 14:00 - 16:00
Did your client move to Massachusetts less than six months ago? Is there a pending custody case or outstanding custody order in another state? If so, the courts in Massachusetts may not have jurisdiction to decide the client’s case. Come learn about the Massachusetts Child Custody Jurisdiction Act and federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act. We will review these complex laws and walk you through a series of fact patterns to help you learn how to analyze these issues in your own cases. We will also discuss practical issues such as advising your clients about the risks and benefits of having the case heard in the other state; communication between the two courts, motions to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, and more.2 CAFL CLEs
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvce6trzIuE915zTFrK3G0PxOyJ4BmvcT3

MHLD Regional Coordinator Training- Three Prongs of Risk of Harm
2023-05-26 13:00 - 15:00
Barnstable, Plymouth, and Bristol Counties Regional Coordinator Virtual Training Via Zoom May 26, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The Three Prongs of Risk of Harm
2 MHLD CLE
Join us for an Expert Panel discussion on the three prongs of risk of harm applied in Section 7&8 Petitions for civil commitment. In addition to Mike O’Brien and Joan LeGraw the panel includes two psychiatrists (Mark Rudolph M.D.) and (Helen Farrell M. D) and one psychologist (Paul Zeizel PhD) all of whom have substantial experience serving as independent medical examiners for Respondents at civil commitment hearings. In advance of the discussion panel members and attendees will receive several hypothetical fact patterns, designed to elicit diverse assessments and opinions. The discussion will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of a hypothetical petition based on each fact pattern.
This training will help you:

Identify how different types of expert clinicians assess serious/substantial risk of harm
Apply the law on risk of harm to hypothetical fact patterns
Incorporate/consider the findings of a clinical assessment of risk of harm based on hypothetical fact patterns
Develop a plan for undermining Petitioner’s expert testimony on risk of harm in their next case.

Registration Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kc-GrrT0oH9393ny5sZ70ghOelhUPbn7Q
If you have any questions please contact:
Joan LeGraw: attorneyjlegraw@gmail.com or
Mike O’Brien: obrienmichael80@yahoo.com

Monthly CAFL Race Equity Drop-In
2023-05-30 01:00 - 14:00
Have you ever witnessed or experienced implicit bias or racism in your CAFL casework and didn’t know how to respond in the moment? Do you feel like you could use some ideas on how to respond if this happens to you? Join us for the next CAFL Racial Equity Drop-In on May 30, 2023. Come brainstorm with colleagues in a no-judgment and no-pressure environment on how to respond to these incidents when they occur and beyond! We started this conversation last month and it was so productive we agreed to continue the conversation with the goal of combining our ideas into a “guide” for practitioners. You do not need to have been at an earlier drop-in to come to this one. We look forward to seeing those who can come and to continuing the great, substantive, creative conversations we are having at these drop-ins.
You can register to attend here.
Approved for 1 CAFL CLE.

MHLD RED (Race, Equity & Diversity) Talk
2023-05-31 12:00 - 13:00
THIS PROGRAM QUALIFIES FOR 1 CLE ON THE MHLD TRIAL PANEL and MHLD APPEALS PANEL
Announcing a new 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? Every month 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/tZMtf-uppj8jGdxypq_aJlkx5_qsOFHHRcKC

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)
2023-06-01 14:00 - 16:00
Is your client seeking placement of the child with a parent or relative in another state? Has DCF proposed moving the child to another state over your client’s objection? Come learn about the intricacies of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children and how it impacts placement of children outside Massachusetts. We will review the ICPC’s purpose, the procedures for seeking a home study in another state, expedited placements, and what to do if the receiving state rejects the proposed custodian. We will also discuss the Appeals Court’s recent decision in Adoption of Knox, which addresses application of the ICPC to parents.2 CAFL CLEs
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwrc-6vqj8rHNyrCMKAj_7bUILJ_tBkJ1Ew

Part 3 of the Cultural Humility Series: Kinship Workshop
2023-06-07 15:00 - 17:00
Presented by the SJC Court Improvement Program Training Committee.
Join us as we hear from experts in the field about how to realize kinship care for children, including:

The Importance of placement with kin
Making kin a priority
Pathways to placing kids with kin
How to speak to kin about coming forward
The experience of kin placement

2 CLE for CAFL/YAD
More information can be found here.
Register here!

MCLE: Introducing & Excluding Evidence at Trial
2023-06-08 13:00 - 17:00
This program is hosted by MCLE. Any questions or issues regarding this program should be directed there. (customerservice@mcle.org). This event is being listed for informational purposes only. CPCS staff cannot assist with, or solve, registration issues.
4 CLE: CAFL and CAFL Appellate
For more information and registration information click link below:
https://www.mcle.org/product/catalog/code/2230194WBC

Go to the Head of the Class! Education Law Basics for Court-Involved Youth
2023-06-13 09:00 - 16:00
The EdLaw Project is offering a one day in-person training on the basics of education advocacy at the Worcester Law Library on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Please join us for a day of learning about how best to advocate for your clients in school. Key topics will include special education, school discipline, manifestation determination reviews, and school stability.
Please note, this training is meant for attorneys newer to the practice or with limited experience with education law. (If you are an experienced attorney and feel like you have some training gaps around education law, reach out and let me know – we are happy to offer additional trainings and supports).
This training has been approved for 6.5 YAD / CAFL CLEs. Register here.

Trauma Informed Interviewing Training
2023-06-14 10:00 - 12:00
Presented by the Wildflower Alliance and the CPCS Holistic Defense Working Group
Approved for 2 CLE Credits for all CPCS Panels
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqceCprTwtEtCNtnxVcTDuMgeAh1PcFMUG
