Resource Letter:
For Judges and Attorneys Handling Child Protective Services Cases
June 18, 2021
Announcing Scholarship Opportunities for Child Welfare Judges and Attorneys to Summer Conferences
The Children’s Commission is offering registration scholarships to qualified attorneys for the 2021 TexasBarCLE’s one-day Child Abuse and Neglect Workshop, for both in-person and virtual options as detailed below. The Commission is also offering registration scholarships to judges and qualified attorneys to attend the online-only portion of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) 44th National Child Welfare Law Conference, scheduled for August 16-18, 2021.
 
Please read below for more information on both of these scholarship opportunities. The closing date for both scholarship applications is midnight on Friday, July 2, 2021.
Attorney Scholarships for TexasBarCLE’s Child Abuse and Neglect Workshop (In-person and Virtual Options)
The 2021 TexasBarCLE Advanced Family Law Course's one-day Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) Workshop will be held live on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 as an in-person event in San Antonio, with one video replay in South Padre Island on October 15th and two virtual webcast replays on September 10th and October 22nd. For more information about the training and dates, please see the current CAN Workshop Brochure. Please note that the registration fee for the Workshop is waived for Texas judges by TexasBarCLE. Judges wishing to attend the CAN Workshop should contact TexasBarCLE directly.
 
The Children’s Commission is offering up to 100 registration scholarships to qualified attorneys to attend one of the in-person or virtual options offered for this year’s CAN Workshop. The scholarship will take the form of waived registration fees ($125) to attend the CAN Workshop only and not the full Advanced Family Law Course which includes the CAN Workshop. Applicants should note that the Children’s Commission is not able to reimburse attorneys who pay the State Bar of Texas directly for the Advanced Family Law Course or for the CAN Workshop. Applicants who meet all of the criteria detailed below will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis for a scholarship.
 
To meet the criteria for a scholarship, attorney applicants must currently represent DFPS or take appointments on a CPS docket, be in good standing with the State Bar of Texas and with their appointing or presiding judge, and commit to completing a post-event survey from the Children’s Commission. Judges with applicants from their jurisdiction will be notified by the Children’s Commission and asked to confirm that the applicant currently represents DFPS or takes appointments on their CPS docket.
 
For more information about the scholarship and to submit an application, please visit the Attorney Scholarships webpage. 
 
Please note, this scholarship opportunity will close at midnight on Friday, July 2, 2021.
Judicial and Attorney Scholarships for NACC 44th National Child Welfare Law Conference (Virtual Option only)
The Children’s Commission is offering up to 33 registration scholarships to judges and qualifying attorneys to attend the online-only portion of the NACC’s 44th National Child Welfare Law Conference, scheduled for August 16-18, 2021. Please note, the NACC’s Annual Conference will be held in a dual format this year; however, this scholarship is for attendees to the online-only conference and will not be eligible towards dual conference or in-person conference registration. More information about the online-only conference is available on the NACC website.

The scholarship will take the form of waived registration fees to attend the online-only portion of the NACC Annual Conference. Registration fees will be paid directly to NACC for each recipient, and NACC will register all Commission scholarship awardees.

To meet the criteria for a scholarship, attorney applicants must currently represent DFPS or take appointments on a CPS docket and be in good standing with the State Bar of Texas and with their appointing or presiding judge. Additionally, qualifying attorneys must be supported by their appointing or presiding judge. Judges with applicants from their jurisdiction will be notified by the Children’s Commission and asked to respond regarding the applicant’s suitability for the NACC scholarship. Judicial applicants must hear civil child welfare cases.

All applicants must also commit to completing a post-event survey from the Children’s Commission. Applicants who meet all of the criteria will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis for a scholarship. Early applications are strongly encouraged due to the limited number of scholarships.

Judicial applicants may visit the Judicial Scholarships webpage for more information and a link to apply.

Attorney applicants may visit the Attorney Scholarships webpage for more information and a link to apply.

Please note, this scholarship opportunity will close at midnight on Friday, July 2, 2021.
Having trouble viewing this message? Try View as Webpage
For a complete list of Resource Letters, please visit the Children's Commission webpage. Information provided by the Children’s Commission should not be read as a commentary by the Supreme Court of Texas or any other court. The Children’s Commission website is not equipped to facilitate dialogue or conversation about matters related to the information in this communique. For more information about the Children’s Commission, please visit our website.
STAY CONNECTED