Marcano, however, was dependent on an "18-B" lawyer – named for article 18-B of New York State County Law, stating that counties must provide counsel for indigent parents. The 18-B lawyers are independent attorneys who get paid $75 an hour by the city to take individual parents’ cases. She found her attorney unreliable, but felt stuck with him. “It was like I was defending myself, even though my lawyer was there,” she said.
That should be changing soon for some parents. The city is changing the way low-income parents are represented in abuse or neglect cases where ACS is involved. Until now, they have either had to hire private lawyers, or depend what many consider uneven representation from the 18-B lawyers. The city issued a request for proposals (RFP) for outside agencies to become the “institutional providers” for indigent parents.
“For years, people have called for an institutional provider,” said John Feinblatt, the New York City criminal justice coordinator. “The other parties in the family justice system are all represented by institutional providers, and close to 30 organizations over the years have asked the city in one form or another to create an institutional provider,” Feinblatt said.
The spotty representation for parents also contributes to the long time many children spend in foster care before being reunited with their families or placed in a permanent home. Advocates say the whole system will be more efficient if parents are represented on par with children and the city.
Three organizations were selected to negotiate with the city: Bronx Defenders, South Brooklyn Legal Services and the Center for Family Representation in Manhattan. Because they are in the final lap of negotiations, Feinblatt did not reveal the details of the contracts, but they could add up to $10 million, according to his testimony before City Council in January.
The city received proposals from agencies in Queens and Staten Island, but Feinblatt said respondents did not meet standards, so he expects to reissue the RFP for those two boroughs.
Although some of the 18-B lawyers who currently represent parents are well qualified, people both within the system and without see advantages to having outside agencies overseeing parents’ cases in Family Court.
Stephanie Gendell, a senior policy associate at the Citizens Committee for Children, said the lawyers at these nonprofits will be able to better represent the parents because they’re able to address some of their extra-legal needs, and there will be more training and supervision.
"The institutional providers will be able to better represent parents because they will use a multidisciplinary approach that includes social workers," Gendell said, "and the attorneys will be able to receive formalized training and supervision through the new structure."
Attorney David Lansner served in the pool of 18-B lawyers from 1979 to 2000 and briefly sat on the committee that selects 18-B lawyers. He thinks the new institutional providers will do a much better job than the assigned counsel.
