Representation of Children in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases: An Empirical Look at What Constitutes Effective Representation

This Article describes the purposes and design of our empirical study and analyzes the study’s findings. Part I presents a case study of the representation of a child by a volunteer in a way that exhibits the role definition and training of the demonstration groups. Parts II and III discuss who should represent children and how those child advocates should be trained. Part IV discusses the design of the study. Part V presents an analysis of the study’s findings. Finally, Part VI considers the policy implications of the study and concludes that the demonstration groups improved the quality of representation and achieved preferred case outcomes for their clients. Accordingly, the demonstration groups offer viable alternative types of child representation to policymakers.