Pursuing Legal Change to Protect Children

Upcoming Events - Save the Dates

January 27, 2010: Career in Child and Family Law: A Round Robin

Attorneys who represent the interests of children as private attorneys, public defenders, assistant attorneys general and more talk about their practices. The speed-dating format of this popular event allows you to meet many attorneys and talk to them in small groups. Preregistration required.

March 4, 2010: Faith Healing and Children’s Health: The Limits of Parental Authority

April 2, 2010: Fifth Annual OCAP Conference: Ethical and Practical Dilemmas of Representing Children

About the Program

The Oregon Child Advocacy Project at the University of Oregon School of Law pursues legal change to protect children's interests. Faculty and students associated with OCAP work on legislative proposals and provide research assistance and consultation to attorneys in cases that advance the project’s goals. OCAP does not represent individual clients or give advice to private individuals.

OCAP regularly sponsors conferences for attorneys and other professionals on topics important for advocates for children. The next conference will be in April 2010 and will focus on ethical dilemmas for attorneys representing children. Audio files and powerpoints from the 2006, 2007, and 2008 CAP conferences are available here.

On Nov. 9, 2009, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about whether the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment precludes sentencing a person to life without the possibility of parole for a crime committed while the person was a minor. At noon that day, the Child Advocacy Project presented two experts who spoke about the legal and psychological principles that underlie this issue. Click here for audio recordings of their comments, background information about the cases, and transcripts of the oral arguments.

In 2008-09, the Project published research memoranda on Guardians ad Litem for Parents in Dependency and TPR Cases and Termination of Parental Rights in Extreme Conduct Cases. These documents, along with earlier memos are available on the Advocacy Projects page. Permission to reprint these documents is granted, so long as no fee is charged and the source is acknowledged. Attorneys who would like to propose research projects should contact the director.

The Oregon Child Advocacy Project is made possible by a generous founding gift from Duncan Campbell, a 1973 UO Law graduate and one of Oregon's most active children's advocates. The Knowledge Learning Corporation also supports the Project by sponsoring two Fellows.

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