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ART OF SOCIAL CHANGE: CHILD WELFARE, EDUCATION, & JUVENILE JUSTICE

Elizabeth Bartholet Professor of Law

Child Advocacy Program Faculty Director

Crisanne Hazen Lecturer on Law

Child Advocacy Program Assistant Director

Spring 2021 Thursdays, 5-7 p.m.

See Zoom Link in Canvas

Syllabus

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COURSE INFORMATION

I. Course Materials Bartholet, NOBODY’S CHILDREN: Abuse and Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption Alternative (Beacon Press 1999) [hereafter Nobody’s Children] will serve as the course text together with course materials in weekly Reading Packets that will be available before each class through the Canvas course page.

II. Administrative Details

Professor Elizabeth Bartholet Email: ebarthol@law.harvard.edu Office Hours: Fridays: 9-11 am (Email Prof. Bartholet directly to schedule an appointment)

Faculty Assistant: Kaiysa Mendy, (617) 496-0551 Email: kmendy@law.harvard.edu

Lecturer Crisanne Hazen Email: chazen@law.harvard.edu Office Hours: Email Crisanne directly to schedule an appointment

CAP Program Associate: Margo Strucker, (617) 496-8852 Email: mstrucker@law.harvard.edu

Teaching Fellows Chetna Beriwala: cberiwala@jd22.law.harvard.edu Gabrielle Kim: gkim@jd22.law.harvard.edu

III. CAP Website Details about CAP can be found on our website: http://cap.law.harvard.edu/. A page devoted to the spring 2021 Art of Social Change course provides the speaker schedule, speaker biographies, and other details.

IV. Canvas Course Page We will use the Canvas course page for many critical course components. To access the Canvas course page, log into Canvas (https://canvas.harvard.edu/). Choose “courses” from the top toolbar, and select “Art of Social Change.” Through Canvas, we will post class announcements and provide you with the weekly Reading Packets. You will also post your Questions/Comments and upload your Reaction Papers to Canvas:

1. Announcements: We will alert you to important course information (such as when Reading Packets are available, necessary details about upcoming classes, etc.) through the Canvas “Announcements” function. You will receive an email notification when we post each Announcement. All students who gain access to the Canvas page after the first class should

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review past course Announcements by clicking on the “Announcements” tab in the left toolbar. Please confirm that your Canvas notifications setting for “Announcements” is set to “ASAP” to ensure that you receive these messages promptly.

2. Course Materials: Course materials, including the Syllabus and each week’s Reading Packet, will be available through the “Files” tab in Canvas, located in the left toolbar. Packets will be posted on a rolling basis by the Friday before the Thursday session, and otherwise early in the week of the session.

3. Assignments: You will upload your assigned Questions or Post-Class Comments, and Reaction Papers, to Canvas. See pp. 11-13 of this Syllabus for an important section on Assignment Specifics, explaining the nature of these writing requirements, how and when to submit, and also providing information on grading.

If you have questions about Canvas or need training, explore the “Help” options at the top right corner of the course website to access support. If you cannot access the course website, contact the ITS Helpdesk (617-495-0722), HLS Administrative Services Hub.

V. Course Requirements Class attendance is very important. You cannot learn what the course has to offer or, relatedly, write good Reaction Papers, without both reading the assignment packets and attending the class sessions. Class participation is also important, and this includes participation in the breakout sessions. Come to class with questions and raise them in the Q&A sessions. Do not leave class before the end, as this is rude to the speakers who are generously giving of their time; also the Q&A sessions at the end of class include discussion that is as valuable as the lectures. Let Crisanne Hazen (chazen@law.harvard.edu) know in advance if there’s an important reason you need to miss class or leave early. Please keep your video camera on at all times. If there is a compelling reason not to have your video camera on, discuss in advance with Crisanne Hazen. Course assignments consist of four reaction papers related to the readings and class presentations, turned in after classes 3, 6, 9, and 12. In addition, each week, you will be responsible for posting a question about the assigned readings before class OR a comment about the lecture after class to the Discussion Board in Canvas. We will summarize the questions for our speakers in advance of class so that they have a sense for what is on your minds. See pp. 11-13 for an important section on Assignment Specifics.

VI. Accessibility and Diversity Statement

Harvard Law School is dedicated to facilitating equal access for students with disabilities. If you are a student with a documented disability or medical need and would like to request academic accommodations, please reach out to Student Support Services in the Dean of Students Office at studentsupport@law.harvard.edu or at 617-495-1880. Additional information, including how to

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register for accommodations can be found at https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/dos/student-support/accessibility-services-resources/. This course deals with many controversial issues. The materials and speakers may well present ideas, issues, and views that some of you will differ with and/or find troubling. We want students to be able to speak frankly and openly, while at the same time being sensitive to the feelings of others. We encourage you all to be generous in your assessment of others’ views and motivations, doing your best to understand before leaping to criticize those you differ with.

VII. HLS Community Principle on Non-Attribution HLS has adopted a Community Principle on Non-Attribution which makes the following principle applicable to classroom discussion: When using social media or other forms of communication designed to reach members of the public, no one may repeat or describe a statement made by a student in class in a manner that would enable a person who was not present in the class to identify the speaker of the statement. Please read the full HLS Community Principle on Non-Attribution at https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/registrar/policies-and-forms/hls-community-principle-on-non-attribution/.

VIII. Cross-Registrants and Auditors Cross-registrants: Cross-registrants must submit their petitions during HLS’s designated cross-registration window (January 21-January 31, 2020), and attend the first class on January 30, 2020. CAP will approve petitions on a rolling basis. The HLS Registrar’s Office will then enroll cross-registrants until the course is at capacity. When a prospective cross-registrant is admitted into the course, the HLS Registrar’s Office will send that student an email notification; cross-registrants are not admitted to the course until they receive this notification. Pending official enrollment to the course, cross-registrants should access course material on the course Canvas page and attend all class sessions. For further information about cross-registration procedures, visit: https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/academics/cross-registration-at-harvard-law-school/cross-registration-for-non-hls-students/. Auditors: Other than SJD students, no auditors are permitted to enroll this term.

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COURSE SCHEDULE Class 1 (Jan. 28): Course Overview

Reading:

Nobody’s Children, pp. 1-8, 22-29, 44-55, 98-110, 233-43 o Optional: pp. 8-22, 176-92

Reading Packet #1 Speakers: Elizabeth Bartholet, Prof. of Law and Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program Crisanne Hazen, Lecturer on Law and Assistant Director, Child Advocacy Program

Class 2 (Feb. 4): Neglect and Its Life-Long Impact; Related Issues in International Adoption Policy

Reading: Nobody’s Children, pp. 59-81. Reading Packet #2

Guest Speakers: Charles Nelson, Professor of Pediatrics, Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical

School; Professor of Education, Harvard University; Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research, Boston Children’s Hospital

Irene Costello, Co-Founder, Effie’s Homemade; International Adoptive Parent Ionela Costello, Student; International Adoptee

Professor Charles Nelson, one of the world’s leading experts on early brain development, will discuss the impact of neglect on children, focusing on the kind of profound neglect involved in orphanages abroad, that is also characteristic of some forms of neglect in families in the U.S. Prof. Nelson has led the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, the only gold standard social science study ever conducted on the impact of institutionalization on children, and has advised policy makers both here in the U.S. and throughout the world on child welfare policy. His work is relevant to the issues presented in not only this class but the entire rest of the course. Irene and Ionela Costello will share their personal experience with the shutdown of international adoption by Romania that has resulted in many thousands of Romanian children being denied adoptive families.

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Class 3 (Feb. 11): Education & Juvenile Justice: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Reading:

Reading Packet #3

Guest Speakers:

Tanya Coke, Director, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice, Ford Foundation

Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director, Advancement Project

Thena Robinson Mock, Program Officer, Communities for Just Schools Fund This class will focus on the movement to end the school-to-prison pipeline (STTP), a phenomenon that disproportionately affects children of color. Philanthropy has been an important force for change in our society not just in this area but more broadly. Tanya Coke has been a key philanthropic figure in the movement to end the STTP, helping to seed its national advocacy efforts. Judith Browne Dianis leads the Advancement Project, one of the first civil rights organizations to focus on the STPP. Thena Robinson Mock works with the Communities for Just Schools Fund, a re-granting intermediary that distributes pooled contributions from different funders to local grassroots organizations. Since the George Floyd uprisings in the summer of 2020, these local organizations have successfully pushed several school districts to end their contracts with police and to instead add school counselors — a major demand of STPP activists in recent years. Class 4 (Feb. 18): Child Welfare: The Use and Misuse of Science in Connection with Abusive Head Trauma (Shaken Baby Syndrome)

Reading:

Reading Packet #4

Guest Speakers:

Sameer Sabir, Founder, Rehma Fund for Children; CEO of SevenOaks Biosystems

Dr. Sandeep Narang, Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Child Advocacy and Protection; Child Abuse Pediatrician, Child Advocacy and Protection Services, Medical College of Wisconsin

This class addresses the use and misuse of science – a major issue in the areas covered by this course. The focus will be on this issue in the context of Abusive Head Trauma (AHT), once generally known as Shaken Baby Syndrome. Recent decades have seen an increasing understanding of AHT in the medical community, and increasing recognition of the need to address it through various public policy initiatives. However, defense attorneys representing parents and others accused of injuring children have pushed back, with the assistance of “expert” witnesses, challenging the very existence of AHT and its impact. Sameer Sabir is a local parent who took his own devastating loss as inspiration to fight for justice both for his child and for others, using a variety of advocacy strategies. Dr. Sandeep Narang has a background in both law and medicine, and is a leading expert on AHT. He has focused much of his research, writing, and teaching on issues involving the use and misuse of science both in the AHT context and more generally.

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Class 5 (Feb. 25): Child Welfare: The Use of Data to Inform Decision-Making in Child Maltreatment Cases

Reading: Reading Packet #5 Guest Speakers:

Emily Putnam-Hornstein, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; USC Distinguished Scholar and Faculty Co-Director, Children’s Data Network

Virginia Pryor, Chief Deputy Director for Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services

The child protection system is responsible for investigating allegations of abuse or neglect, and then working to resolve threats to child safety in an effort to prevent future harm to children. This charge means that the system is expected to be both reactive and preventative in the services it delivers. In terms of prevention, it means screening and delivering the proper level and array of protective interventions and preventative services for millions of children each year. Yet, analytic tools critical to supporting child protection workers often date back decades. Emily Putnam-Hornstein is a leading social scientist who has worked to translate her research to help agencies use data to better direct resources to those most at risk, enabling early intervention to provide the support they need. Ginger Pryor leads one of the nation’s largest child welfare systems, and is partnering with Putnam-Hornstein to implement practices in an effort to redesign traditional pathways to improve outcomes for vulnerable children. Class 6 (Mar. 4): Education: The Campaign for Safe, Supportive and Racially Just Schools

Reading:

Reading Packet #6

Guest Speakers:

Michael Gregory, Clinical Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

TBD The Harvard Law School Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative has worked for many years, using a variety of advocacy strategies, to create a national understanding of the critical need to address the effects of trauma and racism on the ability to learn. Professor Michael Gregory will share some of these strategies, including the use of student voices to bring attention to their own educational needs. Professor Gregory will be joined by some of his community partners, who will speak to their legislative and other advocacy work in Massachusetts.

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Class 7 (Mar. 11): Education: Establishing Educational Rights Through Litigation

Reading:

Reading Packet #7

Guest Speakers:

Michael Rebell, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Educational Equity, Teachers College, Columbia University; Adjunct Professor, Columbia Law School

TBD Professor Michael Rebell, author of an important recent book on education, Flunking Democracy, is a leading thinker on educational equity, and has played a major role in successful litigation campaigns over recent decades promoting educational reform. He will share his experience using impact litigation in state and federal courts to promote educational equity both in funding and in adequacy of education. He will focus his remarks on a landmark case he is now litigating in the federal courts designed to establish rights to an adequate education. Class 8 (Mar. 25): Education: Current Issues & Future Directions in Homeschooling

Reading:

Reading Packet #8

Guest Speakers:

Elizabeth Bartholet, Prof. of Law and Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program

James G. Dwyer, Arthur B. Hansen Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School

Rachel Coleman, Executive Director, Coalition for Responsible Home Education

Lindsey T. Powell, Patent Administrator, Harvard University; Homeschooling Alumna Homeschooling has grown dramatically in recent decades. Our nation’s recent Covid-19-related experience with expanded home education raises questions for the future, with some thinking this has helped demonstrate the risks in homeschooling, and others thinking it will encourage yet more parents to abandon traditional schools. Homeschooling is largely free of the kind of regulation that defines public education. There are few requirements that parents be qualified to teach, or that any particular subject matter be covered. Many states don’t even require that parents register their children for homeschooling. Many experts on homeschooling think the current unregulated regime poses risks both for children and society. A significant number of homeschooled children are denied basic educational skills, and denied exposure to ideas and values different from those of their parents. Many are subjected to abuse and neglect, missing out on the protection provided by traditional schools, where teachers are mandated reporters in the child protection system, with a duty to report suspected maltreatment. The legal trend has been in the direction of yet more deregulation, largely as a result of powerful advocacy by homeschooler organizations. These organizations take the position that there should be

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virtually no restrictions on parent power in this or related areas. They have, for example, joined with other parent rights organizations to oppose any child protective services intervention in the family. This class brings a variety of homeschooling experts to discuss their different perspectives and reform recommendations. Professor Bartholet is the author of a recent law review article on homeschooling which generated intensive backlash from homeschooler organizations. Professor Dwyer is the author of a comprehensive book on the history and current reality of homeschooling, and a leading scholar on child rights. Rachel Coleman is a homeschooling alum, and the co-founder and director of a non-profit focused on protecting homeschooled children against abuse and neglect by providing resources, conducting research and promoting policy reform. Lindsey Powell is a homeschooling alum, who has shared her experience and thoughts on the issues in recent writing. Class 9 (April 1): Immigration, Racial Justice, and the Private Bar Reading:

Reading Packet #9

Guest Speakers:

Brad Karp, Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP

TBD

Brad Karp is Chairman of the Paul, Weiss law firm, and a long-time leader of the firm’s litigation department. Under his leadership the firm has undertaken some major pro bono initiatives. These include, encouraging large numbers of other major law firms throughout the nation to join with Paul Weiss to help those victimized by Trump-era immigration policies, and to further racial justice. This has included an enormous mobilization of the private bar to represent families adversely affected by the Trump Administration’s family separation policies, and to represent demonstrators arrested during the racial justice protests of 2020. Class 10 (April 8): Juvenile Justice: UTEC and Youth Organizing Reading:

Reading Packet #10

Guest Speakers:

Susan Le, Program Manager, Teens Leading the Way, UTEC, Inc.

Teens Leading the Way (TLTW) Youth Organizers

UTEC, Inc., was founded in 1999 as the result of young people organizing in response to gang violence in their communities in Lowell and Lawrence, MA. UTEC works with “proven-risk youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success.” It uses an intensive street outreach model to meet young people where they are at. UTEC’s program includes a youth-driven movement to reform laws that negatively impact young people, called Teens Leading the Way (TLTW). UTEC leadership will discuss the organization’s mission, strategic approach, and data demonstrating the program’s success. TLTW youth members will discuss their successful campaign to reform law governing the sealing and expungement of juvenile records.

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Class 11 (April 18): Juvenile Justice: Policy Reform Designed to Address Abusive Conditions of and Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice Institutions Reading:

Reading Packet #11

Guest Speakers:

Jason Szanyi, Deputy Director, Center for Children’s Law and Policy

Jeannette Bocanegra, Executive Director, Justice for Families Our juvenile justice system is supposed to emphasize treatment and rehabilitation over punishment. However juvenile institutions are often brutal, and their educational systems are typically primitive. We lead the world in incarcerating children in adult prisons. All too frequently, institutionalized juveniles are subject to horrifically harsh behavior management strategies, including solitary confinement. There is a growing body of evidence that this kind of institutional treatment causes irreparable harm to developing brains while at the same time failing to provide any protection to society. The children victimized by these systems are overwhelmingly children of color. Jason Szanyi, HLS graduate and CAP alumnus, has worked for many years at the Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP) to end the use of solitary confinement and racial disparities, and to promote other system reforms. Jeannette Bocanegra, mother of a child affected by the system, is on the board of CCLP and leads a grassroots organization focused on empowering impacted family members to engage in advocacy and policy reform. Together they will discuss the nature of the system and the work they are doing on a local and national level to address racial inequities and reform harmful systems. Class 12 (Apr. 22): Child Rights Past & Present, Here & Abroad

Reading:

Nobody’s Children, pp. 33-43

Reading Packet #12 Guest Speakers:

Anne Dailey, Evangeline Starr Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law

Katharine Young, Associate Professor, Boston College Law School

Professor Anne Dailey, an HLS graduate and professor at UConn’s School of Law, focuses her academic work on child rights in the U.S. Professor Katharine Young’s work on human rights in the international arena, including on positive social and economic rights, provides an important international perspective on how differently child rights are conceived of in the U.S., with its negative rights tradition, as compared to the rest of the world.

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ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICS

I. Session Questions & Comments

Each week you will either submit a brief question for the upcoming speakers, along with a short explanation of why the question is significant, on the day prior to the week’s class OR you will submit a brief post-class comment the day after the week’s class. The due dates are listed on the final page of the Syllabus. You will post all questions and comments to the relevant section on Canvas’ Discussion Board. These posts will be public, for the class and instructors to see. Students can choose to thoughtfully respond to another student’s question or comment, or to generate a new post. Students are also encouraged to review their classmates’ posts each week to further enhance their learning. Questions: Your question for the speakers will be based on what you have learned about the week’s topic from the readings. The question and accompanying explanation, or related response, should be NO more than ½ a page single-spaced. This assignment should help you formulate questions you might present in class during the Q&A period, and collectively, will also be used to alert speakers to class concerns. You must post your question to the Discussion Board by 5:00 pm EST on the Wednesday before the Thursday class session (i.e., 1 day before class). Post-Class Comments: The comments should be brief reactions you have following the class session, expressed either in an original post or in response to another’s post. They should be should be NO more than ½ a page single-spaced. You must post your post-class comment to the Discussion Board by 5:00 pm EST the Friday after the Thursday class session (i.e., 1 day after class).

II. Session Reaction Papers

Every student will turn in four Reaction Papers. The due dates are listed on the final page of the Syllabus. Reaction Paper 1 will cover classes 1-3; Paper 2 will cover classes 4-6; Paper 3 will cover classes 7-9; and the final Paper will cover classes 10-12 but should also include cumulative reactions to the entire course. Unlike the questions/comments, the Reaction Papers will not be public, and will be reviewed only by the course instructors. Reaction Papers are opportunities for you to genuinely reflect on what you are thinking and learning as you review the reading packets and attend class, and how it might relate to your past work and future goals. But at the same time Reaction Papers should demonstrate that you have understood the readings and the class presentations. Keep both these ideas in mind as you write your Reaction Papers. You don’t want simply to summarize the readings and presentations, but do want to show that you read the materials, attended class, and understood both the basic and also more complex issues (e.g., conflicts between the speakers, connections with other sessions). You also don’t want only to talk about your past work or your future ambitions or your position on the issues, but at the same time, you do want to connect your experience with this course to yourself. You also want to use these Papers as a way to express your cumulative thinking and learning. Thus while each Reaction Paper should focus primarily on the three class sessions assigned for that paper,

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you should also connect to issues presented in previous class sessions. In your final paper you should reflect on your cumulative experience with the course. Reaction papers should be 4 double-spaced pages. You must include your name and the due date on the top of your submission. To submit your reaction paper, first save it as a Word file on your computer with the title “[lastname]_[date]_reaction.” For example, if your last name is “Adams,” title the file for your first submission “adams_feb2_reaction.” Next, log into the Canvas course page, click on “Assignments” in the left toolbar, and upload your reaction paper to the appropriate “Reaction Papers” assignment listed. You must upload your reaction paper to Canvas by 5:00 pm on the Wednesday after the Thursday session (6 days after class). You will see a green checkbox in the upper right corner of the screen when you successfully upload the document. Please see the schedule listed on the last page of this Syllabus for dates assignments are due.

III. Late Assignments If you miss the 5:00 pm deadline, you should still upload your reaction paper to the appropriate assignment in Canvas. You will see a “late” notification in red in the upper right portion of your screen. Email Crisanne Hazen (chazen@law.harvard.edu), copying Margo Strucker (mstrucker@law.harvard.edu) and Kaiysa Mendy (kmendy@law.harvard.edu), explaining why your assignment is late and notifying them that you have since uploaded your assignment. Assignment Submission Problems: If you have a problem uploading your assignment to the Canvas course page, simply email it to Crisanne Hazen (chazen@law.harvard.edu), copying Margo Strucker (mstrucker@law.harvard.edu) and Kaiysa Mendy (kmendy@law.harvard.edu), with the relevant explanation.

IV. Grading Grades will be based generally on your performance on the four written assignments and the timely submission of substantive questions/comments to the Discussion Board. You will receive limited feedback on the reaction papers throughout the term. You are welcome to speak with Prof. Bartholet or Crisanne Hazen if you have questions about this feedback or more generally about the Reaction Paper assignment. Submission of all assignments on a timely basis is important and will be taken into account in grading. It is your responsibility to check to make sure all of your assignments have been submitted on time. If you are absolutely unable to complete an assignment on the date specified because of some serious medical emergency, family crisis, or similarly important issue, contact Crisanne Hazen in advance of the due date to see if you can arrange for later submission. You should turn in all assignments even if you fail to meet the deadline.

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Note for cross-registrants from the HLS Registrar’s Office: All students are graded based on the HLS grading system. The HLS grading system is H, P, LP, and F (Honors, Pass, Low Pass and Fail). A small number of students may be awarded the Dean’s Scholar Prize, given to students whose performance in the course is extraordinary. The notation WD (Withdrew after Deadline) is applied when a student withdraws from a course after the drop deadline. Grade reports are obtained from your home institution’s Registrar’s Office.

2021 Questions (“Q) & Post-Class Comments (“C”) Schedule

Class Session Last Name: A-P Last Name: Q-Z

Class #2 – 2/4 Q (due 2/3) C (due 2/5)

Class #3 – 2/11 C (due 2/12) Q (due 2/10)

Class #4 – 2/18 Q (due 2/17) C (due 2/19)

Class #5 – 2/25 C (due 2/26) Q (due 2/24)

Class #6 – 3/4 Q (due 3/3) C (due 3/5)

Class #7 – 3/11 C (due 3/12) Q (due 3/10)

Class #8 – 3/25 Q (due 3/24) C (due 3/26)

Class #9 – 4/1 C (due 4/2) Q (due 3/31)

Class #10 – 4/8 Q (due 4/7) C (due 4/9)

Class #11 – 4/15 C (due 4/16) Q (due 4/14)

Class #12 – 4/22 Q (due 4/21) C (due 4/23)

2021 Reaction Paper Schedule

Classes & Readings Due Date

Reaction Paper 1 Jan. 28; Feb. 4; Feb. 11 Feb. 17, 5 pm

Reaction Paper 2 Feb. 18; Feb. 25; Mar. 4 Mar. 10, 5 pm

Reaction Paper 3 Mar. 11; Mar. 25; Apr. 1 Apr. 7, 5 pm

Reaction Paper 4 Apr. 8; Apr. 15; Apr. 22 Apr. 28, 5 pm