Dependency Court Reforms Considered : Government: County studies proposal to establish panel of attorneys who would represent children but never parents.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to study a proposal to establish a special panel of attorneys to represent children in dependency court hearings. If approved, it would represent a major change in the county’s child welfare system.

Currently, dependency court attorneys are drawn from a panel, and they may be called on to represent children or their parents in cases involving child abuse, neglect and other highly charged matters.

That practice has led to concerns that lawyers too often favor the parents’ point of view even when they represent the children.

“There needs to be clarity and certainty on the issue of representation,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who sponsored the motion. “Confidence is not inspired if parties are perceived to be (in conflict) on these cases.”

Also being studied is a plan to restructure how dependency court attorneys are paid, from the current hourly billing to a flat-rate fee. Officials say the fee structure would ensure that cases are handled more quickly and would provide for more contact between attorney and client. Furthermore, the switch could save the county millions of dollars.

The supervisors are also considering proposals to increase training for those who work in the child protective system.

Peter Digre, director of the county’s Department of Children and Family Services, said the board’s actions could mean significant changes in the system.

“It would be a big bump upward in the quality of everything that occurs,” he said.

The suggestions to be considered by the board were proposed by Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Richard Montes and Supervising Dependency Court Judge Michael Nash. Their courtrooms have been the focus of scrutiny after the death of a 2-year-old boy who was placed in his father’s care by a dependency court judge despite allegations that the boy had been abused in his father’s home.

The supervisors last week launched an inquiry after a Times story that detailed the case of Lance Helms, who was found beaten to death on April 6 in the North Hollywood home where he lived with his father, David Helms, 30, and Helms’ girlfriend, Eve Wingfield, 22.

Wingfield has been charged with murder and two counts of child abuse. Helms has not been charged with any wrongdoing in his son’s death.

Members of the boy’s family and other critics say they repeatedly warned officials that Lance faced imminent harm if he were allowed to remain in the home, and they charge that dependency court judges and lawyers did not heed the warnings.

Montes said the proposal to provide special representation for children stems from a longstanding interest in improving how children are treated.

“We’re hoping that the board is in the same mind frame . . . that there should be a specific group of people who are trained and have a support staff that would enable them to properly represent children in the system,” Montes said.

He also acknowledged that the actions of dependency court judges should not be beyond scrutiny.

“We are evaluating our procedures to make sure our own judges and judicial officers are receiving the best training possible,” he said.

Tuesday’s actions followed a closed session, attended by Montes and Nash, at which the board began a review of confidential court records in the Helms case to determine whether breakdowns in the child protective system had led to the death.

“A whole lot of things went wrong so we are going to be reviewing the transcripts, not to lay blame, but to determine if there are any policy changes we can look at,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina. “If we need to ask for legislation to change governing rules in the way a child is (represented), than we need to do that.”