| MCLE Credit: | 4.0 (Ethics: 1.0) |
| Live-Interactive Credit: | 0.0 |
| Designation Credit: | 4.0 Divorce and Family Law, 1.0 Ethics (Designations Information) |
| GAL for Children CE Credit: | 4.0 (GAL Information) |
| Price: | $89 (Includes a downloadable audio version.) |
| Viewable Through: | 08/31/2025 |
$89.00 (or 4 Bundle Credits)
A pre-recorded streaming VIDEO replay from the September 2022 seminar, Child Dependency Case Training: The Nuts and Bolts.
Child Dependency Cases: Nuts & Bolts is a multi-disciplinary training designed for child welfare attorneys, including guardians ad litem, parents’ counsel, and counsel for the local departments of social services. The training highlights the necessary and required legal findings in child welfare cases through a review of district court forms commonly used in these matters and offers best practice tips to demonstrate effective advocacy in the initial foster care plan case planning process. The training concludes with an ethics panel discussing the roles and responsibilities of child dependency attorneys.
Objectives:
PLEASE NOTE: This course provides five-hours of training content but only four hours is accredited for MCLE credit by the VSB. The one-hour round table discussion does not qualify for accreditation.
COURSE TOPICS
| Welcome Sandra L. Karison, Director, Court Improvement Program |
| How to effectively advocate for your client in a foster care case Sherry L. Gill, LDSS Counsel Rebecca A. Imholt, Guardian ad litem Erin M. McClure, Parents Counsel Kelly Mahoney, Protective Services Program Manager Moderator: Jennifer M. Newman, Staff Attorney, Court Improvement Program |
| Round Table Discussion –the development of the foster care plan (No MCLE Credit) Sherry L. Gill, LDSS Counsel Rebecca A. Imholt, Guardian ad litem Erin M. McClure, Parents Counsel Kelly Mahoney, Protective Services Program Manager Moderator: Jennifer M. Newman, Staff Attorney, Court Improvement Program |
| Child Dependency Case Processing The Honorable A. Ellen White, Judge (Ret.) |
| Ethics Sherry L. Gill, LDSS Counsel Rebecca A. Imholt, Guardian ad litem Erin M. McClure, Parents Counsel Moderator: Jennifer M. Newman, Staff Attorney, Court Improvement Program |
FACULTY
A. Ellen White, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge, (Retired)
Sherry L. Gill, Esquire, PLLC / Chesterfield
Rebecca A. Imholt, Family Law Associates, P.C. / Richmond
Kelly Mahoney, Department of Social Services / Chesterfield, Colonial Heights
Erin M. McClure, Esquire, PLLC / Richmond
Jennifer M. Newman, Supreme Court of Virginia / Richmond
A. Ellen White, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge, (Retired)
A. Ellen White is a retired Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge who currently serves on the recall list for retired judges and as a judicial consultant. Prior to her retirement in 2018, A. Ellen White served 24 years as the presiding judge of the Campbell County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. She also served three terms as Chief Judge of the 24th District Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts. She served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for seven years and she is a past president of the Virginia Council of Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judges. She chaired the Judicial Education Committee, the Law Revision Committee, and the Judicial Administration Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia for District Courts. She received the Family Law Service Award from the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section in 2014; the Hon. Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award from the Judicial Council of Virginia in 2017 and the Lelia Baum Hopper Service Award from the Virginia Council of Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judges in 2018. She has served as a faculty member for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Continuing Legal Education Foundation and for numerous judicial education programs sponsored by the Supreme Court of Virginia. She led her court’s service as a Best Practice Court in the area of foster care and adoption from that program’s inception by the Virginia Court Improvement Program in 2002. She continues to serve on the Virginia Court Improvement Program Advisory Committee.
Prior to her appointment to the bench in 1994, Judge White was an attorney engaged in private law practice for eleven years in Lynchburg, Virginia. She obtained a B.A. Degree from the College of William and Mary in 1980 and her J.D. degree from the University of Richmond’s T. C. Williams School of Law in 1983.
Sherry L. Gill, Esquire, PLLC / Chesterfield
Sherry L. Gill is a graduate of Hollins University and the Regent University School of Law. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Gill worked as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney and a criminal defense attorney earlier in her career. Ms. Gill then entered private practice where she handles matters involving criminal and traffic law and focuses on matters of child dependency. She regularly serves as a guardian ad litem for children and adults. She also represents several local departments of social services including Emporia, Hopewell, Dinwiddie, Greensville, and Sussex.
Ms. Gill has served as a Guardian ad litem representative on the Chesterfield County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Improvement Committee; as a Guardian ad litem liaison for the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Department of Social Services and as a contributor to the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Guardian ad litem Roundtable. She has presented at regional bench-bar conferences and volunteered for the Supreme Court’s orientation program for new judges. Ms. Gill is currently a member of the CIP Advisory Committee.
Ms. Gill is the 2017-2018 recipient of the Heidi Welter-McClure Memorial Sportsmanship Award. She has volunteered with the Greater Richmond Horse Show Association, the Pro Bono Protective Order Project, the Virginia State Police Moot Court Training for new troopers, and served as committee member and Merit Badge Counselor for the Heart of Virginia Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Ms. Gill’s father is a retired circuit court judge and her mother retired from the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners. She is married to First Sergeant Brian R. Wright. Ms. Gill has two adult sons and a daughter who is a senior in high school this year.
Rebecca A. Imholt, Family Law Associates, P.C. / Richmond
Rebecca A. Imholt is an associate at Family Law Associates of Richmond, P.C. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2008 and obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond School of Law in 2011. While studying at the University of Richmond, Rebecca gained experience with the Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, Central Virginia Legal Aid and Blue Ridge Legal Services and concentrated on family law classes, earning her Family Law certificate. Upon graduation, she entered private practice as a general practitioner before focusing her work in the family law sector. She is trained as a Collaborative law attorney and is a guardian ad litem in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, representing children in custody and visitation cases, delinquency matters, protective orders and abuse and neglect cases.
Kelly Mahoney, Department of Social Services / Chesterfield, Colonial Heights
Kelly Mahoney is the Protective Services Program Manager for the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Department of Social Services. Mrs. Mahoney has been employed by one local department of social services or another for over twenty one years. She has the benefit and experience of working in four different localities and in every child welfare position (investigations, ongoing, family preservation, foster care, and adoption). Mrs. Mahoney is a FPM/TDM facilitator and a graduate of Radford University. She is originally from Chesterfield and currently resides there with her husband who is a police officer, her two teen daughters, her two dogs, and a pet rabbit. Mrs. Mahoney enjoys gardening and shopping.
Erin M. McClure, Esquire, PLLC / Richmond
Erin M. McClure has concentrated on juvenile law the entirety of her career. When she passed the bar in 2008, she started her own practice (Erin M. McClure, Esquire, PLLC) and has focused mostly on court appointed and guardian ad litem work. She has handled civil cases as well as misdemeanors and felonies in the City of Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, Goochland, and Caroline County. Additionally, she has contracted to represent local departments and currently represents the Petersburg Department of Social Services. Although she grew up in Fairfax County, she obtained her BA from Vanderbilt University in 2005 with a dual major in art history and sociology. During her time in Nashville, she volunteered at group homes, local jails, drug court, and the juvenile foster care board. Erin returned to Virginia to graduate in 2008 from the University of Richmond School of Law with her JD. Amidst her studies, she clerked for the Richmond JDR Court, clerked for the Richmond City Attorney’s office handling foster care cases, and volunteered for CASA. Currently, she lives with her husband, Michael, and their four kids in the near west end of Richmond.
Jennifer M. Newman, Supreme Court of Virginia / Richmond
Jennifer M. Newman is the Staff Attorney for the Court Improvement Program in the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Court Improvement Program works to integrate best practices into the policy and routines of the juvenile and family law court system. A particular focus for the program is on improving the court system’s ability to manage and resolve cases involving child abuse, neglect, foster care, and permanency planning for dependent children to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and standards, and effectively engage the family in child dependency case processes. The CIP also supports implementation of Judicial Council of Virginia standards for guardians ad litem for children and incapacitated adults.
Jennifer M. Newman is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Richmond Law School. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Newman opened her own law firm where she handled matters involving criminal appellate law, criminal law, family law, and focused on matters of child delinquency and child dependency for over twenty-one years. She regularly served as a Guardian ad litem for children and adults. Ms. Newman also served on various work groups and panels involving the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Department of Social Services and the Chesterfield Court Appointed Special Advocate program. Ms. Newman was a member of the Chesterfield Best Practices Core Group, of the CIP Advisory Committee and of the CASA/CJA Advisory Committee. She has presented in panel discussions at a number of seminars and has also spoken during PRIDE foster parent training, DSS family specialist training, and CASA volunteer training. Ms. Newman is also an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond Law School where she teaches appellate advocacy. Most importantly, prior to joining CIP, Ms. Newman had the absolute pleasure and privilege of mentoring and practicing with her mother for nearly nine years, who is a fellow Guardian ad litem.
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