Training Catalog

Mock Hearing Trainings 1-6

This case is a dramatization of a typical child in need of care case and the legal proceedings that follow. It was created with the input of various work group members comprised of judges, attorneys, DCFS, CASA, foster parents and students of social work. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. While certain articles are referenced below and during the dramatized hearings, Title VI “Child in Need of Care” of the Louisiana Children’s Code provides the authorizing statutes for these types of cases.

This case depicts the legal proceedings of a Child in Need of Care case, similar to actual cases across this country. Sophia Hutchins and her estranged husband, Jared are the parents of 11 year- old Tamara, and 2-year-old, Brit. A complaint is made to the Department of Children and Family Services alleging sexual “touching” of Tamara by Sophia’s live-in boyfriend; and neglect of Brit for failure to attend to his medical and developmental needs. Jared is an absent parent, whereabouts unknown. Upon receipt of the complaint, court invention is sought, and the children are taken into state’s custody. The dramatization chronicles the case over six hearings spanning an eighteen month period.