Child Welfare & Juvenile Law 

Attorney Leslie Stewart is committed to making a difference in the lives of children in the Atlanta metropolitan area of Georgia.  Her child-centered law practice is  geared toward serving the best interests of children, because helping children is her lifelong passion.  She enthusastically represents adult clients who are attempting to do the right thing for children. 

She understands that child welfare and juvenile law matters can be emotional and challenging.  Ms. Stewart is sympathetic to her clients' situations and, when needed, tough when pursuing solutions to their problems.   She serves diverse clients and non-traditional families.   Ms. Stewart gives each client the personal service they need, along with a thorough explanation of the law and the available options. 

Practice Areas

Attorney Stewart is experienced in all aspects of child welfare law and any matters where a child needs a voice of his or her own.  For instance, she handles: 

• Private deprivation matters where a family member or friend seeks custody of an abandoned child
• Custody guardian ad litem matters
• Adoptions
• Stepparent adoptions
• Domestication of foreign adoptions
• Post-adoption issues which require an intermediary
• Legitimations
• Grandparent custody issues
• Adoption assistance issues
• Guardianships which allow children to attend school
• Special education advocacy

She offers:

• Free initial telephone consultation
• Respectful and compassionate representation
• Reasonable fees

For more information, please click on the links on the left-hand side of the page for specific practice areas. 

Camp Promise is a special camp for children who have been adopted out of foster care in Georgia.  This program was eliminated in the 21010 state budget. The state funded $100,000, which triggered federal match in the amount of $300,000.  If we do not spend the $100,000, Georgia loses the matching federal funds, and the program evaporates.  Cutting the Camp Promise funding represents “stepping over a dollar to save a dime.”  Given that rate of adoption disruption in Georgia is more than twice the national average (8% in Georgia compared to 3.5% nationally), it is clear that Georgia needs to do more to promote the stability of adoptive placements.

When adopted children experience an adoption disruption, this additional loss on top of many others can be too much.  Losing their professed “forever family,” the one which promised to love them ‘no matter what’ can be utterly devastating.  Many children end up in long-term residential treatment facilities, which are phenomenally expensive.  If Governor Perdue compares the relative cost of Camp Promise’s $100,000 budget cut and the cost of just one child being placed in a psychiatric hospital, it is clear that supporting foster-to-adopt families in Georgia through programs such as Camp Promise is not only the right thing to do, but is also cost-effective.

For years, Camp Promise has offered a tremendous benefit to adoptive families in Georgia.  It has helped both the children who have exited the foster care system as well as their families.  For many children, their stay at Camp Promise may constitute the only camp where they feel completely ‘normal’ since they are surrounded by other children who have survived very similar losses and traumas.  They are given the opportunity to support each other and form friendships, to not feel “weird.”  Camp counselors reinforce the kids’ positive behavior and help them learn social norms and boundaries, skills which they can take home and practice in the community.

For adoptive parents, Camp Promise can represent an important respite opportunity.  Typically, raising these children is particularly stressful and exhausting for parents.  As you know, these children have typically been victims of physical or sexual abuse or have been severely neglected.  The parents may deal with unusual or extreme behaviors on the part of the children.  The childrens' behaviors can make attending a mainstream summer camp problematic.  Many of the Camp Promise campers take psychoactive medications multiple times per day which requires careful management and careful dispensing by a registered nurse.  In general, the children who are eligible to attend Camp Promise need more supervision than children in the general population, and Camp Promise’s high staff-to-camper rate helps every child to be supervised every moment of the day and night.  Many parents report that the only time that they don’t worry about their children is the week their children spend at Camp Promise.  Parents can be confident that their children will be well cared for and that the staff is fully capable of handling their children’s melt-downs or oppositional behavior.

Camp Promise has represented a precious resource for adopted children and their parents, and it deserves another look.  Please sign Save Camp Promise Facebook page petition:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/340615/80120956?m=6987e7df

EVERY CHILD DESERVES A STABLE AND LOVING HOME  

 * * * * * * *

Did you know?

Adoptive parents of special needs children who were in DFCS (Department of Family and Children's Services) custody can finalize their adoptions at no cost.

Ms. Stewart is excited to announce that she has been named a 2009-2010 Georgia Supreme Court Fellow. The Supreme Court's Committee for Justice for Children has launched the Cold Case Project to help children in long-term foster care. 

http://www.georgiacourts.org/agencies/cpp/cms/

Please contact us anytime!  We look forward to hearing from you.

Child Welfare Links:

• Voices for Georgia's Children: http://www.georgiavoices.org/
• Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocates: http://www.gacasa.org/ 
• Prevent Child Abuse Georgia: http://www.preventchildabusega.org/html/home.html 
• The Office of the Child Advocate: http://gachildadvocate.org/02/ca/home/0,2697,84387339,00.html
• Georgia Juvenile Courts: http://www.georgiacourts.org/juvenile.html 
• Children's Rights: http://www.childrensrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home_page
• National Association of Counsel for Children:http://www.naccchildlaw.org/
• Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Georgia: http://www.afpag.org/

• Georgia Department of Human Resources (Grandparents Raising Grandchildren): www.hdr.georgia.gov/grg

Metro Area Juvenile Court Links:

• Dekalb: http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/juvenile/index.html
• Fulton: http://www.myfultoncountyga.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=5&id=46&Itemid=140
• Clayton:  http://www.co.clayton.ga.us/juvenile_court/index.htm
• Cobb: http://juvenile.cobbcountyga.gov/
• Gwinnett: http://www.gwinnettcourts.com/#courtsjudges_juvenile/
• Rockdale: http://www.rockdalecounty.org/main.cfm?id=2254