The Colorado Right to Counsel for Youth bill, effective 1/9/2023, requires that client-directed Counsel for Youth (CFY) be appointed for youth 12 years of age or older in certain case types. See CJD 04-06 and OCR's Transition to Client-Directed Representation materials for essential practice supports. Below is information about how these attorney roles appear in CARES. Roles in CARES take the place of former "capacities" per appointment. Read on or jump ahead to:
- Entering One Role
- Shifting From Best Interests to Client-Directed for the Same Youth
- Errors in Role
- Closing a Child Party
- Date Restrictions
- Best Interests Continuation Reason
Entering One Role
Each child party pop-up screen now offers checkboxes to identify the attorney's Role and the date it started. (In Dec. 2022, CARES automatically moved your former "capacity" into its corresponding role.) At least one Role checkbox is required per child party. In case types with only best interests representation, you will see only Best Interests Role(s) and a Best Interests Representation Start Date. You must select your Best Interests Role checkbox and enter the date it began for this youth:
In case types with only client-directed representation, you will see only Client-Directed Role(s) and a Client-Directed Representation Start Date. You can select a Client-Directed Role checkbox and enter the date it began for this youth:
Shifting From Best Interests to Client-Directed for the Same Youth
For case types in which the attorney may shift from best interests to client-directed for the same youth, you may select a Best Interests and Client-Directed Role in the same child party screen. (Learn how CARES will remind you of this change in Age-Based Reminders and Prompts.)
Important: Do not unselect your best interests checkbox after your role shifts (i.e., if the youth turns 12 during your appointment). Instead, keep the history by adding a second checkmark and date under "Client-Directed Representation." The corresponding dates together show the full timeline of your representation as pictured below:
In the D&N example above with both roles selected, the attorney was GAL for Youth from the start of their appointment on 1/1/2019 until the youth's 12th birthday on 2/1/2023. If, unlike the picture, your client-directed role has not started, you can leave that side blank. Or, if you began this appointment as Counsel for Youth, you can leave the best interests side blank.
Errors in Role
If you notice that the wrong Attorney Role box is checked, make note of its date (so you do not need to look it up again), then simply check the box of the attorney's correct Role. You may be required to re-enter its date, and you must save this child party to keep these changes. If you accidentally un-checked your Best Interests role when transitioning to Client-Directed, simply revisit that child party screen and re-check the Best Interests role and re-enter your original start date so you end up with 2 checkboxes (one for each role). Use the picture in the section above as a reference for how CARES will look with both boxes checked and dates entered, appropriately reflecting the history of your appointment. (Note, when CARES reminds you of a role shift, it will offer to check both boxes for you as a shortcut; see Age-Based Reminders and Prompts.)
Closing a Child Party
When the attorney's representation of the youth ends, enter the Representation End Date. This applies to all roles and to the child party as a whole; you do not see individual role-based end dates because the attorney can only be in one role at a time; the first ends when the next begins. When you enter the last Representation End Date on a child party on any appointment, the appointment will close.
Date Restrictions
Because the Right to Counsel for Youth bill takes effect 1/9/2023, that date is the earliest that CARES will expect an age-based shift from a best interests to a client-directed role in applicable case types. In other words, for an applicable child party who is already 15 years old on 1/9/2023, enter 1/9/2023 as the client-directed start date in CARES.
As CARES will always remind you if you make a mistake, the Best Interests Start Date must come before the Client-Directed Start Date, and the Representation End Date must always be on or after the start date(s). And, you cannot enter future dates.
If you try to save child party dates that would cut off any existing activities, you will see a message warning you about this when trying to save your child party. If your Attorney Role changed, be sure to preserve the history of your appointment as explained above; if keeping both roles/dates intact does not resolve the issue, please see Activity Dates Warning for other help with that error message.
Best Interests Continuation Reason
When both a Best Interests and Client-Directed role are possible, if you have selected an applicable Best Interests role, you may see a blank dropdown for Best Interests Continuation Reason, i.e. a reason why you did not shift to client-directed representation at age 12. In the rare instances when you need this reason, select a reason from the dropdown and save the child party.
This dropdown is only ever required by CARES if a best interests role continues past age 12--i.e., a youth is over 12 (according to their CARES date of birth) and a client-directed role was not started on their 12th birthday (or 1/9/23) or representation did not end altogether before they were 12. Usually, though, when you see Best Interests Continuation Reason required, you need to update your Client-Directed Role so it started on the youth's 12th birthday or 1/9/23 (whichever is later), and then the continuation dropdown will no longer be required or applicable.
If you have a Best Interests Continuation Reason that is applicable at 12 but later ends, leave the reason in the dropdown to explain the continuation past 12, and enter the client-directed role and start date when your client-directed role eventually begins.