Hi, I'm Kimberly Atkins Store and this is Justice by Design because justice, of course,

doesn't just happen on its own. So in this podcast, I talk to the people who are on the ground

finding solutions to some of the most pressing issues in our society. You know, I learned an

interesting fact this week. One in 20 kids will have some

sort of experience interaction with the child protective custody system. Just think about that.

That's at least a kid in about every average classroom. And it's not just the child, of course,

who has that experience. It's the family, the parents and other custodial family members who

go through that experience too. And the stakes are high. Someone can lose custody of their child

or even be brought up on criminal charges. But even if criminal

charges don't result in they're just going through the civil child protective services system,

that doesn't have all of the constitutional protections that we think about. For example,

in a criminal court, you know, the right

to an attorney, the right to remain silent without that being used against you, and other

crucial protections, the right to not have a warrantless search. But that does happen in these

situations because it is a civil proceeding. And that can impose all kinds of burdens,

particularly on parents or custodial adults who may have been born in another country or

who speak a different language or who have a disability or low income earning and don't

have all of the same wherewithal that others do. As I said, the results

could be potentially devastating. You know, I'm a lawyer and I understand the differences between

civil and criminal law when it comes to proceedings and protections, but I was really shocked

when I looked into this at what the differences

really could mean. So that is why I am so glad I am joined today by Anjana Samant. She is a senior

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