The Institute to Transform Child Protection (ITCP) works to improve child welfare and reduce trauma in the legal system. Our multi-pronged approach includes policy reform as well as focused training and experiential opportunities for law/graduate students, legal professionals, courtroom/legislative stakeholders, and community partners.
ITCP now brings together Mitchell Hamline’s experienced staff—including a director of trauma-informed services and a training director—with the ground-breaking policy and research initiatives that began with the Child Protection Program and Zero Abuse Project.
Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Helen M. Meyer is highly regarded as a trial lawyer, judge, mentor, and colleague. She served for a decade on the Minnesota Supreme Court, where she helped to change long-standing systemic rules and encouraged other judges to make child protection cases a high priority. As chair of the Court’s Chemical Dependency Task Force, she led the effort to make recommendations on how the courts could better deal with persons with alcohol and other drug problems, especially juveniles. She also chaired the Parent Legal Representation Workgroup, which was formed to identify ways to offer legal assistance to families in child protection or termination of parental rights cases. After stepping down from the Supreme Court, Helen continued her advocacy on behalf of families by establishing Mitchell Hamline’s Child Protection Program to address systemic issues with parent representation and advocacy within the child protection system. In 2012, Helen received the prestigious Rosalie E. Wahl Justice for Children Award, which recognizes those who have championed legal advocacy for youth. In 2017, she was named and Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient by the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development, from which she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in social work in 1977.
In 2017, Jeff Anderson & Associates launched the Zero Abuse Project at Mitchell Hamline with the goal of preventing, recognizing, and responding to child abuse nationwide. Jeff Anderson & Associates pioneered the use of civil litigation to seek justice for survivors of child sexual abuse and is recognized as one of the nation’s premier law firms to represent survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Widely recognized as one of the most prolific and successful litigators of clergy sexual abuse cases against churches and other institutions, Jeff Anderson & Associates has handled priest abuse cases in numerous states throughout the nation.
Through teaching, training and policy reform efforts, ITCP promotes the development of best practices in child protection. Best practices include trauma-informed lawyering, a strategy to recognize a client’s individual trauma experiences and adjust one’s approach accordingly to accommodate vulnerable clients and protect oneself from vicarious trauma. By teaching and advocating for trauma-informed legal practices, ITCP works to break the cycle of trauma and ensure better legal outcomes for children and their families.