Hector Serrano sat in the courtroom, looking slightly uncomfortable but ready. When Susan Doherty, the referee (whose job is similar to a judge’s), began his court proceeding, he asked to be put on trial discharge from foster care, even though he’s only 18 and could stay in the system until 21.

After some discussion, Doherty agreed, then asked, “Is there anything else you’d like to bring up today?”

“I was wondering if, now that I am 18, my brother could live with me,” Hector said. “I could be his foster parent.” Doherty looked slightly surprised.

“Well, if that’s definitely your decision, it would be difficult,” she told him.

Hector also asked about his sister, who will soon be adopted. He wanted to know if he could still contact her after the adoption. Doherty explained that if he visits her often now, it’s likely that the adoptive family will continue the visits. She mandated that he have bi-weekly visits with his sister from now on.

A rare opportunity

As she ended his case, Hector was smiling and jittery, looking around for his foster father and lawyer.

Hector was lucky to be part of Teen Court Day at Manhattan Family Court. It’s a day Doherty sets aside every few months to hear only cases involving teens. Teens in the child welfare system aren’t usually encouraged to come into the courtroom, let alone allowed to speak for themselves. But on Teen Court Day, Doherty invites teens to be present and speak for themselves. She believes teens should play an active role in deciding what happens to them in foster care, and that judges should have a clearer picture of the teens whose fates they’re deciding.

Doherty is one of many advocates and teens who have been working to get judges, lawyers and policymakers nationwide to agree that teens should have more of a voice in their own cases.

A study last year by the Pew Commission on Foster Care found that surprisingly few teens participate in court proceedings. It is recommended that courts find ways to include teens in the decision-making on their own cases.

The commission also created Home at Last, a nonprofit advocacy organization, which has coordinated youth summits all over the country so that young people can tell system leaders why it’s important that they have a voice in court.

Youth at the summits discussed why foster youth are typically absent from court proceedings and what changes should be made to include them.

Teens call for change

During New York City’s Youth Summit at Fordham University, many teens communicated frustration and annoyance at not being able to be a part of the court proceedings. Teens also gave suggestions on how to improve every aspect of court, such as peer educators who help other teens know what’s going on and better transportation to court.

It was also suggested that teens would attend more court dates if they were not during school hours. As Ronnie Fuchs, director of the Office of Youth Development at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services, put it: “We tell you how important school is and then we screw it up by saying, ‘Come to court at 11 a.m.’”

Erik Pitchal, director of Fordham University's Interdisciplinary Center for Family and Child Advocacy, organized the Youth Summit in New York City. He said he was surprised at how strongly many youth want to be in court.

“The depth of wanting to participate and wanting to come to court is tremendous,” he said. “Even before the Youth Summit, there had been some movement to improve youth presence in court. I hope the summit pushed that even more.”

Lawyers learn the real deal

Lawyers were wide-eyed as they listened to teens' experiences in court, and conversations between teens and adults continued as everyone was filing out of the room.

Priti Kataria, a project attorney at Lawyers for Children, said she learned that one of the biggest problems in the courts is the lack of communication between law guardians and their clients. “I was surprised by how many teens didn't seem to know who their law guardians were, or how to reach them. That was definitely surprising and sad,” she said.

Kataria also felt that court hours and the long waits are major obstacles to getting teens to come to court dates. “It's the sitting and waiting that always gets you. Teens want to have something to do while they're waiting,” she said.

Ideas for improvement

Karen Fisher-Gutheil, an attorney at Legal Aid, said she felt the summit opened the lines of communication between adults and kids in the system. The most interesting thing for her was the number of teens in foster care who had never been to family court, had not spoken to a judge, and felt that they hadn't really been able to express their opinions and wants directly. “A lot of the teens felt shut out from a process that is all about them,” Gutheil said.

She believes that the way kids are represented in the courts should be evaluated, and that law guardians should put more emphasis on clients coming to court themselves. “Law guardians should talk to kids about coming to court, and when possible should arrange for them to be there,” she said.

Gutheil would like to see the city courts and foster care system come out with a joint plan outlining how they will make family courts friendlier to teens, “so it doesn't become 'That was a nice conference' and everyone is on to the next thing.”

A nationwide movement

About a dozen youth summits on family court have taken place around the country this year.

At the Arizona summit, Beth Rosenberg, director of the Children's Action Alliance, said she heard from teens who have been to court hearings and “just listened to everyone else and didn't speak for themselves.”

Now the Children's Action Alliance is writing a report based on recommendations youth made at the summit.

In Ohio, teens gave system leaders and the courts a lot of information on what they could do to improve their experiences in court, said Crystal Ward Allen, executive director of the Public Child Service Association of Ohio, which helped plan the event. She felt that the Ohio Summit was a rewarding experience for herself and the teens.

I hope the efforts of so many youth nationwide to make their voices heard will yield results.

My lost opportunity

Before the Youth Summit here in New York, I'd never even thought about attending court. I believed that was out of the question; I was a child. The adults were there to handle everything and my job was to just sit down and wait. The only times I went to court were for my siblings' adoptions and my own.

In retrospect, I wish I had been able to go in front of the judge while I was in care and been brave enough to tell her what was going on in the foster home I lived in for years. Although I went to my law guardian's office once or twice a year and answered a bunch of questions, I don't think I even understood how my answers would be used in court, or what court dates meant for me.

When I learned that I could've attended my court dates, I felt like I had been shortchanged somehow, like I might be in a completely different situation today if I had been given the opportunity to raise my voice. Maybe better, maybe worse, but at least I would have had a greater hand in making my own decisions.

Turning promise into progress

At the end of the summit, New York City's foster care commissioner, John Mattingly, made a speech promising “Your voices will be heard.” My hopes were not high. I couldn't help but think, “I'll believe it when I see it.”

But Pitchal said he plans to release a report including all the recommendations that the teen and adult groups came up with that day. And Ronnie Fuchs said plans are in the works to make reforms in the court that will encourage youth to participate.

“We're having conversations with family court people to make it easier for teens to come to court,” she said. Things like changing the dates and times of court dates so they don't conflict with school, or setting up a teen center, so instead of a cold, sterile waiting-room, you can use computers and there are things to do while you wait.”

Fuchs said the Bronx Family Court is now having a teen day, and the system is looking at models in other cities. In Chicago, for instance, court dates for youth are held in the evenings.

For now, Fuchs said, “There's no resolution on how to go forward, but there are a lot of ideas.”