A bit of background - this county office was opened this February and funded by Travis County and a three-year grant from the Texas Supreme Court Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families. The underlying purpose of the office is to concentrate the resources of four experienced lawyers, a paralegal, two legal secretaries and a social worker all in one place, towards the same goal. Prior to this, the courts appointed a private lawyer in each case brought before them. Now these lawyers and other staff members can share their specialized expertise and are creating an office devoted to the best practices in child welfare law.

Leslie adds that sometimes, the attorneys from the office are conflicted out of a particular case because they represented a party in a previous matter. In those cases, the court will go ahead and appoint another attorney.

As a side note - a similar office has been opened called the Office of Parental Representation, for the same reasons.

As District Judge Darlene Byrne said, "It is exciting that Travis County has chosen to implement these two new offices in an effort to help support quality, efficient legal representation for parents and children in child abuse and neglect cases... By improving access to highly qualified legal services in this difficult area of law, I expect that these offices will improve the overall quality and efficiency of the court process while at the same time spending Travis County tax dollars in a more fiscally responsible manner."

Leslie had an excellent background for this type of work. Her dad is a lawyer and her mother is a teacher. "I've gotten to do a lot of things in both those realms," Leslie says. After graduating from Texas Tech Law School, she worked for organizations such as SafePlace and the Women's Advocacy Project, on the Family Violence Protection Team.

She was a prosecutor with DA's office under Ronnie Earle and then Rosemary Lehmberg for two and a half years. "You learn a lot in jobs like these. When you see kids with black eyes or their bodies covered in bruises, you realize that there's a side of life out there most people don't know about."

"We are representing the kids. We are their voice.

One distinction Leslie made for me: The Court Appointed Special Attorney's Office (CASA) represents what is in "the child's best interest." Leslie's office represents the child's legal interest. Our offices work very well together."

We're talking nests of trash in the house, kids not being fed for long periods, ones who are barely verbal, who have head lice to the point of infestation or broken bones, ones with siblings who have died under suspicious circumstances, and more. For instance, many children they advocate for have witnessed assaults or even murder, have had way too much access to drugs, have been sexually abused or any combination thereof. Their mental health needs are sometimes to the critical point.

She says that not all of their cases are from "at-risk" areas of town. "Some of our cases are from affluent neighborhoods." Point being, even well-off parents can just break down and start abusing their kids or leaving them alone for long periods.

"The cycle of violence that these kids are caught up in is tragic and overwhelming," Leslie says. "Sometimes people tell me that parents are just being strict. But there's a line between being strict and abuse."

Their goal is reunification of the children and parents if at all possible.

"This is where the systems step in and bring all the resources to bear on these situations," she says. "The hope is to reunify the family and create a safe environment for the children. That may mean providing parenting classes for the parents, give them mental health counseling, finding appropriate medications - whatever they need."

They usually have a year to get their act together. "Sometimes parents are given six additional months. Then the court has to decide whether or not the kids go back to the parents." Leslie notes that this is a very heavy burden - to make the call about sending the kids away to foster care.

In many cases, relatives step in. "There are many aunts, uncles, and grandparents who make these situations better. We are always working to identify appropriate family members to safely care for our clients."

Speaking to the effectiveness of their office, Leslie says, "We are a resource center and are grateful for the opportunity to represent the children of Travis County. We are using our shared knowledge as a team and the best practices in child welfare law to help our clients and add value to our community."

No doubt, they are under a mandate to show that their concept will work. "But we are fortunate to be living in a county that has taken steps to build a model system for child welfare law."