Continuing Legal Education
Continuing Legal Education
NYPWA 2025 Annual Winter Conference
All legal sessions are in-person only and will not be recorded. Local DSS attorneys are eligible for up to 10.5 hours of CLE credits with their paid registration and confirmed attendance.
Sign-in for CLEs opens 15 minutes prior to start of each session.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
9:00am — 10:30am
Confidentiality and Where to Find It (1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
Confidentiality Update- a review of the 2025 Confidentiality Handbook, particularly the updated sections. Where to Find It – this sesssion will focus on various sources for information concerning social services programs, particularly those which contain legal and other policy statements of the agencies that regulate the social services programs
administered by the local social services districts.
Evaluations
PowerPoint
Handbook
Questions - Where to Find
Where to Find It
1:30pm — 3:00pm
Legal Risks v. Rewards in the Use of AI in Social Services Operations
(1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
A CLE that is also designed for management and fiscal that provides an overview of how AI might be used in staff operations, the growing legal oversight, the potential risks and rewards, and the possibility of creating “safety rails” for onboarding an AI application.
Evaluations
PowerPoint
Written Paper
Strategic Plan
Submission to Governor
Impact Assessments
AI Primer
Public Benefis
SNAP Modernization
Acceptable Use
Definitions
Automated Decisions Making
Bill to Repeal
3:30pm — 5:00pm
Child Support Case Law Update (1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
Discussion of significant court decisions in 2024 relating to parentage, child support establishment, modification, and enforcement.
Evaluations
PowerPoint
Caselaws
Thursday, January 30, 2025
9:00am — 10:30am
Child Welfare Caselaw Review, Part I (1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
A review of the reported child welfare cases from July 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.Part 1 will primarily focus on abuse and neglect cases.
Evaluations
PowerPoint
Caselaws
10:45am — 12:15pm
Child Welfare Caselaw Review, Part II (1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
A review of the reported child welfare cases from July 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024. Part 2 will focus on termination of parental rights and miscellaneous other cases in the child welfare area.
Evaluations
PowerPoint
Caselaws
1:30pm — 3:00pm
Evidentiary Issues in Article 10 Cases (1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
This presentation is to include updates in evidentiary issues in Article 10 cases, including hearsay exceptions, Confrontation Clause and challenges in domestic violence matters.
Evaluations
Handout
3:30pm — 5:00pm
Bridging the Gap: Reconciling the Need for Strong Legal Positions with the Client-Centered & Family-Centered Focus Required for Child Welfare Professionals (1.5 CLEs, 90 minutes)
This CLE will help attorneys understand how to prepare department caseworkers and staff members to testify in child welfare and child protective proceedings. It will focus on how child welfare staff are trained and how attorneys can best teach these staff members to ensure that case notes and testimony are legally sound. The presenter also comes from a background where she was trained as a therapist and practiced for a number of years before attending law school. While in law school the presenter also helped create a mediation program at the school. The presenter has experience working on both sides of these important issues and does testimony preparation and training for
Warren County DSS staff.
Evaluations
PowerPoint
Friday, January 31, 2025
9:00am — 11:00am
Meeting with State Agency Counsel
LDSS attorneys are invited to meet with OCFS (9:00-10:15) and OTDA (10:00-11:00) counsel to discuss questions related to their respective areas of practice as well as those where clarification from the State agencies are needed.
Questions
OCFS Agenda
OTDA Agenda