CLINICAL PROFESSOR JOHNSTON-WALSH’S FORTHCOMING ARTICLE
January 2021 — Clinical Professor Lucy Johnston-Walsh’s forthcoming article will be published in the Seattle Journal for Social Justice in March 2021. The article is entitled “Life is a Highway: Addressing Legal Obstacles to Foster Youth Driving.”
Professor Johnston-Walsh’s article closely analyzes impediments facing foster youth’s ability to drive. Johnston-Walsh’s research analyzes the legal obstacles presented and provides recommended solutions. Based on concerns presented by her clients from juvenile court practice, Johnston-Walsh began researching the transportation issues facing foster youth in 2016. She began analyzing state solutions and completed a survey of child welfare administrators. She later received a grant to complete a policy paper in 2018. She furthered this research with more complete legal analysis addressing concerns associated with liability of foster youth drivers. In 2019, she published a report on this topic that was funded by a grant from the prestigious Annie E. Casey Foundation. Johnston-Walsh’s forthcoming article makes recommendations for federal and state solutions. In December of 2020, Congress passed legislation providing temporary funding to the older youth population for driving-related expenses.
Lucy Johnston-Walsh is a Clinical Professor of Law and founding director of the Dickinson Law Children’s Advocacy Clinic. Professor Johnston-Walsh’s research, teaching and service focus on juvenile law, specifically legal challenges of youth involved in the foster care system. She supervises law students in the legal representation of youth involved in the dependency system and her scholarship directly relates to systemic issues presented through the clinic cases, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of child advocacy. Her recent scholarship has been published in both medical journals and law reviews with forthcoming articles in Akron Law Review and Seattle Journal for Social Justice.