Lucy Johnston-Walsh
Assistant Professor of Law and Director, Children’s Advocacy Clinic and Center on Children and the LawAs a clinical professor, director of the Children’s Advocacy Clinic, and director of the Center on Children and the Law, Lucy Johnston-Walsh supervises law students in the legal representation of child clients in abuse and neglect court cases, as well as high conflict custody disputes. The Clinic operates as an interdisciplinary program, by partnering law students with graduate social work interns, pediatric medical residents, and child psychiatry fellows. Under her supervision, law students represent children’s legal interests in complex cases in the Court of Common Pleas as well as appellate advocacy. In addition to direct legal representation in court proceedings, Professor Johnston-Walsh also works on broader systemic policy issues which impact youth in the foster care system. Her recent work has focused on youth aging out of the foster care system and legal issues which they face. She has worked with the Penn State Child Maltreatment Solutions Network to create the Fostering Lions Program to assist foster youth attending college. She worked with a team of advocates to get legislation passed which provides free tuition to foster youth in Pennsylvania, and also works on the legal impediments to foster youth driving. Prior to directing the Clinic, Professor Johnston-Walsh worked as an attorney at MidPenn Legal Services and as a policy director for a statewide child advocacy organization, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. Before attending law school, Professor Johnston-Walsh was a school social worker in Virginia, where she recognized the need for quality legal advocacy for vulnerable youth. Select Publications by Professor Johnston-Walsh “Out of State, Out of Mind: Legal Impact of Out-of-State Placement on Foster Youth,” University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Public Affairs, Volume 9, Fall 2023. “Dynamic Interdisciplinary Exercise for Juvenile and Family Law Students,” Family Court Review, Volume 60, Issue 4, October 2022. “Tele-Lawyering and The Virtual Learning Experience: Finding the Silver Lining for Remote Hybrid Externships & Law Clinics after the Pandemic,” 54 Akron L. Rev, 735 (2021). “Life is a Highway: Addressing Legal Obstacles to Foster Youth Driving,” Seattle Journal for Social Justice, Vol. 19, Issue 1, December 2020. Kinship Care in Pennsylvania: Creating an Equitable System for Families “The Unreasonably Uncertain Risks of ‘Reasonable Medical Certainty’ in Child Abuse Cases: Mechanisms for Risk Reduction,” along with Carrie Russell, Mark S. Dias, Susan Boehmer, Raquel Muñiz, and Benjamin H. Levi, DRAKE LAW REVIEW, Volume 66, Number 2, 2018. |
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Johnston-Walsh’s Publications
“Out of State, Out of Mind: Legal Impact of Out-of-State Placement on Foster Youth,” University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Public Affairs (forthcoming Fall 2023)
Dynamic Interdisciplinary Exercise for Juvenile and Family Law Students, 60 FAMILY COURT REVIEW 4 (2022)
The Right to Drive: Texas Helps Foster Youth Get Licensed, The Imprint (Margaret Nicklas, June 14, 2022) (Cited)
How Law Schools Are Preparing Students for the ‘New Status Quo’ of Virtual Litigation: Comment. LAW.COM (Christine Charnosky, 2021)
Kinship Care in Pennsylvania: Creating an Equitable System for Families, PENNSYLVANIA PARTNERSHIPS FOR CHILDREN (Heidi Redlich Epstein, Jennifer Pokempner, Kathleen Creamer, and Karissa Phelps, 2021)
Tele-Lawyering and The Virtual Learning Experience: Finding the Silver Lining for Remote Hybrid Externships & Law Clinics after the Pandemic, 54 AKRON LAW REVIEW 4 (Alison Lintal, 2021).
Professor Johnston-Walsh’s “Behind the Wheel” research featured in The Annie E. Casey Foundation blog post
Professor Johnston-Walsh to appear on WPSU’s Conversations
PA Supreme Court agrees with brief submitted by Clinic
Professor Johnston-Walsh discusses focus of upcoming child abuse conference
Pediatric psychiatry residents bring medical perspective to Clinic students
School law conference set for March 14
Penn State to hold National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse
A look at the bigger picture: advocating for youth through policy
Professor Lucy Johnston-Walsh discusses child abuse awareness on WPSU
Center for Children and the Law plays key role in simplifying process for reporting child abuse
Lack of effective legal representation continues to harm children in PA, study shows
Johnston-Walsh’s Affiliations and Service to the Community
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
Board Member (2022-Present)
Pennsylvania Bar Association Children’s Rights Committee
Legislative Action Subcommittee Co-Chair (2021-Present)
Act 33 Committee: Cumberland County Multidisciplinary Child Fatality Review Committee
(2017-Present)
Cumberland County Independent Living Older Youth Advisory Committee
(2012-Present)
Pennsylvania Older Youth Advocacy Group
Youth Law Center (2020-Present)
Cumberland County Children’s Roundtable
(2022-Present)
Cumberland County CASA Program Advisory Council
(2009-Present)
Relevant Activities
CASA Training and Dependency Law, COURSE AT PENN STATE DICKINSON LAW (2022) (Co-Course Developer)
Government Engagement
Pennsylvania Child Advocacy Statewide Group, Office of the Child Advocate for Pennsylvania — Governor Tom Wolf’s Office of Advocacy and Reform (2022-Present) (Participant)
Johnston-Walsh’s Presentations and Panels
Fine is Bad: Preventing Unnecessary Criminal Records and Fines for Transition Age Youth, National Association of Counsel for Children Conference (with the Allegheny County Public Defenders’ Office and Kids Voice, August 22, 2022) (Presenter)
Connecting Scholarship and Practice to Support Kinship Families in the Commonwealth, Penn State Intergenerational Program: College of Agricultural Science (July 06, 2022) (Presenter)
Pennsylvania Children’s Summit, Guardian Ad Litem Representative (April 2022) (Guardian ad Litem)
Mandated Reporting Laws: Clinical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations, Penn State Psychological Clinic (April 18, 2022) (Presenter)
Foster Youth in Higher Education, Pennsylvania Older Youth Advocacy Group (With Myla Garcia and Prof. Kara Finck, December 07, 2021) (Presenter)
Kinship Placements for Foster Youth, Pennsylvania Older Youth Advocacy Group (With Karli Huber, November 23, 2021) (Presenter)
Connecting Scholarship and Practice to Support Kinship Families in the Commonwealth, Penn State Intergenerational Program: College of Agricultural Science (July 06, 2022) (Presenter)
Pennsylvania Children’s Summit, Guardian Ad Litem Representative (April 2022) (Guardian ad Litem)
Mandated Reporting Laws: Clinical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations, Penn State Psychological Clinic (April 18, 2022) (Presenter)
Foster Youth in Higher Education, Pennsylvania Older Youth Advocacy Group (With Myla Garcia and Prof. Kara Finck, December 07, 2021) (Presenter)
Kinship Placements for Foster Youth, Pennsylvania Older Youth Advocacy Group (With Karli Huber, November 23, 2021) (Presenter)
Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law are reunifying to operate as Penn State University’s single law school, which will be known as Penn State Dickinson Law. While ABA approval for the reunification is pending, both schools are currently fully accredited. We submitted an application for acquiescence to operate as a single law school in July 2024 and plan to enroll a unified class in Fall 2025. Once reunification is complete, the separate faculties of each school will be members of the reunified Penn State Dickinson Law faculty.