PROFESSOR JOHNSTON-WALSH’S ARTICLE ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION BY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL OF LAW AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Lucy Johnston-WalshApril 2023 — Professor Lucy Johnston-Walsh’s article, “Out of State, Out of Mind: Legal Impact of Out-of-State Placement on Foster Youth,” was accepted for publication in Volume 9, Fall 2023, of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Public Affairs.

Professor Johnston-Walsh is the founding director of the Penn State Dickinson Law’s Children’s Advocacy Clinic. The Clinic receives court appointments to represent youth involved in the juvenile court system. Johnston-Walsh supervises law students in the clinic program. As part of this work, she has directly observed the negative impacts of foster youth being placed in congregate care settings, specifically when youth are placed out-of-state. The article examines the legal impacts on children when they are placed in out of state facilities. Recent changes to federal and state laws articulate a preference for courts to prioritize keeping children with family members. Yet too many youth are being placed in congregate care settings where they risk additional traumatization. The article examines the complexity of the congregate care system as well as recommends proposed solutions.


Lucy Johnston-Walsh is an assistant 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 including articles in Family Court Review, Akron Law Review and Seattle Journal for Social Justice.