Pro Bono Project Volunteer Of The Month May 2013

Jenny Routheaux of Holland & Hart

Jenny has been an active volunteer with the Pro Bono Project taking on numerous Children’s Attorneys Project (CAP) cases for several years. Her volunteer cases have ranged significantly from children seeking reunification with their parents to those who have found permanency with a new family and been adopted.

There is one child’s case in particular that Jenny has been extensively involved with for seven years. While on this case, the Court terminated the child’s parental rights and Jenny appeared in court on 11 mental health petitions. During this time, the only real consistency for this child was Jenny, as her CAP attorney, and another individual who served as her Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).

Jenny has gone above and beyond in helping this child in various aspects of her life. She has represented the child’s wishes in court proceedings and made sure her needs and desires were being met through the foster care system. In addition to her legal advocacy, Jenny was often there to listen when the child simply wanted to talk. Jenny remembers an instance when the child was out of state in rehabilitation and asked if she could send her a letter. Knowing the child had no family to write her, Jenny was, of course, happy to do so.

Jenny’s goal as a pro bono CAP attorney is to make a difference, as small as it may be, in the lives of these children. Throughout Jenny’s seven years as an advocate for children in the foster care system, she has learned that these children often appreciate the non‐legal help just as much as the legal help.

Congratulations Jenny!