Piazza Makes Case for State Foster Care Program

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Kristy Sims Piazza, Associate in the Plano office of family law firm Koons Fuller, has joined with other outstanding young lawyers in a plea for better legal representation of foster children.

Ms. Piazza is treasurer of the Texas Young Lawyers Association and an active pro bono participant with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. This organization recently honored her as one of DVAP’s Finest. Ms. Piazza is known as a fierce advocate for children and parents in difficult situations. When honoring her, DVAP said about Ms. Piazza:

Kristy is an aggressive litigator on behalf of the abused and abandoned. Working through DVAP, she obtained a divorce for one client including the support needed to raise her three children. The order also provided protection for the children and client from a spouse/parent who was physically abusive and mentally ill. In every case she takes, Kristy recognizes the seriousness and takes the outcomes personally…. For everything you do for disadvantaged children and parents, good work Kristy!

She co-wrote “Texas Foster Children Need Your Help” in the October 2010 issue of Texas Bar Journal with Patricia Hogue, special projects attorney with Texas Lawyers for Children.

In the article, Ms. Piazza and Hogue called upon Texas attorneys to provide pro bono representation to the more than 14,000 children each year who will grow up in the permanent managing conservatorship of the state.

“Many foster parents provide caring, safe homes, and they access all of the services that should be made available to foster children,” the authors wrote. “In some instances, however, foster children are not cared for as they should be or get lost in the shuffle.

“Some may suffer neglect, abuse, or other types of trauma and instability during the remainder of their childhood. Many aren’t taken to therapy as needed or don’t receive new clothes or other necessities from money provided by CPS because their foster parents do not spend the funds on them. Foster children who struggle behaviorally and emotionally are often overly medicated to make them more manageable…. Still others age out of the system without obtaining a driver’s license and other skills necessary for a productive, healthy life.”

To download a complete version of the article, click here.

Ms. Piazza was also a guest recently on the national radio talk show America Tonight and described the foster child program on WBAP Radio and other ABC Radio affiliates nationwide.