Symposium

Join the Hall Center for Law and Health and the Indiana Health Law Review as they host their annual symposium on Friday, November 7, 2025 at Inlow Hall on child advocacy and health law!

* This program will be offered in person for 5.0 CLE credit hours.
* CEU Certificates for Indiana Behavioral Health & Human Services Providers available.
* Certificates of attendance can be provided for those wishing to apply for CLE credit outside of Indiana.

Agenda:

Parking

Parking is available for a nominal fee at the campus Gateway Garage, located on the corner of Michigan and California Streets (Address is 525 Blackford Street). Parking is also available for a nominal fee at the Sports Complex Garage two blocks west of the law school.

Special Accommodations

On the registration, individuals with special needs should please indicate any special assistance you may need. Special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs.

Registration options

You will not be fully registered until you've paid the registration fee.

Attorney Registration with CLE - $85.00
General Registration (no CLE) - $35.00
Faculty & Staff of Indiana University/McKinney School of Law - $15.00
Students of Indiana University/McKinney School of Law - Complimentary
 

About the Speakers:

Keynote Speaker

The Honorable Dana J. Kenworthy
JD, Judge, Court of Appeals Indiana

Presentation Title:
Lives in the Balance: Legal & Ethical Considerations of the Child Welfare System

Dana J. Kenworthy, a lifelong Hoosier raised in small town Amboy, has devoted her entire career to public service. Governor Eric Holcomb appointed her to the Court of Appeals in December 2022, resulting in the first female majority in the Court’s history.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Criminal Justice in 1998, and graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University McKinney School of Law in 2001.

From 2001 to 2010, she served as a Grant County Deputy Prosecutor, concentrating on cases involving child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, computer-facilitated crimes, and juvenile delinquency. During this time, she served as a guardian ad litem, course instructor for Finding Words (teaching how to interview children in a nonleading way), and coordinator for Grant County’s Pro Bono Program. In 2005, she received the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Outstanding Prosecutor Award, and in 2006 she received the Indiana Pro Bono Commission’s Randall T. Shepard Award.

From 2010 to 2022, she served as Judge of Grant Superior Court 2. Her general jurisdiction docket included criminal, civil, juvenile, family, and probate cases. In 2015, she established the Grant County Family Recovery Court (FRC)—a problem-solving court which provides intensive supervision and treatment services for Child in Need of Services families struggling with substance use disorder. Grant County FRC is known as the “gold standard” for FRCs in Indiana, and in 2021 was named one of eight Peer Learning Courts (PLC) in the United States.

Throughout her career, Judge Kenworthy has held numerous leadership positions in local, state, and national organizations aimed at improving the administration of justice, including as President of the Indiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Board of Directors. She currently serves as Chair of the Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana, and the State’s Youth Justice Oversight Committee. 

Devoted to their community, Judge Kenworthy and her husband Alex have served as foster parents to fifteen children—infants to teenagers—from 2003 to 2006.  

• Presentation Title: Lives in the Balance: Legal & Ethical Considerations of the Child Welfare System
• This session will include discussion of (1) challenges of balancing competing interests in the legal system, i.e., child safety vs. parental rights, (2) ethical obligations, roles & responsibilities of attorneys, GAL/CASA, & judges when interacting with children & others involved in the child welfare system, (3) representation models, i.e., best interests vs. child’s wishes, (4) critical decision points in the child welfare system, (5) promising practices, i.e., Family Recovery Courts, (6) practical tips for interacting with children in the legal system, and (7) emerging legal issues. The session will include substantive instruction on the law as well as material designed to help current and future lawyers effectively represent clients involved in the child welfare system.

Morning Panelist

Emily Buss
JD, Mark and Barbara Fried Professor of Law, The University of Chicago Law School

Presentation Title:
Youth Engagement in Juvenile Court

Emily Buss's research interests include children’s and parents’ rights and the legal system’s allocation of responsibility for children’s development among parent, child, and state. She served as an Associate Reporter for the American law Institute’s first Restatement on the Law, Children and the Law, due to be published in final form this year, and was the principal drafter of the chapters on children’s constitutional rights in schools and on state and parents’ obligation to educate children. She has also focused particular attention on the impact of the juvenile and criminal justice systems on human development and is currently pursuing a project, supported by the University’s International Institute of Research in Paris, designed to facilitate coordination across these two systems that takes account of development over the life course. In addition to courses addressing the subjects of her research, Buss teaches civil procedure and evidence.

Professor Buss received her BA summa cum laude from Yale University in 1982 and her JD from Yale Law School in 1986. After graduating from law school Buss clerked for Judge Louis H. Pollak of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the US Supreme Court. From 1989-1990, Buss worked as a staff attorney in the Child Advocacy Unit of the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore representing children in the child welfare system. In 1990, Buss joined the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia and from 1993 to 1996, she served as the Center’s Deputy Director.

• Presentation Title: Youth Engagement in Juvenile Court
• My presentation will report on the design, implementation, and findings of a pilot project I conducted in collaboration with a Juvenile Court judge in Milwaukee aimed at enhancing the engagement of youth charged with crimes in Juvenile Court. The pilot design drew on procedural justice theory and related legal socialization theory as well as models for reform in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. The session will offer attenders a grounding in this theory and in related constitutional developments as well as practical ideas about how to improve engagement, whether as a lawyer, a service provider, or a judge, with you involved in court proceedings.

Morning Panelist

Katherine Meger Kelsey
JD, Chief Legal Counsel, Kids' Voice of Indiana; Executive Director, Children's Law Center of Indiana

Presentation Title:
Ethics and Child Welfare

Katherine Meger Kelsey is the Chief Legal Counsel for Kids' Voice of Indiana and the Executive Director of the Children's Law Center of Indiana. She has been an attorney with Kids' Voice since 2009 and has practiced solely in the areas of family and juvenile law. She is the co-author of multiple versions of the Indiana CHINS and Family Law Deskbook, and the author of “A Child's Right to Counsel: The Case for Indiana to Craft Its Own Framework,” published in the Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality.

• Presentation Title: Ethics and Child Welfare
• Ethics and Child Welfare will discuss some of the more prevalent ethics issues which present themselves to attorneys working within the arena of child welfare. This will include recent case law and Rules of Professional Conduct. Topics covered will include a discussion of GAL/CASA role and ethics, common ethical situations which arise in cases, and examples.

Morning Panelist

Rachel Vilensky,
JD, CWLS, Director of the Direct Representation Program, Child Advocates

Presentation Title:
The Role of Counsel for Foster Children

Rachel Vilensky is the Director of the Direct Representation Program at Child Advocates where she provides legal advocacy to children involved in the Indiana child welfare system. She also teaches a practicum at Indiana University Maurer School of Law on Child Representation. Rachel was the first Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist in Indiana. Before coming to Child Advocates, Rachel was the Juvenile Division Assistant Chief at the Marion County Public Defender Agency and provided training on juvenile defense representation through the Indiana Public Defender Council. She graduated from the Maurer School of Law: Indiana University in 2009. Rachel became a certified trainer for the Juvenile Training Immersion Program in 2015 and trained defenders in multiple states. Rachel is passionate about ensuring children involved in court cases know their rights, are given the opportunity to appropriately assert or waive their rights, and have legal representation to assist them with the court process.

• Presentation Title: The Role of Counsel for Foster Children
• This presentation will focus on the importance of counsel for children in the child welfare system. Basic fairness, or due process, requires that children are aware of the rights afforded to them by law, and can assert or waive them as they wish. We will discuss children’s Indiana and constitutional rights and the current status of counsel for children. I will then discuss the specific ethical considerations attorneys representing children in the child welfare system encounter and what the Rules of Professional Responsibility, National Association of Counsel for Children and American Bar Association say to do.

Afternoon Keynote Speaker

Dorit R. Reiss,
LLB, PhD, Professor of Law and James Edgar Hervey Chair in Litigation, UC Law San Francisco (formerly Hastings)

Presentation Title:
Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Relation to Consent to Childhood Vaccination

Dorit R. Reiss is a professor of law and the James Edgar Hervey Chair in Litigation at UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings). She specializes in vaccines law and policy, including exemption laws and tort liability related to non-vaccination. She published in law reviews, peer reviewed journals and blogs on legal and policy issues related to vaccines and co-authored a book on Vaccines Law and Policy with Professor Y. Tony Yang.

• Presentation Title: Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Relation to Consent to Childhood Vaccination
• This presentation will examine three challenges in relation to vaccinating children, and address the legal framework and the ethical dilemmas surrounding them. First, it will discuss the problems that arise when parents want to vaccinate their children, but access barriers prevent it, and what can be done about that. Second, it will address the challenges when parents do not consent to a child's vaccination, and potential tools to address the risks to others that creates - school vaccination mandates and lawsuit for non-vaccinating. Finally, it will address the legal and ethical issues around allowing minors to consent to vaccines when parents do not consent.

Afternoon Panelist

Joaquin R. Gallegos (Jicarilla Apache Nation and Pueblo of Santa Ana),
JD, Former Special Advisor to U.S. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs under Biden-Harris Administration

Presentation Title:
Indian Child Health & Attempted U.S. Assimilation

Joaquin R. Gallegos Jicarilla Apache Nation | Pueblo of Santa Ana, attorney, served as the advisor to the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs under the Biden Administration. Prior to his advising role, he was a law clerk for the Honorable Allison H. Eid of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Additionally, Joaquin practiced as a Legislative Staff Attorney for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and was honored to serve as an Ambassador for the American Indian College Fund.

• Presentation Title: Indian Child Health & Attempted U.S. Assimilation
• This talk will describe the political and legal status of children from Indian Country—Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Villages, and the Native Hawaiian Community, which is named in the Constitution, and overview their resulting health status. Further, it will detail legal threats against Indian children from policy-makers to special interest groups and prevailing countermeasures including U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. Finally, it will report the intellectual and practical actions that the legal and broader community can take to help advance the first children of these lands and waters. This talk should qualify for legal credit because it will improve the comprehension and skills of attorneys that face Indian child involvement in the child welfare system and health law space by teaching historical and contemporary executive, legislative, and judicial actions or decisions.

Afternoon Panelist

Susan Mudd,
JD, MA, Senior Policy Advocate, Environmental Law & Policy Center

Presentation Title:
Children’s Right to Breathe Clean Air--Threats and Opportunities

Susan Mudd is an attorney and senior policy advocate for ELPC, where she directs ELPC’s Diesel Pollution Reduction Initiative to protect children’s and community health, ELPC’s Electric School bus campaign and other clean air initiatives. Susan previously served as Citizens for a Better Environment’s Wisconsin director for 15 years, consulted for the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and the Brico Fund. She lives in Chicago with her husband.

• Presentation Title: Children’s Right to Breathe Clean Air--Threats and Opportunities
• Mudd has done extensive advocacy and policy work on the effects of diesel pollution on children’s health. Her presentation will explore both current threats and how advocates can navigate federal (Clean Air Act, IIJA/Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act) and state laws to improve children’s health. She will also discuss the ongoing trend of children-led lawsuits against governmental entities for the right to a clean, healthy environment.

Afternoon Panelist

Uzoamaka Emeka Nzelibe,
JD, Clinical Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; Director, Siegle Clinic for Immigrant Youth and Families

Presentation Title:
Proving Harm: Documenting Persecution in Child and Youth Asylum Case

Uzoamaka Emeka Nzelibe is a clinical professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She directs the Seigle Clinic for Immigrant Youth and Families, part of the Northwestern Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Children and Family Justice Center. In this role, she represents children, emerging adults, and parents in immigration court proceedings. Professor Nzelibe also teaches a clinical course and seminar on asylum and related forms of humanitarian status.

Throughout her more than twenty years at Northwestern, Uzoamaka Nzelibe has represented numerous asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, emerging adults in detention, and parent survivors of domestic violence. Professor Nzelibe has also written opinion pieces on the U.S. immigration system, appeared as a guest expert on public radio and other media outlets, and presented as an invited speaker at U.S. and international conferences on forced migration, U.S. immigration policy, and clinical pedagogy. She has helped develop modules for the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative and is a frequent speaker on the use of forensic medical evaluations in asylum cases.

Before joining the Bluhm Legal Clinic, Uzoamaka Nzelibe worked at Patton Boggs LLP, where she was an associate in both the employment and immigration law groups and represented indigent clients seeking asylum as part of the firm’s pro bono program. Upon her move to Chicago, Illinois, she worked as an associate for Novack & Macey LLP, a civil litigation boutique law firm. Professor Nzelibe is a graduate of the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University and New York University School of Law.

• Presentation Title: Proving Harm: Documenting Persecution in Child and Youth Asylum Case
• The presentation examines the evidentiary challenges involved in demonstrating harm in asylum and protection-based cases involving children and youth. It explores the types of harm commonly encountered in these cases, including physical and psychological harm, and the role of forensic medical evaluations (FMEs) in substantiating harm. The presentation will also address the limitations of FMEs and offer best practices for their use in child and youth contexts.

Morning Session Moderator

Jami Sayeed,
JD, 2025-2026 Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Jami Sayeed teaches and researches at the intersection of health law and administrative law. She specializes in Medicaid law and administrative proceedings. Sayeed has created and provided trainings and guidance for Administrative Law Judges, including developing a comprehensive judicial orientation program for new Indiana Administrative Law Judges. Her practice also includes Alternative Dispute Resolution, government contracts, and elder law.

Prior to joining Indiana University McKinney School of Law, Professor Sayeed served as the Director of Administration with the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning. She also served as Deputy General Counsel and Director of Operations with the Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings and was this agency's Ethics Officer. She spent six years as an Administrative Law Judge and Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Family and Social Services Administration.

Professor Sayeed earned her J.D. and Health Law Graduate Certificate from IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Afternoon Session Moderator

Aila Hoss,
JD, 2025-2026 Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Aila Hoss is an Associate Professor at Indiana University McKinney School of Law where she teaches and researches at the intersection of health law and federal Indian law. Professor Hoss practiced public health law as a staff attorney with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Law Program, where she provided legal technical assistance to state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments. Her work at CDC included supporting the agency’s Ebola Emergency Operations Center and serving as a faculty member for the agency’s Working Effectively with Tribal Governments course. She was previously an Assistant Professor and faculty advisor at the University of Tulsa College of Law’s Native American Law Center. Her scholarship has been published in notable legal and public health venues including the Wisconsin Law Review, Nevada Law Journal, Public Health Reports, and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Her advocacy work includes lending her expertise and offering trainings to health departments, nonprofit organizations, and policymakers. Professor Hoss began her academic career at IU McKinney as a visiting professor for three years with the Hall Center for Law and Health. She completed her BA at Emory University and her JD at the University of Oregon. She is an active member of the Indiana bar.