Jennifer Baum

Professor of Clinical Legal EducationDirector of the Child Advocacy Clinic
J.D. Brooklyn Law SchoolB.A. Hunter College of the City University of New York

Jennifer Baum joined the St. John's Law School faculty in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Education and Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic. She became an associate professor in 2012, and a full professor in 2014.  She currently teaches the Child Advocacy Clinic and Family Law. 

Professor Baum’s work focuses on low income children and families, child welfare, juvenile delinquency, and poverty law. She is the founder and director of the Foster Family Support Initiative, a Clinic project which seeks to reduce foster care placement disruptions and promote continuity of care. Professor Baum also co-founded and co-directs the Immigrant Children’s Justice Project, a collaboration between the Law School’s Child Advocacy Clinic and Catholic Charities Community Services, whose aim is to halt the deportation of New York State children to abusive parents abroad.  

Before coming to St. John's, Professor Baum was a senior staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit in New York. She also served in the Society’s Juvenile Rights Division, where she represented children in Family Court dependency, delinquency, and status offender proceedings, as well as in class actions and other impact litigation. Her law reform litigation resulted in the creation of a New York City Administrative Rule ensuring appropriate medical treatment for detained children. From 2010-2013, Professor Baum served on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. She has testified about poverty law and child welfare issues on numerous occasions before the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly, and has presented before the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Judicial Institute, the Association of American Law Schools, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and other national and local organizations.  

Professor Baum graduated cum laude from Hunter College of the City University of New York in 1987, and with distinction from Brooklyn Law School in 1993. She is admitted to practice before the New York State bar, the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and is a member of numerous national and local bar associations.

Publications

Say What? Using Interpreters on Children’s Cases (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children's Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, August 2018)

Safety Planning For Children Of Undocumented Parents, (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children's Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Summer 2017)

Compassion Fatigue:  Caveat Caregiver? (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children's Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Winter 2016)

Social Media: Children’s Lawyers’ Friend and Foe, (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children's Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Baum, J. and Fox, S.,Winter, 2015)

Ready, Set, Go to Federal Court: The Hague Child Abduction Treaty, Demystified (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Summer, 2014)

Most In Need But Least Served: Legal and Practical Barriers to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Federally Detained Minors (Baum, J., Kamhi, A. and Russell, C. M. ) Family Court Review, 50: 621–628 (Oct., 2012)

Five Common Mistakes Made by New Child Welfare Lawyers – and How to Avoid Them(American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Spring, 2012)

Give Peace a Chance: A Guide to Mediating Child Welfare Cases (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Winter, 2011)

Using the Fourteenth Amendment to Protect the Integrity of Kinship Foster Families (American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee Newsletter, Baum, J. and Grogan, T., Spring, 2009) 

Presentations

Anti-Racism in the NYC Family Court, (panel moderator), St. John’s University School of Law (April 22, 2022)

Addressing Domestic Violence 2022 - Ethical Considerations in Hague Convention and Related Child Custody Cases, panelist, Practicing Law Institute (February 4, 2022)

Pro Bono Week: The Impact of Covid-19 on the Work of the Family Court (moderator), St. John’s University School of Law (October 25, 2021)

Racial Justice in Education, moderator, Racial Justice Teach-In at St. John’s University School of Law, April 6, 2021

Trial Training for Pro Bono Lawyers, panelist, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York(May 29, 2014)

Life, Death and Love: What happens when families and healthcare providers disagree about life-determinative health care decisions?, panelist, St. John’s University School of Law Health Law Society forum (New York, March 24, 2014)

Surviving Revictimization: Challenging Social and Institutional Responses to Gender Violence, panelist, 18th Annual  Fordham University Domestic Violence Conference (New York, March 3, 2014)

Catholic Social Thought in Teaching a Law School Clinic, panelist, St. John’s University Vincentian Center for Church and Society (New York, Jan. 6. 2014)

Courtroom Observation as Clinical Tool for Preparing Practice-Ready Law Graduates, co-presenter, American Association of Law School’s Clinical Conference (Puerto Rico, May 1, 2013)

North of the Border: Rights and Remedies of Immigrant Families in NYS Family Court, panelist, New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting (New York, January 25, 2013)

Essential Forensic Psychology for Litigators, presenter, NYS Office of Court Administration, (New York, Nov. 30, 2012)

Trauma-Informed Interviewing Skills, presenter, NYS Office of Court Administration (New York, Nov. 30, 2012)

The Role of the Child Welfare Agency in Immigration Proceedings, panelist, Hofstra Law School forum: Immigrants and Family Court (New York, Nov. 9, 2012)

Essential Techniques for Interviewing the Traumatized Child/Adolescent (presenter, New York State Court Improvement Project/Office of Court Administration Symposium, New York Law School, June 5, 2012)

Toward a Trauma-Informed Legal System (with Dr. Elissa Brown) (co-presenter, Queens County Bar Association CLE program, May 29, 2012)

Walking in Lawyer in Client Shoes: Self Contained Curricular Enhancements you can Drop Into your Clinic Syllabus this Fall (Presenter, AALS Clinical Section Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, Ca., May 2, 2012) 

Litigating on Smartphones, and Other Adventures in Law School Clinic technology (presenter, St. John’s University Center for Teaching and Learning faculty workshop, April 26, 2012)

100 Hours of Poverty (speaker, St. John’s University School of Law, Nov. 10, 2011) 

The Nexus of Energy, Water and Food Security: Achieving Social Justice (moderator, Vincentian Center for Church and Society Biennial Conference, Oct. 22, 2011)

Vincentian Values in the Classroom (panelist, Vincentian Center for Church and Society Faculty Research Colloquium, St. John’s University, Jan. 24, 2011)

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status: the Role of the Family Court (moderator for panel discussion on special immigrant juvenile status, New York State 9th Judicial District Training Institute, Yonkers, New York, Sept. 22, 2010)

100 Hours of Poverty (presented by the Child Advocacy Clinic and the Vincentian Center for Church and Society) (event organizer, moderator and panelist, St. John’s University School of Law, Jan. 27, 2010) 

This Way Out:  Seeking Alternatives to Deporting Abused Children (co-presenter, Ronald H. Brown Symposia Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Ronald H. Brown’s Graduation from the School of Law, Nov. 13, 2009, St. John’s University of Law)

Family Matters: the Science, Statutes, and Substantive Due Process behind Kinship Foster Care (co-presenter, National Association of Counsel for Children Annual Conference, Brooklyn, New York, Aug. 20, 2009)

Doctors and Lawyers and Social Workers—Oh My! Teaching Ourselves and Our Students How To Work With Other Professionals (co-presenter, AALS Clinical Section Annual Meeting, Cleveland, OH, May 8, 2009). 

Sexually Exploited Youth: a New York State Legislative Update (presenter, The Clothesline Project, St. John’s University, April 16, 2009).

Thinking Outside the Box: New Challenges and New Approaches to Domestic Violence (planning committee member, panel moderator, March 20, 2009)    

Transforming Law Students into Advocates for the Marginalized, One Child at a Time (presenter, St. John’s University Founders Week Graduate Roundtable, Jan. 27, 2009) 

Immigrant Access to Government Benefits (co-presenter, New York State Bar Association Legal Partnership Conference, Albany, New York, Sept. 24, 2008)

Federal Court

In Re. D.T.J., 956 F.Supp.2d 523 (S.D.N.Y., July 26, 2013) (No. 13 Civ. 4087 PAE) (Dismissing repatriation petition brought under Hague Convention on International Aspects of Child Abduction).

Jakubik v. Shmirer, Slip Copy, 2013 WL 3465857 (S.D.N.Y. July 9, 2013) (No. 13 Civ. 4087 PAE) (Granting intervention to child in repatriation petition brought under Hague Convention on International Aspects of Child Abduction).

Souratgar v. Lee, 720 F.3d 96 (2d Cir.2013) (Affirming trial court’s decision to grant repatriation petition brought under Hague Convention on International Aspects of Child Abduction).

Souratgar v. Fair, 2013 WL 705923 (S.D.N.Y., Feb. 22, 2013) (No. 12 Civ. 7797 PKC) (Granting repatriation petition brought under Hague Convention on International Aspects of Child Abduction).

A.C. v. Mattingly, 2007 WL 894268 (S.D.N.Y., 2007) (Finding children’s Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest in kinship foster family).

M.K.B. v. Eggleston, 414 F.Supp.2d 469 (S.D.N.Y.,2006) (Concerning New York City’s systemic misapplication of immigrant eligibility criteria for public benefits).

State Court 

In re Daniel T.-H., 2011 NY Slip Op. 1481, -- N.Y.S.2d --, 2011 WL 668107 (2d Dept., 2011) (trial and appellate counsel) (child detained by federal immigration authorities has right to access protection of family court and foster care placement).

Khrapunskiy v. Doar,12 N.Y.3d 478, 881 N.Y.S.2d 377 (2009).

Khrapunskiy v. Doar,49 AD 3d 201, 852 NYS 2d 40 (1st Dept., 2008).

Khrapunskiy v. Doar, 9 Misc.3d 1109(A), 806 N.Y.S.2d 445 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2005) (Concerning New York State’s standard of need for elderly or disabled lawfully present State residents who were ineligible for federal Supplemental Security Income due solely to immigration status).

Teytelman v. Wing,2 Misc. 3d 608, 773 NYS 2d 801 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co., 2003) (establishing the right of lawfully present immigrants to state-funded food stamps).

Jamie B. v. Hernandez,182 Misc. 2d 954, 701 NYS 2d 790 (NY: Supreme Court, 1999) (concerning overcrowding in City’s non-secure juvenile detention group homes). 

Other Cases of Interest

In re Child Welfare Admin. Ex rel. Taylor G.,  270 A.D.2d 259, 703 N.Y.S.2d 523 (2d Dept. 2000) (trial counsel).

In re Cheikh F., 265 A.D.2d 326, 697 N.Y.S.2d 289 (2d Dept. 1999) (trial counsel).