IN THE LOOP / PERSON OF INTEREST
knows well the challenges children face when removed from home due to abuse or neglect. As a judge, she says she hopes to follow the example of Garcia and work for the best interest of each child in her courtroom. “I’m still extremely excited and overwhelmed, but I’m feeling extremely blessed,” she says. “I’m going to keep doing what I can to help children.”
Children’s Advocate Recently appointed Children’s Court Associate Judge Kimberly Burley takes a team approach to finding solutions in abuse and neglect cases INTERVIEW BY KATHLEEN PETTY
imberly Burley has always insisted that her daughters put their all into everything they attempt. “I push them to reach for the stars and not to be deterred by anyone saying they can’t do it,” she says. So, while Burley, 51, was hesitant to apply when an associate judge position opened in the Bexar County Children’s Court after Judge Richard Garcia retired earlier this year, she realized she had to at least try. “I can’t look them in the eye if I’m a hypocrite,” she says. Burley was appointed by the county’s 14 civil district court judges and sworn in as associate judge in May, becoming the first African American woman to hold the position. “I feel like first and foremost, I am a role model to my African American teenagers,” she says. With over 20 years focusing on children’s cases in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, Burley
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Experience: 23 years with Bexar County District Attorney’s Office Education: University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas School of Law Hometown: Hillsboro Mom: Burley has two daughters, 17 and 16
Is reunification of families the goal in Child Protective Services cases? I’ve seen an evolution in myself as a lawyer in this arena. When I started doing these cases, I was so focused on what the parent did wrong to these children that my goal was to terminate the rights of these parents because I felt the children deserved better. I’ve learned you can’t focus on what’s wrong with the family. You have to focus on what is right with the family and if there is anything we can do to salvage the family and put them back together. I’ve seen cases where we’ve terminated parental rights and unfortunately the children have languished in the foster care system. As they get older, it’s harder and harder to get these children out of the system and get them adopted. Reunification is always the first goal of the Department (of Family and Protective Services) so long as it is safe and in the best interest of the child. We have to work harder at trying to reach that goal. We might not be able to reunify these children with their parents, but if we can put them back in the family with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, someone they know so they aren’t totally cut off from their families. We can’t ever put them with perfect families because no families are perfect, but we have to be willing to put them back in their families when that is safe. As a judge, I will ask CPS to delve a little deeper to find appropriate family members. Parents don’t always want their families to know what’s going on so they may not give us those contacts. It’s part of the caseworker’s job, as well as all of the advocates, to find more appropriate family members. When we don’t have appropriate family members, we need to look to fictive kin, which are those friends of the family and people who have relationships with the family. Then the children are still going to someone they’re familiar with and perhaps can stay in the same neighborhood or school district. Of course, when that is not possible, we have to look at foster homes. I’ve seen a decrease in the number of appropriate foster homes over the years, which can lead to placing children in a group setting or ILLUSTRATION BY VICENTE MARTÍ
6/30/21 3:33 PM
