Join us for a discussion on the landscape of the child welfare system in NJ and the roles played by each panelist’s office, including a judicial perspective; the goals of the system and the challenges it faces in achieving those goals – particularly reunification. Moderated by SPIA in NJ's Faculty Fellow, Joe Krakora.

Panelists:

Traci Telemaque, Assistant Public Defender for the Office of Law Guardian

Lynette Rente, Assistant Public Defender for the Office of Parental Representation

Wayne Forrest, retired Judge of the Superior Court, Family Division

Jennifer Lochel

Assistant Attorney General, Jennifer A. Lochel, co-manages the Division of Children and Families (DCF) Practice group within the Division of Law at the Office of the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey.  She has spent over twenty-years representing DCF as a trial attorney and in various other management roles.  AAG Lochel has successfully represented the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P)  in multiple appellate arguments, including DCP&P v. J.B., 459 N.J. Super. 442 (2019) and DCP&P v. R.L.M., 236 N.J. 123 (2018) before the Supreme Court.  Throughout her career, AAG Lochel gives back to her legal community by teaching trial advocacy and child welfare law.  Prior to joining the Division of Law, AAG Lochel clerked for the Honorable Diane B. Cohen, P.J.F.P.  AAG Lochel holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law.

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