Phone: (971) 673-1880
Leadership
Joanne Southey, Chief Counsel
Joanne is the Chief Counsel of the Child Advocacy and Protection Division. She has been with DOJ since 2003, starting as an Assistant Attorney General in the Family Law Section of the Civil Enforcement Division (CED). She served as an Assistant Attorney in Charge and Attorney in Charge in the former Child Advocacy Section. She also served as Deputy Chief Counsel of the CED from 2012 to 2021 when she became co-Chief Counsel. Prior to coming to DOJ, Joanne was in private practice at a civil litigation firm in Portland and held a judicial clerkship at the Multnomah County Courthouse. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon and law degree from Willamette University College of Law.
Rahela Rehman, Deputy Chief Counsel
Rahela is the Deputy Chief Counsel of the Child Advocacy and Protection Division. She joined DOJ in 2003 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Human Services Section of the General Counsel Division. She served as an Assistant Attorney in Charge and Attorney in Charge in the former Child Advocacy Section. Prior to coming to DOJ, Rahela was a Deputy District Attorney at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and a public defense attorney with Multnomah Defenders Inc. She also served as a Crown Prosecutor at the Manitoba Crown Attorney’s Office. Rahela received her undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba and her law degree from the University of Calgary.
Child Advocacy and Protection Division Work
The Child Advocacy and Protection Division (CAPD) provides quality and timely legal advice and effective court representation to the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Child Welfare Division » in order to protect children from abuse and neglect and to support families, allowing children to grow up in safe and stable environments.
Child Advocacy and Protection Division attorneys and support team members work out of offices in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford, Bend and Pendleton. Attorneys regularly appear in juvenile and circuit court hearings and trials in all 36 Oregon counties to achieve permanency for children. If the reunification of a child with a parent or guardian is not safe or legally possible, division attorneys provide litigation services to ODHS Child Welfare to help achieve safe and permanent placements for those children, including guardianship, legally freeing children for adoption subsequent to termination of parental rights, and other appropriate alternatives.
In addition to daily court representation of ODHS Child Welfare statewide, a smaller number of CAPD attorneys provide legal advice and representation in administrative proceedings related to foster care home certification and licensing matters. Further, a number of attorney supervisors and managers provide legal advice to the ODHS Child Welfare Director and program leadership related to issues of statewide significance, legislation, legal sufficiency rule review, court issues, system partner collaboration and relationships, and other legal issues.