Family Advocacy of Maine is a project started by Julian Richter, to specialize in family regulation (family policing, child protection, child welfare or protective custody) cases.

 

Julian comes from central Maine. He attended the University of Hawai'i at Manoa for his undergraduate degree and the University of Maine School of Law.

 

He began working in intensive residential group homes serving kids in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). There he saw first hand the lack of concern shown to the foster care population and the dangerous nature of congregate care settings. 

 

He then worked at the Preble Street Teen Center with homeless youth, where he saw countless kids coming from DHHS custody and congregate care, left without financial or personal support systems. 

 

After graduating from law school, Julian worked for Disability Rights Maine as a staff attorney working on behalf of children with disabilities. Since starting his own practice, he has been involved in hundreds of family regulation cases and litigated between 75 and 100 contested hearings involving CPS. He has also litigated over 20 appeals to the Maine Supreme Judicial Law Court. 

 

Julian currently serves as the Central Office Resource Counsel through the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services (MCPDS), and is a member of the Maine Child Welfare Advisory Panel (MCWAP). He helped start the Maine Parental Rights Attorneys Association (Mepraa) and has served as the President of the organization since 2021. 

 

 

"You cant actually care about kids, until you start caring about their parents, their families, and their long-term outcomes."