Leadership
Phone: (971) 673-1880 | Fax: (971) 673-1888
Joanne Southey, Chief Counsel
Joanne is the Chief Counsel of the Child Advocacy and Protection Division (CAPD). She joined the Oregon Department of Justice in 2003 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Family Law Section of the Civil Enforcement Division (CED). She later served as an Assistant Attorney in Charge and then Attorney in Charge of what was then the Child Advocacy Section within CED. From 2012 to 2021, Joanne served as Deputy Chief Counsel of CED before becoming co Chief Counsel. Under Joanne’s leadership, the Child Advocacy Section was elevated to a distinct legal division, the Child Advocacy and Protection Division, in 2024. Prior to joining the DOJ, she worked in private practice at a civil litigation firm in Portland and completed a judicial clerkship at the Multnomah County Courthouse. Joanne earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and her 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 (CAPD). She joined the Oregon Department of Justice in 2003 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Human Services Section of the General Counsel Division. She later served as an Assistant Attorney in Charge and then Attorney in Charge of the Child Advocacy Section within the Civil Enforcement Division. Rahela was an integral part of the effort that elevated the Child Advocacy Section to a distinct legal division, the Child Advocacy and Protection Division, in 2024. Before joining the DOJ, Rahela worked as a Deputy District Attorney at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and as a public defense attorney with Multnomah Defenders Inc. She also served as a Crown Prosecutor at the Manitoba Crown Attorney’s Office. Rahela earned her undergraduate degree from 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 vigorous court representation and comprehensive legal advice 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.
CAPD attorneys and support team members work out of DOJ offices in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford, Bend and Pendleton and also regularly appear in juvenile and circuit court hearings and trials in all 36 Oregon counties to achieve permanency for children. Division attorneys consult with and provide legal advice to ODHS and also provide court representation to ODHS caseworkers in all juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights matters. Through this legal representation, CAPD ensures ODHS, as the child’s legal guardian, serves the child’s best interest, whether that is reunification with family, placement with relatives, adoption, or another permanent plan.
In addition to daily court representation of ODHS Child Welfare statewide, a smaller unit of CAPD attorneys provides legal advice and representation statewide, including in administrative proceedings related to foster care home certification and licensing matters. Additionally, this unit provides 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.