CLINIC DIRECTOR
Tom Jose is an experienced lawyer who protects the rights of abused children through the foster care process and beyond.
Tom heads up our one-of-a-kind pro bono Children’s Law Clinic, where he represents abused children, foster parents, kinship placements, and biological parents in dependency and severance proceedings to ensure that the state respects their rights. Tom also represents transition-aged youth in a variety of matters to give them their best chance at starting adult lives.
Tom also spearheads our growing network of child welfare professionals nationwide. Growing this network of attorneys provides our organization with a national view of the trends in child welfare and allows us to provide education and resources to support those in the trenches of this important work.
When Tom is not advocating directly for Arizona’s children or growing our national network, you can find him drafting briefs that support children’s constitutional rights to safety and permanency. Tom’s experience in appeals gives him a unique perspective and expertise which he spends for the benefit of children nationwide.
Tom’s passion for protecting abused children was ignited while working for an appeals court shortly after he graduated from law school. He was shocked at the sheer volume of abused children who passed through and remained in—the foster system every year and how little was being done to protect the rights of these innocent children. Since then, he has spent his legal career helping abused children in Arizona.
Before joining the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, Tom worked for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in its Child and Family Protection Appeals Unit. He handled hundreds of appeals, filed over 75 substantive briefs, and had five oral arguments before the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals. In 2020, the Attorney General’s Office presented Tom with an award for Outstanding Appellate Advocacy.
Tom holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a law degree from Arizona State University. He lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his son Eric, where he enjoys collecting (and playing) vintage video games and going camping around our beautiful state.
