The $125,000 contract is a strategy by D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, Utah Administrative Services director, to spare the post from being dissolved, as some legislators recommended last winter when former parent czar Alicia Davis resigned six months into the job.

It's a temporary contract, good for two years - dependent on annual funding from the Legislature - and renewable for up to six years.

But Pignanelli says it's a stepping stone to greater things: "We just have to take this a step at a time and do the best we can with what we have."

Utah's, and reputedly the nation's, first state-funded defender of parental rights was created by lawmakers who complained the child welfare system is stacked against parents.

Citizen activists wanted the czar to act as an ombudsman for falsely accused parents and represent them in court. But she was never authorized or funded to do that. Instead, she focused on training parental defenders, drafting professional standards and contracting with counties to provide defense for low-income parents.

County contracts were projected to infuse the office's $239,000 budget with another $2 million, but only two counties were willing to team up with the state.

"Parental defenders like their independence," said Pignanelli. "But at a recent conference we organized, it also became apparent they are hungry to make professional connections."

To that end, an oversight committee of activists, lawmakers and child welfare officials came up with a job description that fits a meetings organizer as easily as an attorney.

The winning bidder will organize a conference or series of legal seminars to keep parental defenders abreast of the latest state and federal laws, case law and policies. The contractor also will manage an online information clearinghouse and chat room, linking attorneys to other professionals who can provide medical or mental health treatment guidance for their clients.

Often, legal strategies run counter to a parent's or child's best interests, says Pignanelli. As an example, she said, it takes an average of 18 months to kick a drug or alcohol problem, but attorneys are allowed only six months to a year to mount a defense.

Unlike a true professional association, the support group will be prohibited from lobbying because it's taxpayer-funded.

A critic of Utah's growing child welfare industry, particularly the Guardian ad Litem's office, which represents abused and neglected children in court, Rep. LaVar Christensen is neither a proponent nor a critic of Pignanelli's plan.

"This is a governmental response to governmental abuse. It may be the only way we can address it. But at the same time we need to address the underlying problem it reflects," said the Draper Republican.

Bids are due July 6 and Pignanelli hopes to sign a contract by Aug. 1.

kstewart@sltrib.com