Child Support
Child Welfare Policy and Practice
Civil Litigation
Contracts
Clinical legal education

Health Care Law: focusing on issues impacting low-income families and the uninsured
Poverty Law: including welfare policy, consumer law, housing, landlord/tennant, family law, public benefits, administrative advocacy, and legislative advocacy

Prior to joining the faculty in 2004, Hatcher was in a statewide position with the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, serving as the assistant director of advocacy for public benefits and economic stability. He previously worked as a staff attorney for Legal Aid in the Baltimore Child Advocacy Unit representing abused and neglected children, and in the Metropolitan Maryland office representing clients in public benefits, housing, consumer and family law issues. He was also a senior staff attorney with the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., where he worked on policy development and legislative advocacy in areas impacting child and family poverty. Hatcher has testified before Congress, the Maryland General Assembly and in other governmental proceedings regarding several issues affecting children and low-income individuals and families.

Hatcher’s recent scholarship has addressed the conflicts between state agencies’ revenue maximization strategies and the agencies’ core missions to serve low-income children and families – including the practice of state foster care agencies converting foster children’s Social Security benefits into state revenue, welfare cost recovery policies in the TANF program, and foster care cost recovery through child support enforcement. His scholarship has attracted national attention, including significant press coverage, Congressional testimony, citation in multiple Congressional Research Service reports, requests to draft legislation, and continued participation in national policy reform efforts.

Selected Publications

Books

Book Chapter, Advocating for Nonresident Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases, Legal Strategies to Address Child Support Obligations, ABA Center on Children and the Law (2009)

Articles and Essays

Forgotten Fathers, Boston Univ. Law Rev. (forthcoming)

Purpose v. Power: Parens Patriae, Federalism, and Agency Self-Interest, New Mexico Law Rev. (forthcoming)

Don't Forget Dad: Addressing Women's Poverty by Rethinking Forced and Outdated Child Support Policies, 10 Journal of Gender, Social & the Law 775 (2012)

Poverty Revenue: The Subversion of Fiscal Federalism, 52 Ariz. L. Rev. 675 (2010)

Collateral Children: Consequence and Illegality at the Intersection of Foster Care and Child Support, 74 Brooklyn L. Rev. 1333 (2009), (Selected for presentation at AALS Section on Family and Juvenile Law's 2010 Annual Meeting)

Child Support Harming Children: Subordinating the Best Interests of Children to the Fiscal Interests of the State , 42 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1029 (2007). (A draft of the article provided to the New York Times helped lead to a front page story.  See Erik Eckholm, Mothers Scrimp as States Take Child Support, Dec. 1, 2007 at A 1.)

Foster Children Paying for Foster Care , 27 Cardozo L. Rev. 1797 (2006). (A draft of the article provided to the New York Times resulted in a front page story. See Erik Eckholm, Welfare Agencies Seek Foster Children's Assets, N.Y.Times, Feb 17, 2006 at A1. Professor Hatcher has since been asked to draft federal legislation to implement his suggested reforms and to testify before Congress regarding the article and his legislative proposal.

Breaking the Cycle of Defeat for 'Deadbroke' Noncustodial Parents Through Advocacy on Child Support Issues, 37 Clearinghouse Rev. 5 (May-June 2003) (co-author).

Recent Conferences

Speaker, (forthcoming), "Evaluating Claims about "the End of Men': Legal and Other Perspectives," Boston University School of Law, October 12-13, 2012.

Speaker, AALS Joint Session of Sections on Poverty Law & Clinical Education, Theory and Praxis in Reducing Women's Poverty, January 7, 2012.

Speaker, Speaker Stolen Futures: A Forum On Child Identity Theft, Federal Trade Commission and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, July 12, 2011.

Speaker, Identity Assistance Center (ITAC) Podcast, Professor Daniel Hatcher, University of Baltimore Law School, July 10, 2011, available at itacidentityblog.com/podcast-professor-daniel-hatcher-university-of-baltimore-law-school-discusses-child-identity-theft

Speaker, The Urban Child in the Child Welfare System, University of Baltimore School of Law, April 7, 2011.

Speaker, Masking and Manipulating Vulnerability, Emory University School of Law, March 19, 2011.

Speaker, Congressional Briefing on "The Fleecing of Foster Children: How We Confiscate Their Assets and Undermine Their Financial Security," March 16, 2011, press release available at www.caichildlaw.org/Fleecing.htm.

Speaker, AALS Section on Family and Juvenile Law, 2010 Annual Meeting, Money, Intimacy, Law and the Contours of Inequality, Jan. 8, 2010 (paper selected from call for papers).

Speaker, American University Washington College of Law, Conference on Poverty and Economic Mobility, Oct. 26, 2009.

Speaker, ABA Section on Litigation, Children’s Rights Litigation, Raising our Hands: Creating a National Strategy for Children’s Right to Counsel in Abuse and Neglect Cases, Oct. 23, 2009.

Speaker, ABA Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions, Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Proceeding, University of Maryland School of Law, June 13, 2008.

Speaker, Economic Driver’s License Suspension Roundtable, Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Mobility Agenda, March 5, 2008.

Speaker, The Role of Law Schools in Fostering Commitment to Pro Bono Publico, Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America, October 6, 2007.

Speaker, American Bar Association and University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Families, Children and the Courts, Summit on Unified Family Courts: Serving Children and Families Efficiently, Effectively and Responsibly, May 3, 2007.

Speaker, International Society of Family Law North-American Regional Conference, Vancouver, Presentation of draft article titled “Child Support Harming Children,” June 2007.

Speaker, Harvard Law School Child Advocacy Program and ABA Center on Children and the Law, 12th National Conference on Children and the Law, Promoting Children's Interests: Preparation, Practice & Policy Reform, April 14, 2007.

Articles on Social Science Research Network