§ 261. Legislative findings and purpose. Persons involved in certain
family court proceedings may face the infringements of fundamental
interests and rights, including the loss of a child's society and the
possibility of criminal charges, and therefore have a constitutional
right to counsel in such proceedings. Counsel is often indispensable to
a practical realization of due process of law and may be helpful to the
court in making reasoned determinations of fact and proper orders of
disposition. The purpose of this part is to provide a means for
implementing the right to assigned counsel for indigent persons in
proceedings under this act.