Section 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.