NEWS RELEASE

The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525

 La Crosse County Circuit Court Participates
 in National Research Effort

Williamsburg, VA (May 13, 2002) – The La Crosse County Circuit Court has been selected as one of six courts nationwide to participate in a joint effort to create a guidebook to direct better outcomes for families and children. The La Crosse court was chosen as a test site because of its outstanding Unified Family Court program, which addresses all criminal and civil proceedings that involves members of the same family. The court also was selected on the basis of the high level of collaboration among judges, court staff, the District Attorney’s Office, Child Protective Services and the defense bar.  By studying courts that have enhanced the administration of child abuse and neglect cases, a task force of researchers will compile and distill a set of methods and tools that courts can use for self-examination and improvement. 

The La Crosse County Unified Family Court began as a pilot program in 1998 and was made permanent last year. The program has been recognized for reducing the number of child abuse and neglect jury trials and the number and duration of our-of-home placements of children have been reduced. By assigning one family’s case to one judge, the whole picture is available for the judge to make an informed decision. Strong judicial leadership guarantees more collaboration and expedited review of cases. 

The National Research project, which is funded by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, is a collaboration of the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts, and the National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges.  The project will lead to the development of a “Self-Assessment Guidebook” that courts can use to measure their performance and workload in dependency cases. Researchers will conduct a study of the La Crosse Court with the goal of articulating key data elements, refining data collection instruments and assessment procedures, and establishing data profiles. The completed project will be adopted nationally to ensure a high level of performance in this increasingly complex arena where court resources are limited. 

The National Center for State Courts, founded by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in 1971 and headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership, research, technology, education and training to the state courts. 

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