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Summit on the Protection of Children

This summit called for courts to improve outcomes for the more than 500,000 children living in the U.S. foster care system. Changing Lives by Changing Systems: A National Call to Action, which emerged from the summit, identifies four strategies for improving how courts handle cases involving children in foster care: establish accountability for permanence, child safety, and well-being through performance measurement; foster collaboration among courts and executive-branch agencies to ensure better outcomes for children; provide judicial leadership in championing the needs of children in foster care; and provide an effective voice in courts for children and parents through trained attorneys and advocates.

In addition, to improve the lives of children who wind up in the justice system, two new Children and Family Initiatives are underway: NCSC identified an interdivisional team to develop services in strategic planning, performance measurements, workload assessment, case management, and technology for children’s issues. The Pew Charitable Trust awarded NCSC a second grant to follow-up to the Summit on the Protection of Children held in Minneapolis in September 2005. NCSC will hold four regional meetings to assess the progress of the state initiatives. NCSC’s Government Relations Office and the Office on Violence Against Women to secure a grant on behalf of COSCA to implement recommendations from its 2004 White Paper “Safety and Accountability: State Courts and Domestic Violence.”