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Child-Court List Group.
Sponsored by the American Bar Association.
This listserv deals with children’s issues predominantly. To enroll in the child-court group send a message to listserv@mail.abanet.org saying “Subscribe child-court.”
Children`s Bureau Express Monthly E-Newsletter.
Children's Bureau Express is designed for professionals concerned with child abuse and neglect, child welfare, and adoption. The Web site and newsletter provide information on top stories, current research, and promising practices related to child welfare.
Continuing Upward from the Summit E-Newsletter and Listserv.
The National Center for State Courts publishes a quarterly newsletter highlighting implementation, accomplishments, and events throughout the country related to family courts and child welfare. See the most recent edition, vol. 19 (Dec. 2008), or access the archives here. To join the listserv and receive this e-newsletter, e-mail listserv@listserv.ncsconline.org and in the body of the message put “Join Children Summit.”
Court-Child Welfare Agency Collaboration Tools and Resources.
Child Welfare Information Gateway.
This Web page provides links to several resources on court/child-welfare-agency collaboration, including a trainer’s guide for a workshop on collaboration and sample memoranda of understanding.
Fosteringresults.org.
Children and Family Research Center, School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The data on the website show every comparison imaginable both within and across jurisdictions.
National Court Improvement Progress Report and Catalog.
This database contains state-by-state information on the progress of court improvement projects. Users can find reports and information on child and family services. State summary information goes back to 2003.
The Judges` Page Newsletter.
National CASA Association.
The Judges' Page Newsletter is a quarterly online newsletter that provides information on child welfare issues and includes articles by judicial peers.
Court Practices Can Support Better Outcomes for Foster Children.
Children`s Bureau Express (October 2007).
Article discusses how courts can play an important role in helping to improve educational outcomes for children and youth in foster care. The article describes a new study, Court-Based Education Efforts for Children in Foster Care: The Experience of the Pima County Juvenile Court (Arizona), which provides an indepth review of court reforms and strategies that supported improved outcomes in one jurisdiction.
Jones, Hon. William C.
Working with the Courts in Child Protection.
Child Abuse and Neglect User`s Manual Series, Children`s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families (2006).
This manual provides a basis for understanding the court processes most relevant to child abuse and neglect cases.
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Standards of Excellence in Child Welfare Services.
Child Welfare League of America.
Web site explains the goals of the CWLA Standards of Excellence for Child Welfare Services in the ongoing improvement of services for children and families, including adoption services, family-foster-care services; health-care services for children in out-of-home care; management and governance of child-welfare organizations; and services for abused or neglected children and their families.
The National Evaluation of the Court Improvement Program.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This page describes the many paths followed by state courts to improve their oversight of foster-care and adoption cases and to analyze the outcomes achieved. It also provides the field with important information on effective models for juvenile and family court reform.
The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care.
Provides links to reports, research, and recommendations for reform. See especially, Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care.
Synthesis of 2005 Court Improvement Program Reform and Activities.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (July 2007).
This report provides an update on State implementation of CIP, a program that continues to evolve as the major vehicle for dependency court reform. It is based on information contained in the fiscal year 2005 annual State program reports submitted to the Children’s Bureau, supplemented by discussions with CIP coordinators and other sources. Through these reports and discussions, it is clear that courts have used CIP funding in a variety of ways to improve their performance, practice, and involvement in child welfare reform.
Taitano, Kim.
Court-Based Education Efforts for Children in Foster Care: The Experience of the Pima County Juvenile Court.
Reno, NV: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2007).
This Report outlines the efforts of the Pima County Juvenile Court, a participant in the NCJFCJ Model Court Program, in improving the educational outcomes for children in foster care.
Court Improvement and Best Practices.
(Chapter 9) Working with the Courts in Child Protection User Manual Series, Children`s Bureau (2006).
This chapter provides an overview of the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) and the courts and information about best practices and model court programs throughout the country. It also provides information about the importance of judicial leadership in improving court practice.
Justice for Children: Changing Lives by Changing Systems -- A Call to Action.
National Judicial Leadership Summit on the Protection of Children, National Center for State Courts (September 2005).
This report describes four main strategies for improving outcomes for children, provides an analysis of state action plans, and provides examples of several promising initiatives.
Fiermonte, Cecilia, and Hon. Nancy Salyers.
Improving Outcomes Together: Court and Child Welfare Collaboration.
Fostering Results (June 2005).
This brief provides an overview of both national and state efforts toward collaboration and discusses the effect of the federal child- and family-service reviewers and program improvement plans, factors affecting court/agency collaboration, and what collaboration can achieve.
Flicker, Barbara.
Best Practices in Child Protection Courts.
American Bar Association (May 2005).
This paper examines the quality, effectiveness, benefits, and issues surrounding the practices prevailing in the child-protection system. Numerous national studies evaluating state and local practices are drawn upon.
McDonald, Jess, Nancy Salyers, and Michael S. Haver.
The Foster Care Straight Jacket: Innovation, Federal Financing, and Accountability in State Foster Care Reform.
Fostering Results (March 2004).
This article explains issues associated with national foster-care reform, including welfare performance and state accountability, states that fall short of national standards, inflexible federal financial barriers to reform, the use of federal waivers as a reform tool, and state improvement through flexible funding.
Recommendations for Strengthening Courts Made by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care.
Children`s Defense Fund (2004).
Four specific recommendations are detailed on court performance measures, effective collaboration, effective representation and a voice for children, and how chief justices and court leaders must take the lead in these efforts.
Goldman, Jill, and Marsha K. Salus.
A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect: The Foundation for Practice.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children`s Bureau (2003).
This publication defines the scope of the problem, identifies contributing factors, and discusses consequences and prevention. It also discusses the laws and policies to guide public intervention, who should be involved at the community level, and how organizations can work together to protect children.
Hardin, Mark.
Improving Court`s Handling of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases: A List of Suggested Reforms.
National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues, ABA Center on Children and the Law (2002).
Provides short- and long-term phases to improve case management in the courts.
Making the Court System Work Better for Children: 25 Things Your Court Can Do.
Judicial Council of California, Center for Families, Children and the Courts (January 2001).
This publication describes 25 different examples of programs or services that courts can incorporate to make the court system work better for children. Each example describes its importance, the resources needed to implement, the ease of replication, and examples of model courts.
Adoption and Permanency Guidelines: Improving Court Practice in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (Fall 2000).
This publication discusses the need for guidelines, the purpose of the guidelines and key principles for permanency planning, termination of parental rights, and the appeals process.
Millennium 2000 Conference: Launching Improved Court Practice in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases into the Next Century -- Report and Results.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2000).
Conference work products include the results of four working groups and well as the text from a presentation by Chief Justice Judith S. Kaye of New York on strategies and needs for systems change to improve court practice for the new millennium.
Rauber, Diane Boyd.
Representing Parents in Child Welfare Cases: A Basic Introduction for Attorneys.
American Bar Association (2000).
This publication discusses the role of parents’ counsel in child-protection proceedings, the responsibility of attorneys, pretrial independent investigations, mediation and ADR, and termination of parent’s rights.
Family Court Performance Standards and Measures.
Adopted by the Family Court of the State of Delaware (1999).
Delaware took the Trial Court Performance Standards and adopted them to family court (which has juvenile-court jurisdiction in Delaware).
Flango, Carol R., Victor E. Flango, and H. Ted Rubin.
How Are Courts Coordinating Family Cases?.
Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts (1999).
This publication covers the one-family/one-judge concept, court-centered coordination of family support services, which coordination mechanisms work most effectively, and the creation of a family-focused court.
Resource Guidelines: Improving Practice in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases.
Reno, NV: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges: Publications Development Committee, Victim of Child Abuse Project (1995).
These resource guidelines set forth the essential elements of properly conducted court hearings. The guidelines describe the requirements of juvenile and family courts in fulfilling the role now placed upon them by federal and state laws. These guidelines also describe how court calendars can be efficiently managed to achieve efficiency and avoid delays; explain the court staffing and organization necessary to make the judicial process run smoothly; and clarify costs associated with such reforms.
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Ohio Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System.
Dynamics Research Cooperation.
This Web site highlights the success of the automated Ohio program, which provides timely and consistent information to all state workers as they strive to support and improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families.
Strengthening Abuse and Neglect Courts in America: Management Information Systems (SANCA MIS) Project.
National Center for State Courts, ABA Center for Children and the Law, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
This document provides an overview of this project, including functional standards and automated performance measurement.
Flango, Victor E.
Extending Court Case Management Systems: The Need for Data Exchange.
Unified Family Court Connection (Spring 2008).
This article addresses collaboration between courts and child welfare and explains how sharing electronic data can improve outcomes for children in the child protection system.
Juvenile Functional Standards -- V1.0.
Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts (2003).
This report explains the need for national functional standards for case management in juvenile proceedings and presents the functional standards created by the joint COSCA/NACM committee.
Portune, Lisa.
Model Court Approaches to Information Technology: A Dependency Court Data System Implementation Guide.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Permanency Planning for Children Department, Technical Assistance Bulletin 6, no. 5 (December 2002).
This publication includes model court approaches to information technology, information technology for juvenile-dependency systems, what needs to be done and when, and the experiences of courts that have implemented data systems.
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Introducing Child Permanency Mediation in New York State: Planning and Implementing a Multi-Site Pilot Project .
Technical Assistance Brief, Permanency Planning for Children Department, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (January 2006).
This resource provides information about how to establish a permanency mediation program, including collaboration with government partners, implementation of pilot projects at the local government level, program challenges, a pilot-site checklist, and a sample program protocol.
Edwards, Leonard P., Hon.
Mediation in Child Protection Cases.
Journal of the Center for Families, Children and the Courts (2004).
This article discusses the role of judicial proceedings, the child welfare agency, and the mediator in dependency mediation cases.
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Wheeler, Meghan M. and Carson L. Fox, Jr.
Drug Court Practitioner Fact Sheet: Family Dependency Treatment Court: Applying the Drug Court Model in Child Maltreatment Cases..
National Drug Court Institute (June 2006).
This Practitioner Fact Sheet provides useful information and research on family dependency treatment courts.
Family Dependency Treatment Courts: Addressing Child Abuse and Neglect Cases Using the Drug Court Model.
National Drug Court Institute and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (December 2004).
This publication discusses issues surrounding Family Dependency Treatment Courts (FDTCs) brought up in a 1999 focus group of teams from some of the most well established FDTCs, including Kansas City (MO), Reno (NV), San Diego (CA) and Suffolk County (NY).
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Hudson, Lucy et al.
Healing the Youngest Children: Model Court-Community Partnerships.
ABA Center for Children and the Law and Zero to Three, Policy and Practice Brief (March 2007).
This publication provides examples of various models or promising practices and identifies common components and practice tips for developing court-community partnerships.
Osofsky, Joy D.
"Questions Every Judge and Lawyer Should Ask About Infants and Toddlers in the Child Welfare System."
Juvenile and Family Court Journal (Spring 2004).
These checklists were developed for use in addressing the special needs of infants and toddlers in the child welfare system and advocating for the protection of this special population of children.
Dicker, Sheryl and Elysa Gordon
Ensuring the Healthy Development of Infants in Foster Care: A Guide for Judges, Advocates and Child Welfare Professionals.
New York Permanent Judicial Commision on Justice for Children (January 2004).
This handbook is a valuable tool to help understand the questions to ask and the resources that can address the special needs of infants in foster care.
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Involving Children in Dependency Court Hearings.
Promising Practices Series, Children`s Bureau Express, Administration for Children and Families 8, no. 2 (March 2007).
How Children`s Voices are Heard in Child Protective Proceedings.
Representing Children Worldwide, Yale Law School (2005).
Representing Children Worldwide is a 2005 survey conducted by the Yale Law School that examined the legal provisions of 194 countries and 56 states concerning how children's voices are heard in child protective proceedings. The results of this survey are available on an interactive Web site. Also found on the site are summary tables comparing the U.S. states as well as countries worldwide.
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Well Being Checklists.
Child Protection Best Practices Bulletin: Innovative Strategies to Achieve Safety, Permanence, and Well-Being.
This is a checklist for judges, case staff, and caseworkers to ensure the safety and well-being in children in permanency cases.
Lund, Theresa Roe and Jennifer Renne
Child Safety: A Guide for Judges and Attorneys.
American Bar Association and ACTION for Child Protection, Inc. (2009).
The purpose of this Guide is to provide judges and attorneys with a practical summary about child safety so they can: (1) evaluate whether agency recommendations regarding child safety are based on sufficient information; (2) recognize recommendations that follow logical reasoning and analysis; (3) identify what additional specific information must be gathered and reported to the court; and (4) have confidence in decisions about child safety, which will improve decision making regarding permanency and well-being.
A Judicial Checklist for Children and Youth Exposed to Violence.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Technical Assistance Brief (2006).
This guidebook discusses the effect that exposure to violence has on children and youth and reviews several promising community collaborations that employ a multidisciplinary approach in responding to children's exposure to violence. Children who witness domestic violence have an increased threat of becoming victims of child abuse or neglect.
Salyers, Hon. Nancy.
A National Curriculum for Caseflow Management in Juvenile Dependency Cases Involving Foster Care.
Fostering Results, Justice Management Institute, and the JERITT Project (March 2005).
A curriculum summary, the national curriculum, exercises, and evaluations are provided.
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Toolkit for Court Performance Measures in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (December 2008).
This Toolkit was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and was created with technical assistance from the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. The Toolkit offers assistance with court performance measurement in child abuse and neglect cases, and includes five publications: a Technical Guide, Implementation Guide, User's Guide, Assessment Guide, and a Key Measures publication.
Fostering Court Improvement: Using Performance Measures to Improve Accountability for Child Welfare and Dependency Cases.
Fostering Court Improvement (September 2006).
This Web page provides analysis that converts existing data from adoption and foster-care analysis and reporting systems into a longitudinal data system that will support court-performance reporting and data collection.
Building a Better Court: Measuring and Improving Court Performance and Judicial Workload in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases.
National Center for State Courts, ABA Center for Children and the Law, and National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2004).
This publication discusses improving court performance in child abuse and neglect proceedings and includes court performance measures, assessment of judicial workload, and the planning process for improving court performance. A companion to this publication is A Toolkit for Court Performance Measurement in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases, which includes case-review, court-observation, and interview forms.
Hardin, Mark, Barbara Smith, and Samia Dawud-Noursi.
Improving State Courts` Performance in Child Protection Cases: User`s Manual for Conducting Your Court Reassessment.
National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues, ABA Center on Children and the Law (2004).
Provides examples as to how states may best reevaluate their assessment programs to best reassess their child-protection programs. The manual also provides information on reassessment of foster-care and adoption litigation, intensive site evaluations, and an analysis of data collected on the subject.
Hardin, Mark, and Molly Hicks.
Appendix G: Sample Court Report: How Courts Can Use Data to Improve Performance in Dependency Cases -- Linkages Between Performance Measurement and Workload.
Symposium on Improving Court Outcomes for Abused and Neglected Children, Williamsburg, VA (June 2000).
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Racial and Ethnic Disparity and Disproportionality in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: A Compendium.
Chicago: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago (January 2009).
This paper addresses the disparate and disproportional representation of racial and ethnic minorities in child welfare and juvenile justice and offers five intervention strategies, including (1) increasing transparency, (2) reengineering structure and procedures, (3) changing organizational culture, (4) mobilizing political leadership, and (5) partnering in developing community and family resources.
Hill, Robert B.
An Analysis of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality and Disparity at the National, State, and County Levels.
Casey Family Programs (2007).
This study examines the racial/ethnic disproportionality in the child welfare system at the national, state and county levels. Included in the study are comparisons between african americans and whites and it also incorporates other communities, namely American Indians, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.
Chibnall, Susan, et al
Children of Color in the Child Welfare System: Perspectives From the Child Welfare Community.
U.S. Children`s Bureau (December 2003).
This project examines the the issue of racial disproportionality from the perspective of the child welfare community, including agency administrators, supervisors, and direct service workers, and to describe the strategies child welfare and child-welfare serving agencies use to meet the needs of children and families of color in the child welfare system.
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