COMING SOON!!
Designing Effective Training Evaluations: An Implementation Guide and Toolbox for Dependency Court Systems

With funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, the Permanency Planning for Children Department (PPCD), in collaboration with the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues, has developed an Implementation Guide and Toolbox for dependency court systems to use as they design and evaluate their training programs. The Guide is designed to provide strategies and evaluation tools to training coordinators about how to identify training needs, develop training methodologies, and assess training outcomes. The Guide will be available the end of April 2010.

Click HERE to view the Fact Sheet.

New PPCD Technical Assistance Brief!

Court Reform and American Indian and Alaskan Native Children:
Increasing Protections and Improving Outcomes

This Technical Assistance Brief, a joint publication of the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, has found that additional improvements in data collection and collaboration between courts and public agencies are required to better meet the unique needs of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) children in court dependency cases, and offers additional recommendations to strengthen the foster care system's response to the needs of AI/AN children. Partially funded by OJJDP, the report provides a preliminary examination of recommendations made in a 2004 study by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, focusing on State and Tribal Court involvement in Indian child welfare matters and opportunities for enhancing court systems for AI/AN children.

Please click Here to download the publication. Hard copies can be obtained by contacting caninfo@ncjfcj.org

New Technical Assistance Brief!!
Better Outcomes for Infants and Toddlers: Judicial Survey on Infants and Toddlers and the Dependency Court System, Summary of Findings Report

The Permanency Planning for Children Department, in cooperation with the Honorable Pamela Abernethy of Marion County Circuit Court in Oregon, and ZERO TO THREE (ZTT), the National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, conducted a survey to determine the extent of current knowledge about infant development, identify barriers judges have faced in taking action for this population, and identify promising practices. This technical assistance brief presents the data gathered, and how judges can expand education and opportunities for the zero to three population.  

Available by download only.Please click HERE to download a copy of the publication.

NEW PUBLICATION!! 

The Model Court Effect: Proven Strategies in Systems' Change

This new publication highlights the work of the Victims Act Model Courts with data outcomes associated with best practices utilized in the courts. Cost-saving strategies achieved by implementing mediation and alternative dispute resolution, as well as the reduction of numbers of children in care due to front-loading of services, are just a few of the court programs highlighted in this brochure.

Please click HERE for a free download of the publication!

Technical Assistance Brief - The State of Juvenile Dependency Court Research: Implications for Practice and Policy

In 2007, the California Administrative Office of the Court's Center for Families, Children and the Courts contracted with the PPCD to conduct a research review to determine the current state of research involving juvenile dependency courts. This Brief presents an overview of the findings of that research, including identification of several promising research projects.

Available for purchase and download. Click the title above for a PDF download of the publication.

REVISED!! Technical Assistance Brief: Asking the Right Questions II: Judicial Checklists to Meet the Educational Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care

This publication is a revision of the original Technical Assistance Brief published in 2005 with the addition of two new specific checklists. This revised publication includes a checklist of critical questions every judge should ask about education in every case, and a checklist of critical questions every judge should ask about education and older youth. Each of the three checklists provides juvenile and family court judges with valuable guidance to ensure the necessary information is obtained in every case to meet the educational needs of children and youth in care. 

Available for purchase and download. Click the image or title above for a PDF download of the publication.

Judicial Responsibility in a Budget Crisis Environment
Policy Statement

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Well-Being Committee met in January 2009 and discussed its deep concern that the well-being of children and families will suffer during times of budget reductions. This statement was adopted as a policy of the NCJFCJ by its Board of Trustees in January 2009.

Please click HERE to download the policy statement.

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110-351) 

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L 110-351) will aid thousands of children and youth in foster care by promoting permanent families for them through relative guardianship and adoption, and improving education and health care. The Permanency Planning for Children Department is working with the American Bar Association (ABA) to create a reference guide for judges on the implications the Act has for juvenile and family court judges.  A Technical Assistance Brief and article in the National CASA Judges’ Page newsletter will also help inform judicial stakeholders on the implications this Act has on court proceedings. A detailed description of the Act, along with judicial considerations, can be accessed by clicking here or the link above.

For the Administration for Children and Families Title IV-E State Plan Amendment Guardianship Assistance Program information click here.

For the Title IV-E State Plan Amendment form click here.

For more information on the Act, please contact Megan Warren, Training Coordinator, at mwarren@ncjfcj.org.

New Publication! 

The RESOURCE GUIDELINES: Supporting Best Practices and Building Foundations for Innovation in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases

Development of the RESOURCE GUIDELINES  formally began in 1992 with funding from the Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice. The best practices and judicial role described in the GUIDELINES  ultimately developed through extensive dialogue and prior years of judicial practice, information-sharing, and outreach efforts among NCJFCJ members and its leaders. Today, the best practices of theGUIDELINES  are still a critical component of ongoing reforms in child abuse and neglect cases.

This publication, developed from interviews with RESOURCE GUIDELINES  founders, and a review of relevant background material, provides an overview of the genesis of the GUIDELINES  and, over the years, how it has been used to support and guide court and systems reform across the nation.

Click HERE to download a copy of the publication.

Technical Assistance Bulletin: Ensuring the Unique Needs of Dependency Courts are Met in Disaster Planning Efforts: Dependency Court Planning Templates for Continuity of Operations Plans

In August and September 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused devastating damage to states along the Gulf Coast. In the wake of those disasters, questions were raised about the safety and services provided to the children in foster care.

The Technical Assistance Bulletin, Ensuring the Unique Needs of Dependency Courts are Met in Disaster Planning Efforts: Dependency Court Planning Templates for Continuity of Operations Plans , builds on previous reviews of state and local disaster planning efforts, conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law (ABA), and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), to offer Dependency Court Disaster Planning Templates. The templates are tools courts can use to create and implement disaster plans that are tailored to the specific needs of the dependency court system. 

Click HERE to download the Technical Assistance Bulletin.

Click HERE to download the Informational Flyer.

                 New Toolkit Publication! 

The PPCD, in collaboration with the American Bar Association and the National Center for State Courts, announces an essential resource for juvenile and family courts.  The Toolkit for Court Performance Measures in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases provides practical, comprehensive guidance on how to undertake performance measurement; improve child and family outcomes of safety, permanence, and well-being; and move toward more efficient and effective dependency court operations.

The Toolkit is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau, and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

Click HERE to print a downloadable flyer announcing the Toolkit.

For more information please click the image above or see the OJJDP website at:

http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/publications/courttoolkit.html

For information on court performance measures, including streaming video and PDF resources, please see the courtsandchildren.org website.

Courts Catalyzing Change:  Achieving Equity and Fairness in Foster Care

The Courts Catalyzing Change:  Achieving Equity and Fairness in Foster Care Initiative  (CCC) now has its own webpage that can be accessed at this link or on the menu buttons at the left.