With the mission of supporting and facilitating dependency court change through education and technical assistance, the Permanency Planning for Children Department (PPCD) provides training, specialized technical assistance, and resources to key stakeholders working within the field on a variety of issues related to permanency planning, dependency issues, and court improvement in the handling of child abuse and neglect cases. 

For over ten years, the Child Abuse and Neglect Institute has been conducted offering training to family and juvenile court judges nationwide. The PPCD offers and participates in many other training programs and conferences throughout the nation,  and continues to support its expert faculty in the areas of child abuse and neglect. 
Technical Assistance is provided to professionals working within the field of child abuse and neglect  through the utilization of the PPCD Resource Library, National Council Model Courts project, and the many publications produced by the PPCD.  Please visit the Resource and Reference Lists for listings of organizations and materials that focus on child abuse and neglect issues. You may also request specialized technical assistance at caninfo@ncjfcj.org. 
 

Child Abuse and Neglect Institute (CANI)

The NCJFCJ Child Abuse and Neglect Institute (CANI) was created in 1996 to provide training in dependency court best practices for judicial officers. This week-long training program brings together national and local faculty to teach on core topics including hearing practice, child development, substance abuse, and cutting-edge court improvement developments, among other topics. Offered as a highly interactive in-residence training program, the CANI is aimed at judges who have been newly assigned to child abuse and neglect or dependency cases, or judges who have been presiding over these cases for some time, but who want the latest information about best practice in this area. The CANI program affords judges an opportunity to share their bench experiences and practice skills, as well as develop long-lasting collegial relationships which support information-sharing well after participants have graduated from the CANI. The CANI is held annually in Reno, Nevada, in June, and in one other location in the country as a regional CANI.  We are also working with state/regions who want to develop their own CANI and we'd love to talk with you if this is something you would like to explore.  Please click here for additional information on past CANIs, including agenda information.  Please note that the agenda can change from year to year, based on schedule availability and other factors.