4/10/08 -- The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has long been committed to providing high quality education and training on issues of interest to judges and other professionals working in our nation’s juvenile and family courts; last year we participated in the training of nearly 20,000 participants nationwide. We understand the value of conferences addressing a wide variety of topics that can assist professionals in the system, as well as the benefit of professional, in-person interaction that occurs during on-site programs.

Although thousands of judges and other professionals benefit from our trainings each year, we know that there are thousands more still in need of educational resources. Attending an out-of-area training can be costly in terms of travel and time away from work, and the timing may not always fit the immediate needs of busy professionals. The development of distance (or online/internet) learning programs can help the NCJFCJ provide high quality curricula with much more flexibility in terms of time and location. Distance learning programs can provide education for judges and others who reside in rural locations, hear or participate in juvenile and family cases as only a segment of their overall workload, or have recently been appointed or elected to the juvenile or family court.

In order to determine the need and support for the development of online education courses, workshops, and presentations in the area of juvenile and family law and court practice, we are asking for your input. Please take a few moments to complete our online survey. Unless you specifically indicate at the close of the survey that you can be contacted about your responses, the responses you provide will not be associated with your name and will be presented in summary or aggregate form only.

Thank you for your participation – the responses you provide will be invaluable to us.