Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978 to address the widespread practice of state entities removing American Indian and Alaskan Native children from their homes and families. Congress found “an alarmingly high…
This Judge’s Action Alert highlights: the reasons for providing legal advocacy early in a child welfare case before court involvement, roles legal advocates play when appointed before court involvement in a case, benefits of early, precourt…
Through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) funding, the Implementation Sites Project was developed to replicate the infrastructure pioneered by the National Council of Juvenile and Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Model Courts Project.…
Courts are a vital part of the community and can benefit from community-based feedback and partnerships to improve systemic responses and increase access to services. This edition of the Ready Resource focuses on strategies for…
The relationship between prosecuting attorneys and public defenders is adversarial in nature. However, due to the rise of problem-solving courts and the use of multi-disciplinary teams, this relationship has become less adversarial. Most common are…
Social service agency administrators are responsible for identifying an array of resources to serve youth and families. Also, these administrators are responsible for evaluating program effectiveness and ensuring equity. Their work is critical for youth…
Juvenile probation administrators are responsible for ensuring that their probation department equitably offers evidence-based services to youth. It is important that these services meet the needs of youth, and that the services foster positive outcomes.…
Juvenile and family court judges are leaders and conveners in their communities. Judges need information (data) to accomplish varied activities in their roles – from making individual-level decisions about evidence-based services to convening stakeholder groups…
The public health emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged courts and communities in unprecedented ways. Of particular concern are the sometimes insurmountable obstacles that many victims of domestic violence and their children encounter…
This Technical Assistance Brief provides a summary of resources available regarding the out-of-state service of civil protection orders, petitions, and related court notices and documents.
Juvenile dependency mediation is an evidence-based, best practice that focuses on the child’s best interest. It is a collaborative, non-adversarial conversation facilitated by specially trained neutral mediators in a secure, comfortable, and safe setting. This…
Facing a child protection investigation is scary for any parent and even more for domestic violence survivors. A parent who uses violence against the other parent, not surprisingly, is often found to use violence against…