NCJ Number
209282
Date Published
January 2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This booklet discusses the rationale for, benefits of, and resources available for the implementation of model courts, which are designed to improve permanency planning for children in foster care.
Abstract
The Model Courts Project provides, judges, attorneys, and numerous other professionals who work in the courts and child welfare agencies with practical, concrete, and effective tools for creating court improvements in the handling of child abuse and neglect cases. Working with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Permanency Planning for Children Department (PPCD) and using the best-practices bench book "RESOURCE GUIDELINES" for systems reform, the model courts identify impediments to the timeliness of court events and delivery of services for children and families in care and then design and implement court-based and agency-based changes to address these barriers. With technical assistance and training from the PPCD, dependency practices and innovations are pilot-tested and refined as part of ongoing court and multiagency system change efforts. Among the practice improvements pioneered by the model courts are one judge/one family calendaring, more substantive preliminary protective hearings, improved advocacy for children and representation for parents, and the development of data information systems that focus on dependency case processing. Among the improved outcomes associated with model courts are the provision of safe, permanent homes for children in a shorter time and a reduction in the number of contested removal hearings through the use of mediation programs. This paper lists the seven fundamental steps a prospective jurisdiction must take in order to become part of the Model Courts Project. Contact information for existing model courts are listed.