NCJ Number
172250
Date Published
1997
Length
64 pages
Annotation
This report reviews the status of the 10 courts that are participating in the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' (NCJFCJ's) Child Victims Model Courts Project.
Abstract
Under the Federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, juvenile and family court judges are required to regularly review the case of every abused or neglected child until each is provided with a safe, permanent, and stable home. Many judges and State court systems have neither the ability nor the resources to meet these legislative demands. In an effort to remedy this condition, the NCJFCJ's Permanency Planning for Children Project launched the Child Victims Model Courts Project. The Permanency Planning for Children Project is working with 10 model courts nationwide to improve court practice in child abuse and neglect cases. This effort also provides training and technical assistance to observer courts and to court improvement programs in 48 States that are focusing on systemic change in the handling of dependency cases. This report provides summaries of each of the 10 courts' achievements. The report advises that although each court must find individual approaches to systemic change, benefits can be derived from several strong, common elements available to all juvenile and family court systems. These are judicial leadership and inspiration, collaboration and commitment from all parties, realistic goal-setting, directed efforts, and data collection and measurement. A chart shows the characteristics of each of the 10 model courts.