NCJ Number
172591
Journal
Negotiation Journal Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: July 1997 Pages: 283-299
Date Published
1997
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article traces the history of a 16-year court battle over the child welfare system in Kansas City, Mo., which eventually moved toward resolution as the result of an innovative public-policy negotiation process.
Abstract
The case was filed by Legal Aid of Western Missouri on behalf of five foster children in the official custody of the Jackson County office of the Missouri Division of Family Services; it developed out of the lawyers' experiences in representing neglected and abused foster children in family court. They observed that too many children were being removed from their families, only to become lost in a system whose efforts to provide them with permanent homes were inadequate. The complaint alleged violations of the children's constitutional and statutory rights not to be harmed while in state custody and outlined the physical and emotional abuse the five named plaintiffs had suffered in the system's nominal care. The case resisted resolution due to adversarial legal combat until it was submitted to a negotiation process. The process combined the substantive expertise of nationally and locally respected child welfare professionals with political officials at the State, local, and community levels to develop and implement a reform plan. The lessons learned included a recognition of the value of an infusion of expertise and technical assistance; the importance of a commitment to inclusion and cooperation in addressing the system's problems; and the use of a credible, neutral third party to bring and hold the other elements together. If the results of this process become institutionalized in the Kansas City child welfare system, it will be a significant transformation in the governing culture and practices of the system and the community it serves. 3 notes and 13 references