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Court-Child Welfare Agency Collaboration

Resources and information about collaboration between public child welfare agencies and courts to better serve children and families, including State and local examples.

Building a Better Collaboration: Facilitating Change in the Court and Child Welfare System
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2004)
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Guide describing components of collaborations among courts, child welfare agencies, and communities.

Child Welfare and the Courts: An Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Two Complex Systems (PDF - 608 KB)
Bay Area Social Services Consortium (2002)
Examines the quality of relationships between professionals working in the juvenile dependency system and factors contributing to tensions, including recommendations for improving relationships.

Collaboration With the Courts: Trainer's Guide (PDF - 273 KB)
Institute for Child and Family Policy, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service (2004)
Trainer's guide for a workshop about the implications of ASFA for relationships between the court and the child welfare system.

Healing the Youngest Children: Model Court-Community Partnerships (PDF - 75 KB)
Hudson, Klain, Smariga, & Youcha
ABA Child Law Practice, 25(12), 2007
Describes four model partnerships that apply research to court practices to improve outcomes for maltreated infants, toddlers, and their families. Includes tips for implementing successful court-community partnerships.

How To Work With Your Court: A Guide For Child Welfare Agency Administrators
ABA Center on Children and the Law (2004)
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How to establish effective and efficient relationships between child welfare agencies and the courts.

Improving Outcomes Together: Court and Child Welfare Collaboration (PDF - 279 KB)
Fostering Results (2005)
Explores how juvenile and family courts and child welfare agencies are sharing information and collaborating outside the courtroom to improve outcomes for children in care.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Child Protection Cases (PPT - 49 KB)
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues (2002)
Potential benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration in court improvement.

Sample Memorandum of Understanding: Court-Agency Cooperation on Child Family Service Reviews (CFSRs) (PDF - 94 KB)
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues (2005)
Sample memorandum of understanding for court-agency cooperation in the CFSR process.

Working with the Courts in Child Protection

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State and local examples

Collaborations Between Child Welfare Agencies and Court Systems to Facilitate Timely Adoptions
Weisz (2004)
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Activities and outcomes of the Nebraska Court Improvement Project and implications for future policies, programs, and evaluations.

Memorandum of Understanding: Iowa Department of Human Services - Judicial Branch Cooperation (MS Word - 89 KB)
National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues (2005)
MOU between the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Judicial Branch of Iowa.

System Change Through Collaboration...Eight Steps for Getting From There to Here
Townsend & Carroll
Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 53(4), 2002
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Discussion of a Buffalo, New York, collaboration between the Family Court and the Department of Social Services to reduce the amount of time that children spend in foster care.

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Updated on February 24, 2010