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  • Working With the Courts for Permanency

Working With the Courts for Permanency

Courts play a key role within the child welfare system in achieving permanency for children. Judges, attorneys, child welfare professionals, and others must understand and implement the laws and work together to ensure safe and stable permanent families for children. The following are resources that provide information to help child welfare agencies and courts collaborate to achieve permanency for children, including court issues related to youth.

  • State and local examples

Child Welfare Courts During a Public Health Crisis: Access to Justice and Advocacy Are Critical Anchors During Uncertain Times (PDF - 261 KB)
Children’s Advocacy Institute, Children's Rights, National Center for Youth Law, Juvenile Law Center, Youth Law Center, & National Association of Counsel for Children (2020)
Provides guidance on safeguarding the needs and rights of every young person and family member experiencing dependency court involvement during a public health crisis.

Concurrent Planning for Timely Permanence

Series Title
Bulletins for Professionals
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability
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Year Published
2018
Explores concurrent planning research and practice. Examines the role of the courts, how to assess for the probability of family reunification, and caseworker training. Provides State and local examples of concurrent planning practice.

Court Hearings for the Permanent Placement of Children

Series Title
State Statutes
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Download (PDF - 345KB)
Year Published
2020
Summarizes State laws that mandate the type and frequency of court hearings that must be held to review the status of children placed in out-of-home care. At these hearings, the court reviews the efforts that have been made to address the family issues that necessitated the out-of-home placement as well as efforts to achieve permanency for the child. This document also lists the persons who may attend the hearings and describes permanency options.

Court Improvement Program (CIP) Talks
National Center for State Courts
Presents several videos on how the legal community can partner with stakeholders to better serve vulnerable families and improve child welfare outcomes. The topics discussed include how legal professionals can help strengthen families, high quality legal representation, and more.

Courts, COVID, and Permanency (PDF - 532 KB)
National Center for State Courts (2021)
Discusses the need for expedited permanency and strategies to integrate, even in the face of a global pandemic.

Permanency Barriers Project
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
Presents an initiative that helps youth in foster care find permanent and safe homes and assists States in identifying and addressing barriers to permanency.

Understanding Child Welfare and the Courts

Series Title
Factsheets for Families
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Versión para imprimir (PDF - 420KB)
Year Published
2022
Describes the court system for families whose children have been removed from the home or are at risk for removal. The factsheet addresses legal representation for parents and children, types of court hearings in the child welfare case, and the professionals involved in child welfare hearing. It also provides information about parent’s rights and responsibilities and language commonly used in a child welfare courtroom.

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Court issues related to youth permanency

How Adolescent Brain Science Supports Youth Engagement in Court Hearings and Case Planning
American Bar Association Youth Engagement Project (2019)
Child Law Practice Today
Describes how adolescent brain science confirms that meaningfully engaging youth in their case planning and court hearings is important for their healthy growth and development and for successful child welfare cases.

Informing the Court: What Permanency Means for Young People
FosterClub (2018)
Shares how the Permanency Pact can be used to support young people in foster care by helping to strengthen connections they may already have. Courts can provide opportunities for the pact to be discussed at different points during case planning and hearings.

Permanency in the Court: A Youth-Driven Perspective [Video] 
Baber, Rideout, Kelly, & Keane (2017)
Voice for Adoption
Outlines steps judges and court professionals can take to promote permanency for youth. These include promoting positive attitudes toward permanency, ensuring youth participation, limiting group care and supporting family-based placements, and prioritizing successful permanency planning.

Unadoptable Is Unacceptable: Removing Legal Barriers to Permanency for Older Youth (PDF - 2,664 KB)
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (2019)
Provides insight into the systemic barriers and most common legal challenges that Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption recruiters in all 50 States encounter as they move children out of foster care and into a permanent home.

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Spotlight On

Court Hearings for the Permanent Placement of Children
Child Welfare Information Gateway
(2020)

Case Planning for Families Involved With Child Welfare Agencies
Child Welfare Information Gateway
(2018)

Related Content

Legal Issues in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases

Court Improvement/Court Reform

Court-Child Welfare Agency Collaboration

Domestic Violence, Child Welfare, and the Courts

Legal and Court Issues in Permanency

More From Our Library

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Working with the courts for permanency

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