The following resources provide examples of how States and localities have worked with local court systems to better achieve permanency for children and youth.
Assessing Quality of Permanency Hearings: Toolkit (PDF - 2,867 KB)
Summers (2017)
New York State Unified Court System, Child Welfare Court Improvement Project & Casey Family Programs
Overviews quality permanency hearings in New York, offers suggestions for ways hearings can be improved, and discusses best practices for permanency hearings that can be expanded across the State.
Enhancing the Quality of Hearings in New York State: Using Data to Drive Improvement
Child Law Practice Today (2016)
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
Shares New York's approach to achieving timely permanence for children in care by improving the quality of court hearings and offers ideas for other States and jurisdictions looking to prioritize quality child welfare proceedings.
The New Mexico Court Improvement Project (CIP)
New Mexico Courts
Provides information on the New Mexico State Court Improvement Program (CIP), which provides Federal funding to child welfare agencies and Tribes in New Mexico to enhance the court's role in achieving safe, stable, permanent homes for children and youth in foster care. The website also reviews accomplishments of the CIP so far and links to related court improvement resources.
Permanency Planning Hearings: Toolkit for Judges and Attorneys
Michigan Courts (2019)
Presents a toolkit for judges and court professionals that reviews permanency goals and includes links to additional resources, including a judicial bench card on permanency, court permanency options, roles and responsibilities information, and more.
Texas Child Protection Law Bench Book (PDF - 2,970 KB)
Texas Children's Commission (2018)
Offers a bench book for judges in child protection cases in Texas and includes information on topics such as child protection investigations, alternatives to removal from the home, how to determine best interests of a child, removals, permanency hearings, adoption, community-based foster care, and more.
Texas Youth Permanency Study Sheet for Judges (PDF - 1,946 KB)
Texas Youth Permanency Study (2019)
Shares the results of a study conducted on 30 young adults formerly in foster care in Texas and provides recommendations on how to authentically engage young people in court proceedings. Three recommendations are presented: facilitate relationship building between youth and their legal representation, allow youth to take ownership of their own court case, and inform youth about substantial changes in their court case.