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.

Addressing the Needs of Youth Known to Both the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems (PDF - 3,880 KB)
Bilchik (2010)
Presents five innovative practices courts can implement to better serve crossover youth and prevent further system involvement.

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)
View Abstract
How to establish effective and efficient relationships between child welfare agencies and the courts.

Improving Child Welfare/Court Collaboration (PDF - 1,410 KB)
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement
Child Welfare Matters, 2009
Highlights 10 strategies child welfare agencies and courts can use to enhance collaboration, discusses agency/court collaboration identified during the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews, and highlights four States with strong child welfare and court partnerships.

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.

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

Author(s)	Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children's Bureau Jones, William G.
Availability	View Download (PDF - 8,051KB)
Year Published	2006

Part of a series of manuals designed to provide guidance on child protection practices, this manual explains court processes most relevant to child abuse and neglect cases. It introduces concepts and terminology associated with the courts, describes the key court processes, and presents practical information to help child protective services caseworkers prepare for court litigation. Specific chapters address: the general or common court system; the powers of the court and the rights of parents and children in child maltreatment cases; the interplay between child maltreatment legislation and caseworker practice; the juvenile court process; the criminal court process; domestic relations and other court proceedings; the issues involved in going to court, including the rules of evidence, court reports, and testifying; the relationship between caseworkers and the court; and court improvement and best practices. Appendices include a glossary, resource listings, and guidelines for caseworkers for permanency and review hearings. 93 references.

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State and local examples

Crossover Youth (PDF - 149 KB)
Janku & Yan (2010)
Defines crossover youth and discusses prevalence of crossover youth in Missouri, as well as service needs of this population in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

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.

New York City Family Court: Blueprint for Change (PDF - 876 KB)
Center for Court Innovation, New York Unified Court System (2010)
Sets goals for court improvements and presents a framework for achieving those goals. Goals are organized in three categories: institutional capacity, collaboration, and case flow/management.

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