National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues

Who We Are

The National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues (RCLJI) provides expertise to State and Tribal agencies and courts on legal and judicial aspects of child welfare. RCLJI is dedicated to achieving safety, permanence, and well-being for abused and neglected children through improved laws and judicial decision-making. Areas of focus include permanency decision-making, adherence to ASFA and other Federal laws, the court's role in the CFSRs and child welfare reform, high quality legal representation for all parties, judicial and attorney workloads, quality assurance for courts and legal offices, effective forensic performance by agencies, the impact of ASFA on youth in the juvenile justice system, education needs of children in foster care, legal ethics, and the interplay of domestic violence and child welfare.

How We Can Help

RCLJI offers States the following assistance with their CFSRs:

Collaboration
RCLJI can assist with agency-court collaborative efforts at all stages of the CFSRs. Technical assistance can include, among other things, the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the agency and court covering how collaboration during the CFSR process will take place. RCLJI can offer advice and assistance on collaboration throughout the process.

Collecting and Analyzing Data
RCLJI can help coordinate focus groups as a method of analyzing the implications of existing agency and court data, employing in such groups judges, lawyers, and other stakeholders in the CFSR. Staff can also help analyze data the State is collecting to determine how effectively the courts are achieving safety, permanence, and well-being for children.

Legal and Judicial Issue Analysis
RCLJI staff can help by reviewing CFSR Statewide Assessments, final reports, and Program Improvement Plans (PIPs); identifying legal barriers to best practice; and recommending strategies to overcome barriers. RCLJI can also meet with the agency and/or court to help pinpoint underlying factors of legal system issues.

Promoting Stakeholder Involvement
RCLJI can assist in providing a full range of legal and judicial input regarding the CFSR. Staff can help States identify and engage all the most appropriate legal system participants—including representatives of the Court Improvement Project—and help ensure they will stay involved throughout the process, from the CFSR preparation stage through implementation of the PIP.

Strategic Planning
In coordination with the NRC on Organizational Improvement, RCLJI staff or consultants can meet with the agency and/or court to help develop specific legal and judicial related strategies to address issues identified in the final report, such as timely decisions, effective case review systems, and judicial involvement in achieving enhanced safety. RCLJI can help develop strategic planning for court involvement in the CFSR itself and for the legal and judicial facets of the PIP.

PIP Implementation
RCLJI offers tailored training and technical assistance as determined by the PIP. Examples include:

Improving legal representation of the agency and other parties
Improving the timeliness of judicial decision-making
Developing judicial performance measurement and quality assurance
ASFA nuts and bolts implementation for judges
Analysis of State statutes and court rules
Analysis of judicial and attorney workloads with strategies for improvement

Other Training and Technical Assistance
The Center has new workshops that may be helpful to States and Tribes in the CFSR process, including:

Best Practices to Implement ASFA: Creative Strategies for Permanence
Making it Permanent: Efforts to Finalize Permanency Plans for Children in Foster Care
Meeting Educational Needs of Children in Foster Care
Achieving Permanency for Older Youth

For More Information

Address:	740 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005-1019
Phone:	800.285.2221
Fax:	202.662.1755
Email:	mark.hardin@staff.abanet.org
Website:	http://www.abanet.org/child/rclji
Contact:	Mark Hardin, Director Mimi Laver, Assistant Director Jennifer Renne, Assistant Director (and contact for TA requests) 202.662.1731 rennej@staff.abanet.org

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