From Child Abuse & Neglect, to Safety, Permanency & Well-Being
About 34,000 Texas children live in foster care today, with another 12,000 in the legal custody of the Department of Family & Protective Services. No child enters or leaves foster care or the custody of the Department without state judicial action. Courts play a pivotal role, with the Department, in protecting and serving this vulnerable and blameless population. For the Supreme Court and the judicial branch of Texas, achieving safety, permanency & well-being for these children is a moral, practical, legal, & financial imperative. The Commission was created to strengthen Texas courts to achieve safety, permanency, and well being for abused and neglected children, through judicial leadership and collaboration, and with the support of the federal Court Improvement Program.
– Latest News –
- Supreme Court signs orders creating Commission and appointing members. [ orders ]
- Transcript of September 25, 2007 Supreme Court Public Hearing on Commission for Children, Youth, and Families [pdf]
- Hearing Web-Cast
- Public Hearing Announcement [pdf]
- Texas Family Partnership Guide - October 2007 - The Texas Partnership for Family Recovery is an interagency initiative of the OCA, CIP, DFPS, DSHS, and Texas CASA working in conjunction with the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare to provide assistance to communities seeking to address the problems of child abuse due to neglect and substance abuse/addiction and mental health disorders. The Partnership developed this Guide which is designed to assist communities in working together to integrate the three systems of child welfare, substance abuse treatment and the judiciary.
- Court Improvement Grant Application Process - Court Improvement Program issues Request for Applications. Counties, courts, certain other governmental entities and certain non-profit agencies are invited to apply for funds to propose programs that will improve child protection court processes.
Grant Application [word] | Grant Application [pdf] - CIP Submits Applications to ACF
- Basic Grant [2007 Progress Report PDF | Application PDF]
- Training Grant [Application PDF]
- Data Connectivity Grant [Application PDF]
- Consultive Group Issues Report [PDF]
To be placed on a stakeholder contact list for the Court Improvement Program, send an email here SCCIP, or create your own email to that address with the word "SUBSCRIBE" in the Subject box.
The Court Improvement Program is currently federally funded by a grant from the Children’s Bureau. The Supreme Court of Texas appointed a Task Force on Foster Care to oversee grant making consistent with the purposes of the program, and is considering the formation of a successor organization, a permanent Judicial Commission on Children & Families, consistent with the report of the Foster Care Consultative Group [pdf]. In 2006 the Supreme Court also appointed a Task Force on Child Protection Case Management & Reporting (referred to as the "Data Task Force"), to develop a statewide case-flow management and tracking system to improve court practice in child-protection cases.
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Updated: 16-Nov-2007
