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Court Improvement Program Executive Summary:
Assessment of Probate Courts'
Handling of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases
This summary, edited by Kathi L. Grasso, Esq., was submitted to the
Michigan Supreme Court State Court Administrative Office by the American
Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law and the Natoinal Center
for State Courts.
Background and Purpose
Research Design
Major Findings
The Future
Background and Purpose
On any given day in Michigan, judges and referees are called upon to decide
issues of vital importance to hundreds of children and their families.
Court decisions in abuse and neglect cases are often of a "life and
death" nature as courts must determine whether children will be safe
in specific placements. Courts must also at the same time think of the
long-term and make "hard" decisions about whether children's
ties with parents, siblings, and other relatives will be forever severed.
In addition, they must evaluate the provision of services, including medical,
psychological, and educational services, to children in foster care to
ensure that permanency plans are implemented quickly.
Without well-functioning court systems, the preparation of case plans
or the provision of social services alone cannot achieve the timely adoption
of abused and neglected children who are unable to return home or the
timely reunification of children with their biological families. Real
improvement in the court system requires improved caseflow management,
a highly disciplined process of reviewing cases in a timely and comprehensive
manner, the appointment or election of judges who are educated on child
welfare law and related concerns, the appointment of skilled attorneys
for children, parents and child welfare agencies, and a sufficient numbers
of judges to give cases the attention they warrant.
To accomplish these important goals, and pursuant to the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA), the United States Congress appropriated
funds to the states for the purpose of improving their courts' handling
of child abuse and neglect cases. Forty-eight states, including Michigan,
and the District of Columbia, were awarded court improvement grants.
Under these grants, each state court system is to thoroughly assess
the quality of its juvenile dependency court process, identify obstacles
to achieving timely permanency plans for children, and develop and implement
plans for court improvement.
In November 1995, the American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children
and the Law and the National Center For State Courts (NCSC) were awarded
a grant by the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) of the Michigan
Supreme Court to conduct the statewide assessment of Michigan probate
courts' handling of child abuse and neglect cases. In April 1997, after
full consultation with the SCAO, the Project Advisory Board, and Michigan
consultants, their final report was submitted to Michigan's State Court
Administrative Office. Presently, plans are underway to implement many
of the report's recommendations.
The court improvement project is especially timely as Michigan moves
to establish a unified family court system. If the overriding goal of
a unified family court system is to better serve children and families,
those involved in implementing this court structure must be cognizant
of Michigan's role as a national leader in juvenile court reform and
not dismantle those aspects of the probate court system that are working
well for children and families.
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Research Design
At the project's onset, an Advisory Board was created to provide guidance
to staff conducting the court improvement assessment. The Board is comprised
of individuals who are experts in child welfare and court processes. It
includes judges, court administrators, attorneys, and representatives
of the Family Independence Agency (FIA), CASA programs, foster parents,
foster care review boards (FCRBs), and private child placement agencies.
To date, Board members have spent many hours commenting on the project's
draft documents. They have been readily available for several full-day
meetings at the SCAO in Lansing. The inclusiveness of the board has
ensured broad-based community involvement and identification of unique,
effective local court practices.
Conducted over approximately fifteen months, the study involved four
phases:
a statewide survey of judges and referees presiding over
abuse and neglect proceedings;
visits to the probate courts of Wayne, Roscommon and Jackson Counties
to observe court proceedings and interview judges, court administrators,
attorneys, FCRB members, CASA program representatives, FIA staff and
others who work with children and families;
individual case tracking consisting of reviews of a representative
sample of court child abuse and neglect files in the counties visited;
and
the production of a comprehensive, final report detailing the findings
of the statewide survey, site visits, and case tracking, and recommendations
for systemic change designed to improve the processing of abuse and
neglect cases.
In analyzing the assessment findings and in formulating recommendations
for change, report drafters looked to standards on model court practice
and procedure endorsed by the National Conference of Chief Justices,
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the American
Bar Association. Known as the Resource Guidelines: Improving Court Practice
in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases (hereinafter Resource Guidelines),
they support the principle that child abuse and neglect cases must be
a court priority if timely and thoughtful case decision-making is to
occur in the cases of our most vulnerable children. Approaching the
standard of quality mandated by the Guidelines presents a major challenge
to all who want to improve our dependency court systems.
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Major Findings
In Michigan, the project team concluded that, despite a number of identified
problem areas, the courts visited are in near compliance with many of
the standards of the Resource Guidelines governing the handling of child
abuse and neglect cases. For the most part, they have implemented systems
of case calendaring and assignment, case flow management techniques, and
early attorney appointment that are enhancing the courts' abilities to
make timely permanency planning decisions. Even more importantly, the
majority of Michigan's courts handling abuse and neglect cases are comprised
of specialist judges and referees who are relatively well-educated on
child welfare concerns, had previous experience in the field prior to
coming to the bench, and have exhibited leadership and commitment to improving
the lives of children and families.
Addressing obstacles to effective court involvement in permanency planning,
the final report's recommendations include the following:
additional training for the judiciary, court staff, and attorneys
on child welfare related issues due to the creation of family divisions
in the circuit courts;
the development of systems for the appointment of attorneys for children
that ensure children are provided with high quality representation;
enhanced training of attorneys representing not only children, but
the FIA and parents;
reasonable caseloads for judges, referees and attorneys, especially
those in more urban jurisdictions with a high volume of cases; the
creation of case tracking systems within local courts to ensure that
permanency plans are being implemented in a timely manner; and
an increase in the court time allotted to abuse and neglect cases
to allow the judiciary and parties to fully explore issues relevant
to children's initial removal from their families and permanency planning.
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The Future
Once a State has completed its self-assessment and recommendations for
reform, it must develop and implement its plan for improvement. This is
the second phase of the Court Improvement Program. Over the next several
months, in consultation with the Advisory Board, an implementation plan
will be developed.
Adherence to the report's recommendations will make a positive difference
in the lives of children by diminishing the time they spend in foster
care or other out-of-home placements. Their implementation will guarantee
that all children who are victims of abuse and neglect will become members
of loving families as quickly as they deserve.
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