1 Seventh Annual National Citizen Review Panel Conference: The River Rushes On May 22, 2008 Minnesota’s “Children’s Justice Initiative” (CJI): Statewide Collaboration In Action Judith Nord, Staff Attorney Minnesota Judicial Branch State Court Administrators Office or

2 Overview of Presentation  Foundational data.  What is the CJI?  How was the CJI implemented statewide?  What processes and procedures were improved?  How did it improve outcomes for abused and neglected children?

Foundational Data  Population: State population over 5 million; Child population 1.3 million  Child Welfare System: State Supervised, County Administered  Court System: 87 counties organized into 10 judicial districts; only the two largest counties have judges who preside solely over child protection cases 3

4 Children Deserve Safe, Stable, Permanent Homes Minnesota in 2007:  58,221, reports of maltreatment  20,005 reports accepted for assessment involving 27,300 children  14,823 children spent some time in out-of- home placement – an average of 314 days

5 Children Deserve Safe, Stable, Permanent Homes  5,920 child protection and 1,530 TPR petitions filed  22% of children were moved 1 time and 16.4 % were moved 2 or more times  Parental chemical health and mental health issues are underlying causes of majority of cases

Why the Need for Collaboration? 6 “If the nation had deliberately designed a system that would frustrate the professionals who staff it, anger the public who finance it, and abandon the children who depend on it, it could not have done a better job than the present child-welfare system… Marginal changes will not turn this system around.” National Commission on Children

7 What is the CJI? Overview:  Collaboration between MN Supreme Court and MN Department of Human Services  Two state agencies work with county child protection system stakeholders

8 What is the CJI? Overview (cont’d):  Objective is to timely find safe, stable, permanent homes for abused and neglected children

9 What is the CJI?  CJI Mission: To ensure that, in a fair and timely manner, abused and neglected children involved in the juvenile protection court system have safe, stable, permanent families.

10 What is the CJI? Overview (cont’d) :  Multidisciplinary team in each county  Collaboration at State, District, and County levels

11 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  Implemented in three phases: –12 counties in 2001 –15 counties in 2002 –60 counties in 2003

12 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  Lead Judge designated in each county  Lead Judges attended an orientation meeting to learn about their role and how to form their county team

13 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  All Lead Judges and the Director of each County Social Services Agency attended a Leadership Meeting  Learned about need for collaboration and respective roles

14 Rule 1 “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” Indira Ghandi ( ) Prime Minister of India

15 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  CJI teams have been formed in all 87 counties  “Decision-makers” and “line staff” represented at on every county team

16 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  Judges  Court Admin.  County Attys.  Social Services  Guardians ad litem  Parent/child attorneys  Tribal Reps.  Foster Parents  School Officials  Law Enforcement  Probation/Court Services  Service providers from medical, chemical health, mental health, and domestic violence  County Board Reps.  Legislators

17 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  Judges held 2 “start up” team meetings designed to learn more about each other’s roles and responsibilities in order to do better for children and families

18 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  Up to 15 members of each team attended a two-day, statewide Kickoff Conference

19 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  County teams began review of the County Practice Guide during Kickoff Conference  Monthly meetings to continue review and to develop action plan to improve practices

20 How was the CJI implemented statewide?  Technical Assistance  Cross-systems Training  Stakeholder Checklists  Juvenile Protection Rules  Judges Benchbook  Model Orders  Website  Newsletter

21 Rule 2 “If you do what you’ve always done, You’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Anonymous

22 Rule 3 “Even if you think you are on the right track, You’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers

23 Improved Processes and Procedures: General  Better understanding of each others’ role and responsibilities  Increased cooperation  Statewide cross- systems training  Stakeholder-specific training

24 Improved Processes and Procedures: Judges  Increased judicial oversight of cases  “No continuance” policy for hearings enforced  Orders issued in court at end of hearing

25 Improved Processes and Procedures: County Attys.  Process to decide whether filing of petition is necessary (pre-petition screening)  Process for parties to gain early access to agency files to minimize disputes over discovery

26 Improved Processes and Procedures: Social Services  Out-of-home placement plan filed within 30 days of removal  Front loading of services  Early engagement of parents  Increased number of adoptions

27 Improved Processes and Procedures: Schools  Enhanced collaboration with social services agency  Diversion programs being implemented for truancy cases

28 Improved Processes and Procedures: Tribal Reps.  Enhanced collaboration to deliver services to Indian families  Tribes involved early in decision-making  “Active efforts” requirements of ICWA are met

29 Improved Processes and Procedures: Attys for Parents and Children  Early appointment and assignment of attorneys  Attorneys participate at every stage of proceedings

30 Improved Processes and Procedures: Law Enforcement  Enhanced collaboration with social services agency  Joint protocols for taking children into custody

31 Improved Processes and Procedures: Court Administration  Time-certain, staggered hearings  Increased hearing lengths  Orders and notice of next hearing delivered at close of hearing  Juvenile Court orientation video

32 Improved Processes and Procedures: Guardians Ad Litem  GAL assigned to each case  Appears at first hearing  Reports filed and served 5 days before hearing

33 Rule 4 “No matter where we are on the road, some people are ahead of us and some people are behind us.” Lael Winer-Cyr 15-year-old Student

34 Improved Outcomes for Children  CJI Core Goals and Standards  Includes Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) goals: –Safety –Permanency –Well-being –Due Process

35 Improved Outcomes for Children  The rate of Guardian Ad Litem appointments improved from 55% in 2001 to 80% in 2002 to 97% in 2003

36 Improved Outcomes for Children  An average of 2.3 judges presided over each child protection case in 2002 and 2003  We plan to reach a one-judge one- family rate

37 Improved Outcomes for Children  From , foster care re-entries decreased 24.07%, and stability of foster care placements increased 13.43%

38 Improved Outcomes for Children  Services to families to protect children in home and prevent removal increased from 79.31% in 2001 to 84.40% in 2003

39 Improved Outcomes for Children  From 2001 – 2003, placement with siblings increased 17.72% and visitation with parents and siblings in foster care inceased 18.55%

40 Improved Outcomes for Children  Children’s permanency and stability in their living situations increased from 62.50% in 2001 to 75.93% in 2003

41 Improved Outcomes for Children  From 2001 to 2003, adoption rates increased 12.5% from 75% to 87.50%

42 Rule 5 “Courage is being scared – saddle up anyway.” John Wayne

Quality Assurance 43

Correlation Between High- Functioning Teams and Improved Outcomes for Families Characteristics of High-Functioning Team:  Strong judicial leadership and support from agency administration  Broad-based membership, including representatives from all legal disciplines and community stakeholders  Regular and substantive meetings  Meaningful work plans  Improved communication and court practices  Observable results/outcomes 44

45 OUTCOME PERMANENCY 1 High Functioning CJI Teams N= Comparison Group CJI Teams N= Outcome P1: Children have permanency and stability in their living situations 87%36 55%33 Item 5: Foster care re-entry 81%22 44%21 Item 6: Stability of foster care 89%36 84%33 Item 7: Permanency goal for child 88%36 71%33 Item 8: Reunification or transfer of physical and legal custody 88%21 75%21 Item 9: Adoption 87%9 70%7 Item 10: Permanency goal of long- term foster care 100%8 40%9

46 Rule 6  When you come to the fork in the road, take it. Yogi Berra

And the River Rushes On It’s a drop in the bucket, and a bucket in a pond, And the pond fills the river, and the river rushes on. Every river swells a river, until the power can’t be stopped. And what becomes a mighty ocean, started as a drop. 47

48 Questions?