Transcript Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Child Protection Cases

Interdisciplinary Collaboration
in Child Protection Cases
A Presentation by the National Child Welfare
Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues
ABA Center on Children and the Law
May 2002
Copyright ©MMII By the American Bar Association
Potential Benefits of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
in Court Improvement
• Judicial decisions based on more complete information.
• Agency planning and court decisions more in sync.
• Courts and agencies identify and diagnose crossdisciplinary and agency-judicial problems.
• Improved mutual respect and courtesy.
• Better outcomes for abused and neglected children.
Some Typical Interdisciplinary Problems
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Excess waiting time in court.
Insufficient case documentation and preparation for court.
Incomplete testimony and evidence.
Mutual hostility or wariness.
Inefficient process for scheduling hearings.
Turnover of judges and caseworkers.
Unhelpful or wrongly focused court reports.
Difficulties with access to services.
Some Interdisciplinary Court Improvement Issues
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Investigations and assessments.
Court reports and pleadings.
Case preparation and presentation.
Scheduling of hearings and appearances.
Co-location of services.
Joint projects.
Automated performance evaluation and case management.
Mutual relationships.
Consumer surveys.
Investigations
• When might the court be involved?
– Court ordered entry when parties do not cooperate.
– Court ordered access to documents.
– Court ordered interviews or depositions of non cooperative
witnesses.
• Why is this important? These procedures are not often
needed.
– To encourage workers not to give up on investigations.
– To provide more complete information to the judge.
• How can we establish these processes?
– Enact laws?
– Establish the procedures through the legal process itself.
– Then work out logistics with the court.
Assessments and Access to Complete Information
• Why?
– Early permanency and well focused early case plans.
• Examples:
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Criminal records
Justice system involvement
Mental health issues
Drug treatment
Prior court proceedings
Scenario
A parent has been involved in drug related criminal activities
for years. Several times, as a condition of probation or
parole, the parent has been ordered into drug treatment.
Each time, the parent failed to successfully complete the
treatment.
The child protection agency, not knowing about the history
of criminal involvement or the court ordered drug treatment,
develops a case plan calling for additional drug treatment. If
the agency had the full criminal and treatment records, it
could have decided whether to fast track the case and move
more quickly for a new permanent home for the child.
Getting Information More Consistently
1. We need to make sure that our law allows the agency to get
the records.
2. We need to set up good interagency communications and
information sharing procedures.
3. The child protection agency needs forms and routine
procedures that require caseworkers to get very complete
records at the beginning of each case.
4. The child protection agency needs good legal help when
parents or other agencies do not agree to provide
information.
5. There should be a routine and swift process for agency
attorneys to go to court to get information when the agency
needs it and isn’t getting cooperation.
Steps to Gain Early Access to Needed
Confidential Information
 Attorneys and courts restructure early motions and hearings
to ensure that court orders will, when appropriate, include
include orders for assessments and access to records.
 Example: Use shelter care hearing to begin the process of
getting timely access to drug treatment records.
 Example: There are criminal records checks of parents and
other adults that might reside in the child’s household, and the
agency informs the judge of the results.
 Attorneys and caseworkers routinely inform the judge when
they may need records and information.
 Judges routinely ask attorneys and parties about the child’s
and parents’ involvement with other systems and treatment.
Court Reports and Pleadings
 Purpose of court report and pleadings
 Help the judge decide issues before the judge at the specific hearing.
 Convince the judge of the need to make decisions requested by the
agency.
 Strategy of court reports and pleadings
 Provide relevant information and eliminate extraneous information.
 Make it convenient for judge to use your suggestions -- provide the
information in the most helpful format.
 Linkage of court reports and court orders
 Format the court report to match the format of the court order.
 Attorneys, judges, and agency managers consult in designing general
formats for court reports and court orders.
Case Preparation and Presentation
• An example: The termination petition the judge couldn’t
grant.
• Ideas:
– Interdisciplinary discussions of agency case preparation and
presentation -- include judges, CASA administrators, and defense
counsel.
– Reformatting of court reports.
– Develop sample good and mediocre examples of court reports and
pleadings.
• Develop uniform forms and policies for case
documentation.
– Information from visits.
– Information from contacts with services providers.
• Develop protocols for case preparation and information
sharing with defense counsel.
Scheduling of Hearings and Appearances
• Goals:
– Each hearing occurs at a specified time.
– Needs and convenience of attorneys and agency workers are taken
into account in scheduling hearings.
• The ability of the court to make scheduling improvements
is linked, in part, to judicial caseloads and workloads.
• In some states, elected court clerks set court schedules.
• The agency and bar must cooperate in improved schedules
by reliably being present and prepared on time.
Co-location of Services
• Why co-locate services?
– Time and efficiency, permanency and safety
• What would they be in an ideal world?
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Paternity testing
Parent locator services
Psychological testing
Drug testing
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• Typical features:
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One time only or episodic types of services
Not performed by public child protection agency
May require court order to gain cooperation
Important to for moving forward the court process
Joint Projects
• Why?”
– Agencies, attorneys, and courts necessarily work with
one another, and it takes joint efforts to improve the
working relationships.
• Limits of joint projects:
– Projects addressing particular issues or problems must
include persons taking different views of the issues.
– Projects must deal with issues of common concern.
– Judges must remain independent concerning substantive
issues coming before the court.
Examples of Joint Projects
• Problem solving task forces -- e.g., for
reduction of delays.
• Protocol development.
• Establishing “problem solving courts” -e.g., drug courts.
• Establishing ADR, such as mediation or
family group conferences.
Collaboration in Automated Performance Measurement:
Purposes of Information Exchange
• Measuring performance regarding permanency:
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Time between events -- e.g., removal from home to adoption.
Changes of placements
Disruptions of placements intended to be permanent
Rates of permanency alternatives -- return home, adoption, legal
guardianship, etc.
• Measuring performance regarding safety:
– New incidents of abuse or neglect, during or after court involvement
– Comparing safety results for different case categories (e.g., cases in
drug court)
• Measuring performance regarding fairness and thoroughness:
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Notice on both parents
Notice on foster parents
Presence of counsel during hearings
Presence of parents and age appropriate children during hearings
Collaboration in Automated Performance Measurement:
Automated Data Exchange to
Help Evaluate Performance
1. Transmitting information from the agency to the court:
• Date of removal (permanency).
• Demographic information: age, sex, ethnic background, sibling
groups (diagnosis of problems).
• Changes of placement (permanency).
• Incidents of reoccurrence (safety).
• Disruptions of permanent placements (permanency).
2. Transmitting information from the court to the agency :
• Date of key legal events -- petitions, adjudication, termination
of parental rights, and adoption (permanency).
• Presence of caseworkers, key witnesses, attorneys at
hearings(quality assurance).
Collaboration in Automated Case Management:
Future Uses of Computers
• Electronic transfer of reports and petitions.
• Automated but selective downloading of generally
undisputed information on each case.
– E.g., demographic information and addresses of foster parents.
– The information then populates the court’s computer screens
screens and documents.
– The downloaded information aids in automatically generation of
notices, reminders, and other documents.
• Capacity to download reports, petitions, and motions from
different parties
– Judge decides what and when to download.
– On demand, system incorporates information into court orders and
findings.
– Judge can modify downloaded information.
Collaboration in Automated Case Management:
Future Uses of Computers (Continued)
 Templates for agency and court documents.
 Agency staff and attorneys can file documents by
completing court templates.
 Staff can download information from their data system into
the templates.
 Templates have built-in reminders for requirements like
reasonable efforts, ICWA.
 Templates for court orders have built-in reminders of issues
the court is to to address, such as compliance of parties
with prior court orders.
Interdisciplinary and Cross System Relationships:
“Playing Social Worker”
When is an attorney or judge “playing social worker”?
•When the judge or attorney tries to build strong personal
relationships with clients?
–What about in drug court?
•When an authority figure tries to be a father or mother figure?
•When the judge modifies details of the case plan (or an attorney
asks the judge to do so)?
–What if the judge modifies the case plan because the parties have a
dispute about its terms?
–What if someone introduced evidence supporting the modification?
•When the judge asks penetrating questions?
•When you are convinced the attorney or judge is wrong?
Interdisciplinary and Cross System Relationships:
Mutual Respect
Workers encourage people to come to court?
 Note: Attendance at court hearings in Cincinnati and Grand Rapids.
 Note: Foster parents not appearing in court.
Court hearings encourage people to come to court.
 Court hearings are substantive.
 Judges deal with parties and witnesses respectfully.
Behavior in court is professional.
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Judge prepares for court.
Caseworkers and attorneys prepare before coming to court.
Professionals dress for court.
Judges, attorneys, and caseworkers are respectful.
Consumer Surveys
• Public feedback.
 Teachers, mandatory reporters.
• Consumer feedback.
 Expert witnesses
 Caseworkers and supervisors
 Parents
 Age appropriate children
 Foster parents
 Focus groups and surveys?
 Agency help in this process?