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Scales of Justice

National Child Welfare Resource Center on
Legal and Judicial Issues

A Service of the Children's Bureau

Child Welfare Court Improvement

The National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues Court Improvement page is dedicated to providing substantive and timely information about states' efforts to improve child welfare court systems. States are undertaking these efforts with the Court Improvement Program (CIP) grants from the US Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau. The CIP grant program was established in 1994 as a response to the dramatic increase in child abuse and neglect cases and the expanded role of courts in achieving stable, permanent homes for children in foster care.

ABA Child CourtWorks is a bimonthly newsletter that keeps judges, court administrators, attorneys, social workers, child advocates and others informed of new developments and innovations of state court improvement projects.

Our National Court Improvement Catalog allows access to state specific and national summary information on court improvement efforts; searchable by state and topic.

New! The Court Improvement Program Community of Practice is now live and ready for use.

CIP Meeting

The Resource Center participated in the 2008 CIP meeting held in Bethesda, MD. Links to the meeting agenda, handout and presentation materials, and attendee list are available here.

Court Improvement Reassessments

The Resource Center assisted states with reassessments of their court improvement programs. Below are links to resources from these 2004-2005 assessments.

Court Improvement Progress Reports

2005 National Summary. This report describes progress state court improvement projects are making to enhance their dependency court processes. It describes new projects, programs, and strategies courts are using to implement system enhancement plans.

+ Copies of past Court Improvement Progress Reports are available:

Additional Resources on Child Welfare Court Improvement

Resources on Other Court Improvement Initiatives