Improving Outcomes Together: Court and Child Welfare Collaboration

The dependency court and the child welfare agency are both responsible for protecting children and mending families. Yet, too often, the court and the agency work on their common goals independently of one another. This paper explores the ways in which juvenile and family courts and child welfare agencies across the country are sharing data and information, and collaborating with one another outside the courtroom in order to improve outcomes for the children in their care. In states and communities across the nation, courts and agencies are forming substantive collaborations which not only unite them in achieving their common goals, but are outcome-oriented efforts to improve the performance of both in achieving safety and permanence for children. Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice and Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care member Maura Corrigan states, “It is incumbent upon us to collaborate with each other for the sake of the children.” Innovative examples of court and agency collaboration can be found in communities across the nation: from a partnership in the Florida juvenile court with a child development expert to create a series of evidence-based parenting programs, to an effort in Kentucky to include university doctoral candidates in efforts to improve outcomes for children in foster care, to the Children’s Justice Initiative in Minnesota, which encourages communication between and informed decision-making by the Judiciary and Department of Human Services. Nationally, the Pew Commission released a series of recommendations targeted at reforming federal financing June 2005