This technical assistance brief is a publication of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®. Juvenile and family court judges have an enormous responsibility for…
Children are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. When dealing with trafficking cases, child safety must guide all efforts: child victims must be protected, physically and psychologically, from their traffickers and provided with placements and services…
A recurring training offered by the NCJFCJ is the Child Abuse and Neglect Institute (CANI) which provides instruction in dependency court best practices for judicial officers who have either been newly assigned to child abuse…
There is not one nationally utilized method of calendaring dependency court cases. Rather, there are four common calendaring methods used to schedule these case types. These include (1) Block time, (2) Time-certain, (3) Combination of…
In response to the high number of Native American children being removed from their homes, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978. In 25 U.S. Code § 1902, Congress declared that the…
Domestic child sex trafficking (DCST) is a rising and multifaceted issue within the U.S. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), through funds from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,…
The U.S. Constitution does not grant parents a right to legal counsel in the juvenile dependency system. However, most states have created statutes that provide parents with legal representation in juvenile dependency cases. Currently, Mississippi…
The National Center for Juvenile Justice, the NCJFCJ’s research division, has released the first in a new series of case-study publications supporting themes explored in the Juvenile Justice Geography, Policy, Practice, and Statistics website (JJGPS.org).When…
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has released Preparing for a Trauma Consultation in Your Juvenile and Family Court. This guide, available online, outlines what courts need to know about a trauma…
The Courts Catalyzing Change: Achieving Equity and Fairness in Foster Care Initiative (CCC) brings together judicial officers and systems stakeholders to set a national agenda for court-based training, research and reform initiatives to reduce the disproportionate treatment…
The Courts Catalyzing Change: Achieving Equity and Fairness in Foster Care Initiative (CCC) brings together judicial officers and systems stakeholders to set a national agenda for court-based training, research and reform initiatives to reduce the…
Research indicates that engaged parents are more likely to attend hearings, visit with their children and comply with their case plan, which increases likelihood of reunification. However, engaging parents in the dependency court process is…