In Support for Court Involvement in Audits Conducted by the Children’s Bureau
Resolution 18 In Support for Court Involvement in Audits Conducted by the Children's Bureau
WHEREAS, Congress authorized the Children's Bureau of the United States Department of Health and Human Services to conduct Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSRs) and Title IV-E Audits in 50 states and territories to ensure that state child welfare systems comply with federal policy, operate efficiently and effectively, and expeditiously move abused and neglected children to safe and permanent homes; and
WHEREAS, Congress charged the state courts with oversight responsibilities for the state child welfare systems, making state courts critical stakeholders in these systems; and
WHEREAS, after initial CFSRs, the Children's Bureau recognized the need to actively involve the judiciary in all phases of the reviews, including self-assessment, review planning, on-site review, and the development and implementation of Program Improvement Plans; and
WHEREAS, although the Children's Bureau encouraged state child welfare agencies to engage the judiciary in the CFSR process, this engagement did not occur consistently across all states or phases of the reviews; and
WHEREAS, similar efforts to engage the judiciary were not made in conducting IV-E Audits, resulting in little court involvement in those audits; and
WHEREAS, failure to engage the judiciary leads to a lack of mutual understanding between the executive and judicial branches, limiting collaboration and commitment to addressing systemic issues; and
WHEREAS, greater collaboration could be achieved if the judiciary, including Chief Justices, were notified of critical audit events and included in on-site reviews; and
WHEREAS, collaboration between judicial and executive branches would yield more meaningful audit outcomes and improve service to children and families;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators request that the Children's Bureau directly communicate with Chief Justices and State Court Administrators regarding the scheduling, planning, and implementation of CFSRs and IV-E Audits to enable full judicial participation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conferences request that a representative of the Children's Bureau meet with the Chief Justice (or designee) in each state as part of any federal review or audit to ensure direct communication and information sharing with state court leadership; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the leadership of the Conferences meet with the Children's Bureau leadership to discuss additional methods for fostering greater collaboration between the judicial and executive branches during federal reviews and audits.
Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Courts, Children and Families Committee and the CCJ/COSCA Court Management Committee at the 56th Annual Meeting on July 29, 2004.