Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Washington Courts Join National Campaign to Reform Foster Care

Washington judges and court officials will work to end foster care more quickly for the state’s approximately 9,500 foster children as part of a national effort to reform the country’s foster care system by working through the courts.

“A National Call to Action,” a comprehensive, state-by-state plan to reduce the amount of time that abused and neglected children spend in foster care, is being released this month by the National Center for State Courts. The plan is available online at www.ncsconline.org.

“Washington courts have long been at the forefront of efforts to improve the court system for children and families, and we enthusiastically join this campaign to help foster children find permanent homes more quickly,” said Washington Supreme Court Justice Bobbe J. Bridge.

Bridge attended the “National Judicial Leadership Summit for Protection of Children: Changing Lives by Changing Systems” in September 2005 in Minnesota. Court leaders from 49 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories attended the historic summit, and their input and work became the National Call to Action plan. Other members of the Washington state team include Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Casey, King County Superior Court Analyst Michael Curtis, and Department of Social and Health Services’ Children’s Administration Assistant Secretary Cheryl Stephani and Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Charles Snyder.

Washington’s action plan focuses on judicial leadership, accountability and strengthening the voices of children and parents in courts. The plan includes:

·        Exploring creation of a dedicated juvenile and family law bench.

·        Developing a judicial training academy on dependency (child welfare) cases.

·        Improving legal representation for indigent children (lack of representation is a common source of court delays).

·        Integrating alternative dispute resolution processes into child welfare cases.

·        Establishing an annual audit of all active dependency cases.

·        Integrating evidence-based programs into child welfare cases.

Washington State jumped ahead of the national effort when Bridge, in early 2005, asked the state Supreme Court to establish the Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care. The Commission is working toward the same goal on a state level as that of the national campaign — reduce the time Washington children linger in foster care.

The median stay in foster care for Washington children has been on the decline, and now stands at 540 days. Nationally, more then 500,000 children live in foster care and half of those will spend more than two years in foster care. About 20 percent of all foster children will “age out” of foster care without ever having found permanent homes.

Both the Supreme Court Commission and the national campaign grew from a 2004 report by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, which found that changes in two arenas could significantly improve the lives of foster children — federal funding mechanisms for child welfare, and court processes. The Pew Commission report is available at http://pewfostercare.org.

The Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care sponsored the state court system’s first National Adoption Day in November, 2005, where more than 50 foster children were adopted into permanent families in courts throughout the state. The effort publicizes the number of foster children in Washington available for adoption and awaiting parents.

The commission is also working on expansion of Unified Family Courts around the state, establishing court performance measures for child welfare cases, creating court rules to expedite child welfare appeals, developing a judicial training academy on child dependency, and increasing child representation.

A statewide youth summit for foster children is also being planned for the fall by the Supreme Court, Casey Family Programs, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Children's Administration and other private providers.

State court systems throughout the U.S. are working now to implement their individual plans as part of the National Call to Action. In the fall of 2006, the National Center for State Courts will issue a progress report highlighting actions taken and encouraging further reforms.

“While foster care is often a necessary component in stabilizing the life of an abused or neglected child, it must be as brief as possible,” Bridge said. “The impacts of living without a family can last a lifetime. As quickly as possible, we must provide these children with a permanent, loving home.”

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