Court Improvement Program (CIP) Grant

The Court Improvement Program (CIP) provides federal grant funds to state court systems to promote the continuous quality of improvement of child welfare court proceedings and enhance and expand collaboration between the judicial branch, child welfare agency and tribes to improve child welfare outcomes. Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) receives approximately $600,000 per year towards this program from the Children's Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families.

Since its inception in 1993, this program has proven to be a valuable asset to the state of Washington. CIP funding is broken down into three categories: Basic, Data and Training. Each category receives approximately $200,000 per year.

The CIP data grant currently funds Washington State Center for Court Research (WSCCR) staff to merge court data with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) in order to provide a statutorily required annual report to the State Legislature and other child welfare partners on dependency timeliness factors, as well as a monthly interactive dashboard for the courts and DCYF to track progress and identify areas needing attention. The courts and many child welfare stakeholders rely on this data to inform the decision making process for improving the child welfare system. The courts receiving state-funded Family and Juvenile Court Improvement Program grants rely heavily on the data provided by WSCCR to improve their dependency court systems. Data grant funding was also used to provide research on multi­system youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

The CIP training grant supports the Court Improvement Training Academy (CITA) to provide training and system improvement support for the courts and child welfare communities in Washington State. CITA facilitates comprehensive dependency court judicial officer training programs, which includes collaboration with tribal and state court judicial officers. CITA provides work sessions for the legal track of Children's Justice Conferences, Indian Child Welfare Summits, and other statewide dependency trainings. CITA uses the Interactive Dependency Timeliness Report (IDTR) to assist local jurisdictions to identify issues where they can undertake measurable change efforts through targeted training and implementation efforts, including development of local Tables of Ten. CITA supports the work of courts receiving Family and Juvenile Court Improvement Program (FJCIP) funds, including the FJCIP Community of Practice. CITA supports regional communities of practice and training mentors for attorneys representing children and youth. CITA maintains a website that provides access to court improvement resources and materials, including the Juvenile Non-Offender Benchbook and Dependency Best Practices Guide.

The CIP basic grant pays for half the salary of the CIP Director, who manages the grant projects and coordinates with DCYF, tribal courts, and other dependency court partners on child welfare system improvements. The following are examples of some CIP basic grant funded projects that have produced advances in Washington State:

• The Parents for Parents (P4P) program is a peer outreach and education program, provided by parents who have successfully navigated the child welfare system to parents who have recently become involved with the dependency system. The purpose of the program is to engage families earlier in services and reduce resistance to the court process. Beginning in 2005, CIP funds have supported the start-up of each of the nine programs. Due to the success of the programs, the Washington State Legislature is funding the maintenance of the programs and soon P4P will be implemented statewide.
• The Annual Youth Leadership Summit provides a venue for policymakers, advocates, and community members to work alongside youth throughout the year to address proposed reforms. The proposals are presented by the youth at the Summit to the Washington State Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care, the Office of Homeless Youth Prevention and Protective Programs Advisory Committee, legislators, and other stakeholders. These proposals initiate a year-round effort to bring positive changes to the system.
• The purpose of the Establishing Biological Paternity Early Pilot Project was to significantly reduce the time to determine paternity in dependency and termination cases. The five pilot courts provided no-cost, easily accessible and rapid DNA testing to alleged fathers in dependency and termination cases. The program was renamed: Finding Father in Dependency Cases and will be implemented statewide through funding provided by the Washington State Legislature.
• The Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington) Parent Representation Leadership Forum was convened to raise the bar regarding parent representation. The forum focused on visitation, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and serving parents in rural areas. Each state worked with their stakeholder teams to create an action plan. Washington State determined that, while an improved visitation policy was recently enacted, most dependency court partners are not aware of the new provisions, nor are they implementing the revised visitation policy. It was determined that education and focused work needs to happen at the local level to ensure implementation of the revised visitation policy.

The CIP grant also has a match requirement which is met by using funds AOC pays to counties for the Family and Juvenile Court Improvement Program Coordinator (FJCIP) positions.

The Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts manages the CIP grant in conjunction with the CIP Steering Committee, which is made up of several stakeholders involved in issues related to children placed in out-of-home care; i.e. DCYF, parent and youth previously involved in child welfare, Assistant Attorney General's Office, Office of Public Defense, Casey Family Programs, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Office of Civil Legal Aid, Tribes, and the Superior Court Judges' Association Family and Juvenile Law Committee. The CIP committee meets annually to develop a strategic plan and corresponding budget for grant funds.