The time it takes for the courts to return children to their homes or find safe, permanent placements has been significantly reduced and now stands below the national average. The achievement over just a two year period is the result of the actions of Nevada's District Courts and the Supreme Court's Court Improvement Program.
To overcome the barriers to the expedited termination of parental rights and the safe placement of children in need of protection, CIP worked with the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services, Clark County's Department of Family Services, and Washoe County's Department of Social Services.
In its 2013 Annual Progress and Services Report, the Division of Child and Family Services reports the median length of time it took for a child to be adopted in 2012 was reduced to just 30.7 months compared to the 36.3 months required in 2010. Nevada courts and child welfare agencies have now outpaced the national median, which is 32.4 months.
The progress is due in large part to the fact that in 2010, each of Nevada's 10 judicial districts created a Community Improvement Council to focus on identifying barriers to timely permanent placement of children at risk and enhance the well-being of children in care.
Part of the CIP initiative was to introduce the new child welfare safety model to the CICs. As of October, five of the 10 district courts had already trained their CICs to incorporate the new model, with the rest expected to follow in the near future.
The CICs, which have been meeting regularly in their communities and at annual Summits, have learned to interpret data specific to their districts and created strategies to reduce the amount of time that it takes to move cases involving children at risk through the court process.
Several courts are now involved in electronic data exchange projects to promote timely notice to the parties in an effort to encourage their meaningful participation in the court process. All courts have refocused their efforts on meeting both federal and state timelines and, because of CIP, they now have current data to help them track the impact of their efforts.
Most CICs are meeting quarterly, and many meet monthly, to implement their strategies. Some courts have increased the frequently of hearings to ensure the cases involving these children are foremost in the system.[[In-content Ad]]
