Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare Court Cases
The following resources, developed by the Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality Project, an ongoing project funded through the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation and the Children’s Bureau, seek to improve the child welfare court process by deepening the understanding of judicial decision-making and hearing quality and their hypothesized associations to the case process and outcomes.
Conceptual Model of Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare
The Conceptual Model of Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare illustrates components and subcomponents of the child welfare court process—and their potential connections—based on literature, practice recommendations, and expert feedback. For example, preliminary evidence shows that judges’ experience may affect their emotional response to case factors used to make decisions.
Compendium of Measures and Data Sources
The Compendium of Measures and Data Sources delves into the types and range of measures and data sources used to study judicial decision-making and hearing quality in child welfare cases. Geared toward researchers and court practitioners alike, the document aims to inform measurement decisions for research, evaluation, practice improvement, and policy.
How Legal Professionals Can Use the Compendium of Measures and Data Sources
This two-page overview highlights how legal professionals can use the "Compendium of Measures and Data Sources: Understanding Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare." It explains the Compendium and its key elements, its importance for the legal community, and how the legal community can use it in research-related court improvement activities.
Child Welfare Hearing Quality Research: What Legal Professionals Should Know
Research is starting to explore what activities and behaviors are associated with child welfare hearing quality. This document highlights what is currently known and gaps in understanding about five areas associated with hearing quality and their relationship to case process and outcomes.
How Court Practices and Resources Relate to Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare Cases
This document highlights research that is starting to show how some court practices and court system resources may relate to judicial decision-making and hearing quality in child welfare court cases.
Introducing the Reasonable Efforts Findings Study
This one-page overview highlights a new research study, the Reasonable Efforts Findings Study (REFS), which is exploring how judges’ reasonable efforts decisions in child welfare cases relate to case outcomes for children.
Understanding Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare Project
These resources were developed for an ongoing project funded through the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation and the Children’s Bureau. The Center is pleased to partner on the project with James Bell Associates and Dr. Alicia Summers (Data Savvy Consulting), and Dr. Sophia Gatowski (Systems Change Solutions).