US COURT SYSTEM

US Court system

US court cases

News Article 1)

The first article under review is “Protective supervision: An inquiry into the relationship between child welfare and the court system” by Esther Wattenberg and Kate Troy, published in Children and Youth Services Review.

Article summary

Protective Supervision, in most states, is characterized in statute as a choice in which the child is permitted to stay in the dwelling of high-risk parents under the administration of the court, with supervision supplied by the child protection system. Protective Supervision presents states and choice to fulfill the government mandate, as conveyed in its guidance on the Child and Family Services Review, to guarantee that young children are securely sustained in their dwellings when likely and appropriate. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of released work on this option (Facular, 1989).

Further, the connection between child protection and the judicial system, implicit in Protective Supervision, is seldom examined. In answer to this shortage of data, an exploratory study was attempted in Minnesota, financed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Data were drawn from aim assemblies in every district of the state, with both child protection and judicial system participants. This study boasts insights into the perplexing environment of the joint project between two convoluted systems child welfare and the court system. Currently, there is broad variety in how Protective Supervision is appreciated and practiced. However, where there is mutual esteem between child welfare and the courts, Protective Supervision boasts a helpful tool.

Discussion and Analysis

Recently, some restricted vigilance has been administered in the direction of the child protection system on how to work with the courts. In Jones (2006), organizational and procedural difficulties opposite the child protection system is emphasized for example unwarranted workloads, insufficient teaching, poor chartering practices, and feeble case administration skills.

Nationwide, diverse agency and court projects are progressing (The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, 2004 The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, Fostering the future: Safety, permanence and well-being for young children in foster care. The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, 2004). In Minnesota, the Children's Justice Initiative, a collaborative task between the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Judicial Branch, was started in alignment for these agencies “to work nearly with the localized juvenile courts, social services bureaus, county attorneys, public defenders, court administrators, guardians publicity liter, and other key stakeholders in each of Minnesota's 87 shires to advance the processing of child protection situations ...