Court Improvement Program Menu
Origins of the Court Improvement Program?To accomplish these goals, and pursuant to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA), the United States Congress appropriated funds to the states as part of a federal initiative to support reform in the handling of child abuse and neglect cases. This initiative is intended to improve the quality of the court process for children and families involved in neglect, abuse, and dependency proceedings What is the Court Improvement Program?CIP enables the courts and agencies involved in the child welfare system to develop systemic, statewide changes to significantly improve the handling of child welfare cases while ensuring compliance with state and federal laws regarding child dependency and child welfare matters. What Court Improvement has Funded?With deliberate interpretation of the Committee’s mission and strategic plan the Committee has supported the implementation of such initiatives as: .
Origins of the Court Improvement Program? To accomplish these goals, and pursuant to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA), the United States Congress appropriated funds to the states as part of a federal initiative to support reform in the handling of child abuse and neglect cases. This initiative is intended to improve the quality of the court process for children and families involved in neglect, abuse, and dependency proceedings. Federal funds are provided to the states’ highest courts to assess their foster care and adoption laws, and judicial processes; and to develop and implement a plan for system changes to improve the timeliness and quality of child-protection court proceedings. Since 1993, the CIP has been reauthorized four times, most recently, in October 2011. The Child and Family Services Improvement Act reauthorized CIP through FY 2016. The Nevada Court Improvement Program was placed under the auspices of the Administrative Office of the Court (AOC) in 1995 and is overseen by the multi-disciplinary CIP Select Committee chaired by Chief Justice Nancy M. Saitta. This group is comprised of family court judges and masters, a tribal member, the three child welfare agency administrators, a deputy state attorney general, a legislator, the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, a public defender active in child welfare, several attorneys who actively represent neglected and abused children, the president of the State’s Youth Advisory Board, and the executive director of the a local Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program. As a standing committee of the Judicial Council of the State of Nevada, the Committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Supreme Court. What is the Court Improvement Program? CIP enables the courts and agencies involved in the child welfare system to develop systemic, statewide changes to significantly improve the handling of child welfare cases while ensuring compliance with state and federal laws regarding child dependency and child welfare matters. The Committee oversees the application for and distribution of federal grant funds, sets minimum standards for program and funding criteria, and establishes policies and procedures to plan and develop these statewide changes. The AOC through its Court Improvement Program applies for and receives grant funds from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. CIP enables the courts and agencies involved in the child welfare system to develop systemic, statewide changes to significantly improve the handling of child welfare cases while ensuring compliance with state and federal laws regarding child dependency and child welfare matters. The Committee oversees the application for, and distribution of, federal grant funds, sets minimum standards for program and funding criteria, and establishes policies and procedures to plan and develop these statewide changes. The CIP Select Committee has appointed a Grants Awards Subcommittee which strictly adheres to the federal grant requirements, and the approved Strategic Plan, when reviewing sub-grant proposals for recommendation to the full committee. Subgrants are provided to fund proposals that address Nevada’s federally approved strategic goals. The formalized request for proposal (RFP) process has been modified as part of the continual quality improvement effort (CQI). The CIP Strategic Plan identifies goals that mandate that grant-funded activities and projects be evidence-based, policy driven, and data informed. Funding from the three CIP grants target specific outcomes as outlined in the 2012 CIP Strategic Plan (see link, below) http://www.nevadajudiciary.us/index.php/viewdocumentsandforms/func-startdown/8317/ What Court Improvement has Funded With deliberate interpretation of the Committee’s mission and strategic plan the Committee has supported the implementation of such initiatives as: • The Early Resolution Project • The Surrogate Education Advocacy Program • Facilitation of Safety Teams • Data Exchange Projects between the Courts and Child Welfare Agencies • Installation of Video Conferencing in Dependency Courts • New Rural CASAs • Juvenile Dependency Mediation • Redaction for facilitated petitions • Attendance at conferences and trainings • Statewide Child Welfare Conference Thank you for visiting our webpage.. If you have comments or questions with regard to CIP or the information on this site, please contact Kathie Malzahn-Bass directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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