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Focus on How Courts and Child Welfare Partners Can Better Serve Youth
and Families in Foster Care

    SAN FRANCISCO, May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Blue
Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care holds a public hearing today
to get expert and public reaction to its draft recommendations for court
reform. The hearing, at the Hiram Johnson State Building, 455 Golden Gate
Avenue, will solicit comments on proposals to help the courts and their
child welfare partners improve foster care outcomes.

    Every child who enters or leaves foster care in California --
approximately 80,000 children and youth -- must come before a juvenile
court. This is where critical and life-changing decisions are made, such as
where a child will live and with whom.

    The speakers at today's hearing include those who know the system best:
youth in foster care, parents, judges, attorneys and child welfare
administrators, as well as philanthropists and others who work to support
foster youth.

    The commission's recommendations address such problems as:



    --  Overwhelming caseloads on the part of judges, attorneys, and social
        workers, which lead to rushed hearings averaging only 10 - 15 minutes.
    --  Routine delays and continuances, which mean deferred decisions and
        uncertainty for both children and parents.
    --  Children and families not always having a meaningful voice in court.
    --  Inadequate communication between families and their attorneys, including
        the fact that some youth do not meet their attorneys until the day of
        their hearings.
    --  Insufficient coordination between the courts, child welfare and other
        agencies that work with the same families, which can lead to conflicting
        direction to families, disconnected services, and incompatible case
        plans.
    --  Lack of adequate and flexible funding to offer early services to
        families in order to prevent entry into foster care and keep children in
        their own homes safely.
    The Blue Ribbon Commission is the first statewide panel to focus on
court responsibilities in child welfare. California Chief Justice Ronald M.
George appointed the commission in March 2006 and gave it two years to
develop its recommendations; it is chaired by Supreme Court Associate
Justice Carlos R. Moreno, who will preside over today's hearing. Among the
local Blue Ribbon commissioners who will be taking testimony are retired
Santa Clara County Judge Leonard Edwards; Marin County Public Defender
Joseph Spaeth; Robin Allen, Executive Director of the California CASA
Association; and John O'Toole, Executive Director of the National Center
for Youth Law.

    The draft recommendations to be discussed today focus on four areas:



    --  Prevention and permanency: Ensuring that all children have a safe,
        stable and permanent home
    --  Court reform: Changing the way dependency courts do business
    --  Collaboration: Increasing collaboration between courts and their
        partners
    --  Resources and funding: Finding the resources to get the job done
    Among those scheduled to offer public comment today are: Karen J.
Mathis, Immediate Past President of the American Bar Association and Mark
Courtney, Executive Director of Partners for Our Children, a professor at
the School of Social Work, University of Washington. Also scheduled to
testify, among others, are Sonoma County Judge Arnold Rosenfield and Placer
County Judge Colleen Nichols.

    Justice Moreno, in discussing today's hearing, noted the importance of
getting public input from those who know the system best, starting with the
foster youth who are at the heart of court proceedings. He said: "Foster
youth themselves are our most important audience. These children are at the
center of every judicial decision that is made. We want to ensure that each
foster child and family in the system gets a fair hearing and a decision
that addresses their individual needs and concerns."

    The San Francisco hearing is the second of two public hearings. The
first was held in Los Angeles on May 12. The draft recommendations are
available for public comment until today or shortly thereafter. The draft
recommendations can be found at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/blueribbon.

    The Judicial Council is the policymaking body of the California courts,
the largest court system in the nation. Under the leadership of the Chief
Justice and in accordance with the California Constitution, the council is
responsible for ensuring the consistent, impartial and accessible
administration of justice. The Administrative Office of the Courts carries
out the official actions of the council and promotes leadership and
excellence in court administration.