The California Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care is developing a plan to implement its final recommendations and is scheduled to present the plan at the December meeting of the Judicial Council, the state’s judicial policymaking body.  Commission members, including NCYL Director John O’Toole, issued their final recommendations on August 15, 2008, which received unanimous approval by the Judicial Council.  The commission met in San Francisco, CA in October 2008 to brainstorm steps toward implementation.  Such steps include working with lobbyists to pass legislation, convening a summit of representatives from county agencies to increase collaboration, and increasing the appointments of Juvenile Court judges to help reduce case loads.

Formed in 2006 by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George, the commission was charged with proposing reforms of the state’s dependency court system and improving outcomes for children in foster care.  The 42-member commission, chaired by California Supreme Court Associate Justice Carlos R. Moreno, includes judges, lawyers, foster youth, legislators, and other child advocates from across California.  It spent two years holding public hearings, focus groups, and quarterly meetings to develop the recommendations, and has identified problems like an overstressed and under-resourced child welfare system, overwhelming caseloads for judges, attorneys, and social workers, and lack of data and information sharing.

The final recommendations focus on preventing the need for foster care while also improving the system.  The list below includes the commission’s four overarching goals and some of the 79 recommendations to support those goals:

1. Reasonable efforts to prevent removal and achieve permanency

• At the earliest possible point, engage family members, including extended family, to support the family and children in order to prevent removal whenever possible.
• Develop and improve internal protocols of child welfare agencies for finding family members.
• Judicial officers, attorneys, social workers, and other professionals who serve foster children and their families should increase the diversity and cultural competence of the workforce.
• If placement is necessary, the courts and child welfare agencies should expedite services for families and ensure that foster children maintain a relationship with all family members and other important people in their lives.
• Promote both placement and placement stability of children and youth in family-like rather than institutional settings.

2. Court reforms

• Identify and engage all parties in each case as early as possible.
• Remove barriers that prevent children, parents and caretakers from attending hearings.
• The same judicial officers should hear a case from beginning to end, when possible.
• Explore telephonic appearance policies and new technology options to ensure participation in juvenile court hearings.
• Mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution should be available in all courts at any time in the proceedings.
• The Judicial Council and other stakeholders should advocate at the federal, state, and local levels for the funding necessary to implement recommended court performance measures.

3. Collaboration among courts and partnering agencies

• The Judicial Council should continue its efforts to fully develop and implement the California Court Case Management System (CCMS), as well as other data exchange protocols to increase data-sharing.
• CCMS and the state Child Welfare Services/Case Management System should promote coordinated data collection, data exchange, and filing of documents between the courts, social service agencies, and other key partners, and track data to measure performance.

4. Resources and funding

• Congress and the state Legislature should fund dissemination of evidence-based or promising practices that lead to improved outcomes for foster children and their parents.
• Congress should adopt the federal financing reform recommendations. advocated by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care in 2004
• The Judicial Council should work with other branches of federal, state, and local government to identify barriers to funding for services and to develop solutions.
• Children in foster care and partnering agencies should have access to reliable funding to support their access to extracurricular activities and transitional programs.
• The Judicial Council should urge legislative bodies and higher education officials to expand programs statewide to ensure that all current and former foster youth who attend college have access to housing and other support services and to waive tuition and other educational fees.