California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care

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California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in
Foster Care

• A Brief Overview

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Why We Need a Blue Ribbon Commission

• 80,000 children in foster care
• Safety, permanency, well-being
• States most vulnerable children
• Foster care linked to other issues and agencies.

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Why We Need a Blue Ribbon Commission (contd.)

• The states legal responsibility to children in
  foster care
• An over-stressed and under-resourced child
  welfare system
• Courts play critical role

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Role of the Courts in Foster Care

• Courts struggle with crowded dockets, high
  caseloads
• Can lead to rushed hearings, delays
• Can mean inadequate involvement of children and
  families

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Role of the Courts in Foster Care (contd.)

• Inadequate data impacts ability to make informed
  decisions
• Lack of communication and information-sharing
  with agencies
• Inadequate facilities

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The Good News A Momentum for Reform

• Commitment to improvement
• Number of children in care is down
• Federal and state leadership
• Shared responsibility for foster children
  government cant do it alone

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The Good News A Momentum for Reform (contd.)

• New outcomes system for counties
• Select Committee on Foster Care
• Improved agency collaboration
• Courts stepping to the plate

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The Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster
Care

• Appointed in 2006 42-member panel
• Goals Safety, permanency, well-being, and
  fairness
• Meets quarterly
• Recommendations due in less than a year (spring
  2008)

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Action

• Three areas of focus
• Court performance and accountability
• Collaboration with child welfare and other
  agencies
• Funding

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Court Performance and Accountability

• Fair and effective hearings
• Manageable caseloads, training, and calendar flow
• Access to data
• Measuring progress

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Collaboration

• Families of vulnerable children and families
  served by multiple agencies
• Need for streamlined communication
• Need for information-sharing

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Funding

• Flexible funding
• Adequate funding

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Where Do We Go From Here?

• Recommendations due spring 2008
• Politically viable
• Implementation plan with milestones
• Local commissions in all 58 counties

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California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in
Foster Care

• Commission Web site
• www.courtinfo.ca.gov/jc/tflists/bluerib.htm
• For more information contact
• Christopher N. Wu, Executive Director
• California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in
  Foster Care
• 455 Golden Gate Avenue
• San Francisco, CA 94102
• Tel. [phone]
• Email christopher.wu_at_jud.ca.gov