Partners

Fostering Court Improvement is a collaborative effort between the UNC School of Social Work, Barton Child Law and Policy Center of the Emory University School of Law, Fostering Results , and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law's National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues.

Founded in 1920, the UNC School of Social Work is consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation. Through innovative research that improves practice and enhances education, we search for solutions to the challenges of poverty, mental health, violence, and substance abuse. We prepare social workers to make a difference. Additional information at: ssw.unc.edu

The mission of the center is to promote and protect the well-being of neglected, abused and court-involved children in the state of Georgia, to inspire excellence among the adults responsible for protecting and nurturing these children, and to prepare child advocacy professionals. The center operates as a student legal clinic, accepting students from Georgia law schools and graduate students in fields related to child advocacy. Students in the clinic do not provide direct representation of children but instead focus on research and advocacy projects that affect how Georgia courts and agencies handle child welfare cases. A main facet of the center's research-based approach is operating as a statewide resource on child abuse and neglect issues through its web site, BartonCenter.net. The center also hosts an annual symposium that is broadcast on the internet and to distance learning sites across Georgia. In the summer, the Barton Center joins forces with Georgia's Department of Human Services to sponsor internships in the field of child advocacy, which serves to assist those practicing in the field as well as train future professionals. The center is committed to court improvement and has been working on this issue at the state as well as the national level.

In June 2003, The Pew Charitable Trusts initiated support for the Children and Family Research Center at the School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through a grant to the University of Illinois Foundation to launch a public education and outreach campaign called Fostering Results. The campaign worked at the national level and in selected states to highlight the need to address the federal financing mechanisms that favor foster care over other services and options for children and families and to improve court oversight of child welfare cases. The grant was part of a multi-year, three part policy initiative by The Pew Charitable Trusts designed to help move children in foster care more quickly and appropriately to safe, permanent families and prevent the unnecessary placement of children in foster care. Fostering Results continues to work at a national level on improving court oversight of child welfare cases. Information about Fostering Results along with documents that have been published can be accessed through www.fosteringresults.org.

The National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues is dedicated to achieving safety, permanence and well-being for abused and neglected children through improved laws and judicial decision-making. The Resource Center provides training, technical assistance and consultation to agencies and courts on all legal and judicial aspects of the child welfare system, including court improvement, agency and court collaboration, court process, reasonable efforts requirements, legal representation of children and their families, guardianship, confidentiality and other emerging child welfare issues. The Resource Center also works to broaden the knowledge of agencies, courts, bar organizations, and other professional on issues involving child maltreatment, foster care, permanency planning, and adoption. It organizes and assists with training, produces and disseminates publications on law related child welfare topics, develops training materials, and helps others to improve laws, regulations, court rules, and policies.

The National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues, funded by the Children's Bureau, is a part of the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law. Additional information about this Center can be found at www.abanet.org/child/rclji/courtimp.html