The National Center for State Courts with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Inc. and Casey Family Programs, is studied the experience of families and court professionals in virtual child welfare hearings to better understand the experience of parents, caregivers, youth, attorneys, and caseworkers, and to identify promising practices supportive of effective and efficient virtual hearings. The findings were used to inform child welfare stakeholders on potential barriers to quality and meaningful virtual hearings, elevate family voice, and identify opportunities for future research.
The primary goals of the study were to Identify and describe the experience of families and court professionals in virtual hearings in terms of perceptions of fairness, access to technology, and high-quality legal representation; and explore how key aspects of quality hearings can be implemented in the virtual environment.