- This Benchcard provides key questions judicial officers can ask during hearings where the placement recommendation is congregate care, as well as in hearings for youth already placed in congregate care settings.
- This Checklist provides questions judges should ask, through their role in multidisciplinary collaboratives, about residential interventions and treatment providers.
- Judicial Toolkit
- The National Association of Counsel for Children and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law have created this tool for attorneys and advocates. The tool provides a framework for advocacy in cases where congregate care placement is recommended, or in cases where that placement has been made. Questions to ask in court are provided in detail, as are helpful advocacy tips.
- The Judicial Council of California, through its Center on Children, Families, and the Courts, has been conducting multi-disciplinary trainings throughout the state on issues around residential placement. A sample agenda is available, as well as an example of a PowerPoint presentation during a statewide training, and a local training for Los Angeles County.
- This brief five-minute video shows an interview with two judges, a former foster youth and an expert on residential placements and would serve as an excellent tool during training on this issue.
- To also inform this Toolkit, in the spring of 2017, Child Focus fielded three surveys, all asking for perspectives on non-family placements. The survey was sent out online by the American Bar Association, the National Association of Counsel for Children, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association to their respective listservs, memberships and in the case of National CASA, their staff and volunteers. The three surveys were fielded to judges, attorneys, and CASAs. The results of the survey are summarized here.