Understanding Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare
Juvenile and family court judges are responsible for deciding when children enter and exit out-of-home care and for ensuring children in the system achieve safety, permanency, and well-being.
While some research has been conducted on hearing quality, questions remain about how to support effective judicial decision-making and improve outcomes for children and families. This project will deepen our understanding of judicial decision-making and hearings during the life of a child welfare case, including factors associated with quality and influences on case planning and outcomes.
The project is divided into three phases:
- Knowledge review, including development of a conceptual model of judicial decision-making and hearing quality and a compendium of measures and data sources
- Study design, including pretesting and feasibility study activities
- Study implementation, including full implementation of the selected research design in a sample of child welfare courts
Research briefs and presentations will be developed throughout each phase to disseminate knowledge and study findings.
Staff
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Anne Fromknecht, M.P.H.
Associate Director
Anne Fromknecht has nearly 20 years of experience in applied social science, evaluation, and technical assistance. Her technical skills include project...
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James P. DeSantis, Ph.D.
Vice President
James P. DeSantis is an applied developmental psychologist with 35 years of experience in research and evaluation, training and technical assistance in...
Partners
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
Dr. Sophia Gatowski and Dr. Alicia Summers, Coprincipal Investigators