Dependency Counsel Caseload Study
Caseload Study Background
Responsibility for dependency counsel costs became a centralized state function as a result of the 1997 Trial Court Funding Act, which transferred the responsibility for funding the vast majority of trial court services from the counties to the state. Since that time, little uniformity has been achieved with respect to how court systems provide dependency counsel services or by what standards the quality of those services is assessed. In part responding to fiscal and quality-of-representation concerns raised by the Legislature and Department of Finance, in April 2001 the Judicial Council directed AOC staff to develop caseload standards for court-appointed counsel in juvenile dependency proceedings.
Study Design
The study, which is being conducted by the American Humane Association in conjunction with the AOC's Center for Families, Children & the Courts, consists of four components:
This website has been developed specifically as a training and information tool for the Workload Study component. Previous correspondence has outlined each of these study components extensively; should you have any questions regarding overall study design or purpose, please contact Leah Wilson.
Online Tutorials
The following tutorials require the Macromedia Flash Player. If the tutorial does not play, you will need to download 
the latest Macromedia Flash Player.
Tools and Supporting Documents
This list constitutes the basis of both the computer-based and paper workload study instruments. It provides a detailed listing of the activities and tasks to which you will assign your time during the two-week workload study period. These activities and tasks are organized by Hearing Classifications (for example, Detention, Disposition) which you will see noted at the top of each page. Please review this list prior to accessing any other training materials.
Instructions: Click the link above and save file to your local drive. After download has completed, go to the folder where file was saved and double-click on "TimeDataCollector2."
This document comprises the paper version of the computer-based data collection instrument. If you plan to record your time manually, you will have to make duplicates of this document as necessary.
