Court Adoption and Permanency Programs and Resources

Introduction

The Judicial Council, through the Administrative Office of the Courts, Center for Families, Children & the Courts (CFCC), provides support and information to courts in California regarding adoption and permanency. These ideas and best practice approaches for collaborating with their court and community stakeholders not only to expedite permanency for children in our foster care system but also to raise our community awareness of the absolute necessity for safe and permanent homes for all foster children.

Permanency, as defined by foster care youth, includes having and maintaining a lifelong connection to family members and other caring adults. What is understood as permanency and how to achieve it today reflects this human need to connect and belong. Virtually every child welfare and juvenile justice reform relating to permanency, both nationally and in California, embraces these concepts.

Several of the many areas that the Judicial Council and the Center for Families, Children & the Courts work toward the goal of permanency for children in foster care include:

Court Adoption & Permanency Month Resolution

Every year, the Judicial Council adopts a resolution declaring November as Court Adoption and Permanency Month, an annual event that encourages courts to take special measures to address adoption and permanency in their counties. Click here to view the 2008 resolution, signed at the October 24, 2008 Judicial Council meeting. A schedule of court adoption and permanency events will be taking place across California.

Court Adoption and Permanency Resource Guide

The Court Adoption and Permanency Resource Guide is a compilation of many state and national programs that have been developed and designed to promote permanency for foster care children. The first guide was published and distributed in 1999 and has been updated this year to address the specific challenges to permanency that local courts have identified.

Many of these programs are collaborative and involve local courts, public and private agencies, and other service providers. The guide has also been reorganized to highlight specific themes and programs and to provide an easy reference for each local court system.

The Court Adoption and Permanency Resource Guide: 2007 Supplement is a continuation of the goals of providing permanency-focused programs and resources for the courts and their partners, as contained in the Court Adoption and Permanency Resource Guide released in fall 2006. Permanency for a child can mean many different things. The list on the cover of this packet, "30 Things a Permanent Connection Can Mean," provides some examples, but each child finds his or her own meaning.

Judicial Review and Technical Assistance-Permanency Project
The Permanency Project is an initiative that provides judicial education and technical assistance at a limited number of courts on expanding approaches to permanency for dependent children and their families. Please see the Permanency Project program description section of our Web site for more information.

Court Adoption and Permanency Services
CFCC has provided several opportunities for permanency-related training and networking, including those through the Permanency Project mentioned above, workshops at previous Beyond the Bench conferences will be available at the 2007 Beyond the Bench XVIII: : Access and Fairness. Additional permanency-related workshops coordinated by CFCC staff have also been available at other conferences. The Judicial Council and CFCC staff have also developed various related informational materials. See Court Adoption and Permanency Links" below for materials and more information. Additional Web sites are also available in Section IX. Web Sites, Trainings, and Other Useful Resources.

Court Adoption and Permanency Links and Materials

• All of the materials on the "Planning for Permanency" resource CD that were included with the Court Adoption and Permanency Resource Guide are also available on our Web site here. To order a CD copy, please contact CFCC.
• The California Courts Online Self-Help Center provides assistance, information, and forms relating to children and families, adoption, parentage, and other issues.
• Statistical information on juvenile dependency in the state is available from the California Juvenile Statistical Abstract.
  

Please contact CFCC@jud.ca.gov for more information.