update from the children's commission notebook may 22...

Update from the

Children's Commission

Notebook

May 22, 2020

Supreme Court of Texas Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families

May 22, 2020

Notebook Table of Contents

Commission, Committee, and Collaborative Council Member List ............... 1

Minutes from February 21, 2020 Commission Meeting ............................... 2

May 22, 2020 Report to Commission ........................................................... 3

Financial Report ........................................................................................... 4

Commissioner Updates ................................................................................ 5

Covid-19 One-Pager ..................................................................................... 6

INSERT - TAB 1

Last

Update

d:

May

22,

20

20

CH

ILD

RE

N’S

CO

MM

ISSI

ON

ME

MB

ER

S

CO

LL

AB

OR

AT

IVE

CO

UN

CIL

ME

MB

ER

S

CO

MM

ITT

EE

ME

MB

ER

S

SY

ST

EM

S I

MP

RO

VE

ME

NT

H

on.

Ro

b H

ofm

an

n,

Ch

air

D

r. G

ary B

lau

H

on.

Juli

e C

ou

nti

ss

Sar

ah C

rock

ett

And

y H

om

er

Mar

y C

hri

stin

e R

eed

C

aro

lyne

Ro

dri

guez

T

anya

Ro

llin

s H

on.

Pet

er S

akai

H

on.

Ian S

pec

hle

r

Sta

ff:

R

enée

Ca

stil

lo-D

e L

a C

ruz

Joce

lyn

Fo

wle

r T

iffa

ny

Ed

wa

rds

Ch

else

a M

art

inez

LE

GA

L P

RA

CT

ICE

& P

RO

CE

SS

H

on.

Dea

n R

ucker

, C

ha

ir

Mar

k B

rigg

s H

on.

An

ne

Dar

rin

g

Lo

ri D

uke

Ho

n.

An

gel

a E

llis

A

nna

Sal

dañ

a F

ord

H

on.

Del

ia G

onza

les

Mo

niq

ue

Go

nza

lez

Ho

n.

Ran

dal

l H

ufs

tetl

er

Cry

stal

Leff

-Piñ

on

Ho

n.

Tho

mas

Stu

ckey

Ja

net

Van

der

Zand

en

Sta

ff:

D

yla

n M

oen

ch

Ch

else

a M

art

inez

DA

TA

H

on.

Mic

hae

l S

ch

nei

der

, C

ha

ir

Jess

e B

oo

her

D

r. J

ane

Burs

tain

K

atie

Els

eth

D

r. M

onic

a F

aulk

ner

H

on.

Del

ia G

onza

les

Eli

zab

eth K

rom

rei

Ho

n.

Ro

bin

Sage

Vic

ki

Sp

rigg

s H

on.

Car

los

Vil

lalo

n

Sta

ff:

D

yla

n M

oen

ch

Ch

else

a M

art

inez

OC

A A

dvi

sory

: D

arr

ell

Ch

ilder

s A

nis

sa J

ohn

son

Ca

sey

Ken

ned

y D

avi

d S

layt

on

Cha

rlott

e V

ela

sco

EX

EC

UT

IVE

H

on.

Eva

Guzm

an,

C

ha

ir

Ho

n.

Har

riet

O’N

eill

,

Ch

air

Em

erit

us

Ho

n.

Pip

er M

cCra

w

Vic

e C

ha

ir

Ho

n.

Ro

b H

ofm

an

n

Ho

n.

Dea

n R

ucker

H

on.

Mic

hae

l S

ch

nei

der

Sta

ff:

T

ina

Am

ber

bo

y T

iffa

ny

Ed

wa

rds

Tym

oth

y B

else

th

M.

Lyn

n C

ham

ber

lin

Iren

e C

lem

ents

Bil

l C

onno

lly

Sar

ah C

rock

ett

De

Shaun E

alo

ms

Bar

bar

a E

lias

-Per

cifu

lD

ebra

Em

erso

nM

ike

Fo

ster

Wil

l F

ranci

s S

adie

Fu

nk

Tea

l d

e la

Gar

za

Chri

stin

e G

end

ron

S

and

ra H

achem

D

avid

Hal

per

n

Lis

a H

arst

F

élix

Her

rera

A

lex H

un

t

Bru

ce K

end

rick

K

no

x K

imb

erly

N

orm

an

Lad

d

Tra

cy L

evin

s G

abri

ella

McD

on

ald

D

r. Ji

ll M

cLei

ghK

ate

Mu

rph

y

Jud

y P

ow

ell

Mar

y C

hri

stin

e R

eed

Car

olyn

e R

odrig

uez

Tan

ya

Ro

llin

s Jo

han

a S

cot

Jan

et S

har

kis

A

nd

rea

Sp

ark

s H

on

. Ia

n S

pec

hle

r Je

ann

e S

tam

p

Glo

ria

Ter

ry

Ken

net

h T

ho

mp

son

Tin

a A

mb

erb

oy,

Exec

uti

ve

Dir

ecto

r Ja

mie

Ber

nst

ein

, A

ssis

tan

t D

irec

tor

Jess

ica

Arg

uij

o,

Co

mm

un

icat

ion

s M

anag

er

Ren

ée C

asti

llo

-De

La

Cru

z, S

taff

Att

orn

ey

Tif

fan

y E

dw

ard

s, E

xec

uti

ve

Ass

ista

nt

Joce

lyn

Fo

wle

r, S

taff

Att

orn

ey

Mo

nic

a M

ahon

ey,

Pro

gra

m S

pec

iali

st

Ch

else

a M

arti

nez

, E

xec

uti

ve

Ass

ista

nt

Dyla

n M

oen

ch, S

taff

Att

orn

ey

Pat

rick

Pas

smo

re,

Gra

nt

Ad

min

istr

ato

r M

ilb

rey R

aney

, T

rain

ing D

irec

tor

An

dre

a V

icen

cio

, P

rogra

m S

pec

iali

st

Ho

n. M

ich

ael

Mas

sen

gal

e, S

enio

r Ju

dic

ial

Ad

vis

or

Ho

n.

Dea

n R

uck

er,

Juri

st i

n R

esid

ence

H

on

. R

ob H

ofm

ann

, Ju

rist

in

Res

iden

ce

Off

ice

of

Cou

rt A

dm

inis

tra

tio

n

Ho

n.

Eva

Guzm

an, C

hai

r H

on

. H

arri

et O’N

eill

, C

hai

r E

mer

itu

s H

on

. P

iper

McC

raw

, V

ice

Ch

air

Col.

Sonya

Bat

chel

or

Core

y B

enbo

w

Pau

la B

ibbs-

Sam

uel

s D

r. G

ary

Bla

u

Hon.

Susa

n B

row

n

Hon.

Dar

lene

Byrn

e H

on.

Gar

y C

ole

y

Hon. Ju

lie

Counti

ss

Shei

la S

turg

is C

raig

E

liza

bet

h F

arle

yA

nne

Hei

ligen

stei

n

Hon.

Ran

dal

l H

ufs

tetl

er

Rep

. S

tephan

ie K

lick

H

on.

Sel

ina

Mir

eles

K

atie

Ols

e H

on.

Robbie

Par

tida-

Kip

nes

s C

indy P

atri

ck

Hon

. Fra

nk R

ynd

Ho

n.

Mic

hae

l S

chn

eid

er

Ho

n.

Ran

dy

Sh

elto

n

Lu

ann

e S

ou

ther

n

Vic

ki

Sp

rig

gs

Sen

. R

oy

ce W

est

STA

FF

TR

AIN

ING

H

on.

Pip

er M

cCra

w,

Chair

H

on.

Mar

k A

tkin

son

Tym

oth

y B

else

th

Den

ise

Cam

pbel

l C

athy C

ock

erham

T

eal

de

la G

arza

B

arbar

a E

lias

-Per

cifu

l D

ebra

Em

erso

n

Hon.

Ric

har

d G

arci

a H

on. A

ngel

a G

rave

s-H

arrin

gton

Tra

cy H

arti

ng

Pam

Kem

p

Tan

ya

Roll

ins

Fai

ry D

aven

port

Rutl

and

Eli

zabet

h W

atkin

s

Sta

ff:

M

ilbre

y R

aney

A

ndre

a V

icen

cio

INSERT - TAB 2

1

Supreme Court of Texas Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families

Meeting Minutes February 21, 2020

CALL TO ORDER AND OPENING REMARKS

Justice Eva Guzman called the meeting to order at 9:34 a.m. and welcomed Commissioners and guests to the first Commission meeting of 2020.

Recognition of Guests

Justice Guzman welcomed special guests Dr. Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner for the Children’s Bureau, and Mr. David Kelly, Special Assistant to the Office of the Associate Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau. Ms. Sasha Rasco was introduced as the Associate Commissioner for Prevention and Early Intervention at the Department of Family and Protective Services. Justice Guzman welcomed Child Protective Services Associate Commissioner Kristene Blackstone and thanked her for her long service to the Commission as this meeting marked Ms. Blackstone’s last meeting as a Commissioner.

Justice Guzman announced an after-lunch presentation from Mr. Felix Herrera from the Consulate General of Mexico and introduced Judge Delia Gonzalez from the Dallas County Permanency Court, Judge Robin Sage and Anne Heiligenstein from Casey Family Programs, and Mr. Graham Keever who was in attendance on behalf of Senator Royce West.

Presentation from Dr. Jerry Milner and Mr. David Kelly

Dr. Jerry Milner shared the vision of promoting primary prevention and strengthening families through community-based programs. Dr. Milner also reflected on his time spent with young adults with lived experience and noted that many of them experience extreme adversity, a lack of education or employment opportunities, or homelessness and may be victims of human trafficking. He underscored that each placement move induces more trauma to the child. Dr. Milner expressed his desire to use the funds allocated to child welfare to help families provide for their children’s needs as opposed paying for foster care. Dr. Milner concluded by emphasizing the critical importance of legal representation and meaningful use of the reasonable efforts requirements.

Mr. David Kelly began his remarks with the premise that child welfare is the intersection of public health, poverty, and civil rights, and until this is understood, child welfare outcomes will not differ. Mr. Kelly underscored that attorneys should be trauma-informed, have knowledge around family separation and child development, as well as the importance of child and youth voice. Mr. Kelly stressed the impact of legal protection for vulnerable community members, from events that would cause further hardship, including eviction and immigration issues, as well as natural disasters and crisis. He noted that training funds are available from Title IV-E to aid the judicial community in providing legal services. Mr. Kelly concluded his presentation by sharing that there is a proposal to

2

double the CIP budget nationally and thanked Ms. Amberboy for her leadership of the Texas Court Improvement Program.

Commissioner Membership Changes

Justice Guzman announced the Commissioner changes starting with Dr. Gary Blau, the Executive Director of The Hackett Center for Mental Health, who replaced Dr. Andy Keller as a Commissioner. Dr. Blau provided a brief introduction to meeting attendees, highlighting his extensive background working for the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families and as the Chief of the Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Justice Guzman introduced Ms. Elizabeth Farley from Governor Greg Abbott’s office, who replaced Ms. Erin Bennett as the Commission’s ex officio member from the Governor’s Office. Ms. Luanne Southern transitioned from being the Senior Director of Texas Strategic Consulting at Casey Family Programs to the Executive Director of the Texas Mental Health Consortium and will continue to serve on the Children’s Commission. Ms. Anne Heiligenstein assumed the role of Director of Texas Strategic Consulting with Casey Family Programs and will be appointed to the Children’s Commission in May.

Committee Membership Changes

Justice Guzman deferred the announcement of committee member updates to Executive Director Tina Amberboy.

Collaborative Council Membership Changes

Justice Guzman announced Mr. Norman Ladd from Ladd & Thigpen, P.C. as a new member of the Collaborative Council.

Staff Member Changes

Justice Guzman welcomed Ms. Chelsea Martinez, who previously worked for the Texas Education Agency. Ms. Martinez is the newest Executive Assistant for the Children’s Commission.

Adoption of September 27, 2019 Meeting Minutes

Justice Guzman directed members to Tab 2 of the Meeting Notebook and noted that members were provided the opportunity to review the September 27, 2019 minutes prior to the meeting. Justice Guzman asked if there were any corrections, and none were noted.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT

Ms. Tina Amberboy directed meeting attendees to Tab 3 of the meeting notebook. At the September 2019 meeting, Ms. Amberboy proposed to Commission members a vote to restructure the standing committees. The Basic Committee was disbanded, and the Systems Improvement and Legal Practices and Processes Committees were created.

3

Ms. Amberboy announced that Dr. Blau and Justice Julie Countiss joined the Systems Improvement Committee, Judge Randall Hufstetler joined the Legal Practices and Process Committee, and Judge Robin Sage joined the Data Committee. Ms. Amberboy expressed her gratitude to the new committee members. Ms. Amberboy noted that there were no membership changes to the Training Committee and Dual Status Task Force.

Ms. Amberboy continued her update directing members’ attention to Tab 4 of the meeting notebook to review the budget, noting that there was a slight amendment to the TCJ education grant, reminding members that in September the grant was still in negotiations. The final grant award was $575.00 more than the amount presented in September. Please see the February 2020 meeting notebook for details.

Ms. Amberboy also updated the meeting attendees on the Adoption and Permanency Workshop she, Ms. Jamie Bernstein, and Ms. Renee Castillo attended earlier in the week which focused on Judge Delia Gonzales’ Permanency Court in Dallas. The Commission received technical assistance from the Capacity Building Center for Courts to help study the court and evaluate the court’s processes.

Ms. Amberboy then directed meeting attendees to the Children’s Commission 2019 Annual Report which was distributed to the Supreme Court and via the Commission’s distribution lists in January.

Committee, workgroup, and project updates were provided by Ms. Renee Castillo, Ms. Jocelyn Fowler, Ms. Milbrey Raney, Mr. Dylan Moench, and Ms. Jamie Bernstein and can be found in its entirety here: http://texaschildrenscommission.gov/media/84475/final-report-to-commission-2-21-20.pdf.

Presentation from Ms. Carla Baker and Danna Mayhall

Ms. Carla Baker shared her road to reunification with her children when they were removed from her care by Child Protective Services. Ms. Baker explained that the process was not a simple one, but with peer support and determination, reunification was possible for her family. When appointed to her case, Ms. Mayhall shared a pamphlet she created in 2010 entitled “How to Conquer Your Service Plan and Get Your Kids Home Sooner,” which was critical to Ms. Baker’s success. Ms. Baker asked child welfare advocates attending the meeting to please remember their clients are real people with real life problems and are often afraid of an unknown process and system.

Ms. Danna Mayhall shared that she has represented parents with CPS cases since 2001. While she has many success stories, she added the collaboration with her clients is a critical ingredient for success. Ms. Mayhall also shared that the process can be more difficult for clients experiencing severe drug addiction. While not all are successful in family reunification, Ms. Mayhall offers support to her clients, ranging from providing transportation to having conversations with clients late into the night. She concluded by emphasizing that her primary goal as an attorney is always family reunification.

COMMISSION MEMBER UPDATES

Hon. Randy Shelton from Beaumont shared that reading the article about Judge Sakai’s early childhood court influenced him to look at the increase of family violence in his region. When taking a closer look, he discovered that nearly 50 percent of cases involved domestic violence. Judge Shelton

http://texaschildrenscommission.gov/media/84475/final-report-to-commission-2-21-20.pdf

4

decided to take the approach of treating the parents like victims instead of perpetrators and placing additional focus on domestic violence in CPS cases in his court. Judge Shelton partnered with a family services organization to create a Victims Anonymous program. One challenge is finding sponsors, but the local sheriff is joining the cause and establishing a similar program at the local jail. The goal of the program is to approach domestic violence from a mental health perspective.

Judge Shelton concluded his report informing meeting attendees 2,000 prom dresses were collected to replace the prom dresses lost in the flood last year.

Ms. Paula Bibbs-Samuels from Slayton announced the Parent Collaboration Group continues to meet quarterly. The last meeting held addressed the topic of parental input related to services provided to children when the child is in substitute care.

Ms. Bibbs-Samuels also requested of judges and commissioners that when addressing parents in CPS cases, that their names be used rather than “bio mom” or “mom” or a case number as that type of reference diminishes the role of the parent.

Ms. Bibbs-Samuels also asked attendee to consider when mothers or fathers seek assistance at domestic violence shelters and a case is opened with CPS whether a decision can be made more quickly regarding the allegations. Ms. Bibbs-Samuels expressed concern that parents experiencing domestic violence may not seek assistance for fear of CPS involvement with their families. She advised that the fear of CPS involvement could hinder parents from gaining help and safety.

Hon. Selina Mireles from Laredo shared that she is working on a video presentation to explain the process of CPS to parents. Judge Mireles observed that when parents arrive at court, they are very anxious and when given the pamphlet from CPS, they either don’t read it or don’t fully understand it. Her video will explain the purpose of the hearing, legal terminology, and the process. The Parent Collaboration Group is assisting with this process.

Judge Mireles has also started an incentive called Wings of Hope for her Drug Court Committee. Anyone who goes beyond the call of duty, will be given wings. Lastly, Judge Mireles reported about the Supervised Independent Living Program, where students had an opportunity to tour the dormitories at Texas A&M International University.

Hon. Julie Countiss from Houston announced that she is still familiarizing herself with her new judges and is sharing what she learns from the Children’s Commission with the Houston judges. She plans to hold Brown Bag lunch sessions to offer support, training, and to be available to answer questions for her colleagues.

Representative Stephanie Klick from North Richland Hills informed meeting attendees that legislative committee hearings and conferences would start in the coming weeks.

Hon. Gary Coley from Waco announced the grand opening of the CASA headquarters in Waco in March. Also, that Unbound, a book authored with the help of local children to highlight the need for collaboration to prevent human trafficking is now available for purchase. Judge Coley also shared that Waco and Seattle’s model for Human Trafficking was recently used as a model in Colorado.

5

Judge Coley reported that Senate Bill 2737, which focuses on restraints used on juveniles for court proceedings, and the attire of the child, is being evaluated for implementation. The goal is to have consistency and clarity around how to handle restraints, clothing, and procedural justice matters affecting the juvenile population. A round table for further discussion is scheduled for April.

Ms. Vicky Spriggs from Austin reminded meeting attendees the 2020 CASA calendar is available, with artwork contributed by a CASA staff member and cases that reflect actual cases. Judge Sakai was featured for April. Ms. Spriggs also invited members to view Texas CASA’s 2019 Annual Report. CASA is conducting focus groups to examine how it can serve local communities and the state in the most effective manner. A judicial focus group was hosted in January and facilitated by Judge Rob Hofmann.

Ms. Spriggs reported that the normalcy guide work is ongoing, which is a publication on how child welfare advocates can promote normalcy amongst youth, such as dating, social media, and liability concerns.

Ms. Spriggs reported that CASA participates in a few of the Children’s Commission workgroups including the Foster Care & Education Committee, Statewide Collaborative on Trauma Informed Care, Legal Representation Committee, and the Dual Status Task force. Ms. Spriggs introduced Mr. Andy Homer and Ms. Sarah Crockett as a part of CASA’s public policy team. She expressed her gratitude to Mr. Homer for carrying on her duties while she was out of the office. Ms. Spriggs completed her report announcing the CASA Primer would take place March 9, in Austin, and there is now a learning center offered on TexasCASA.org.

Hon. Piper McCraw from McKinney reported about a successful National Adoption Day that took place in Collin County in November. Judge McCraw had the opportunity to participate in the adoption of a child, who had his whole kindergarten class, the high school band, and the drill team in matching t-shirts cheering him on. Judge McCraw expressed her appreciation of all involved in the successful event.

Judge McCraw shared that the CASA Collaborative Family Engagement has begun in Collin County. For the children that were not able to be immediately placed with family, this tool has allowed them to be reunited with their siblings, which allows family to remain in the child’s life.

Judge McCraw has started offering Brown Bag lunches, inspired by Judge Darlene Byrne. Judge McCraw also spoke of a parent who received extraordinary support from the community which donated a car, assistance with obtaining a driver’s license, and funding for one year of car insurance. Judge McCraw relayed her optimism that this parent has a strong foundation to maintain a safe home for her children.

Judge McCraw announced that the Texas CASA office in McKinney that was undergoing renovations in February had a grand reopening on March 26. Judge McCraw concluded her update by expressing her appreciation to Ms. Kristene Blackstone for enabling a child to be placed with family a few days before Christmas rather than waiting an additional 30 days for approval.

Hon. Susan Brown from Houston reported attending the Child Welfare Judges Conference that took place in October and was able to see a presentation on data by Ms. Kristene Blackstone and Ms. Katie

6

Elseth. When data was presented, Judge Brown was disappointed in the low numbers of permanency placement in her region. With the assistance of Mr. Dylan Moench and Katie Elseth, Judge Brown was able to take a closer look at the statistics and data in her area from associate judges and district court judges. Judge Brown hopes that by analyzing the data, judges in her region can explore permanency more quickly, while also keeping in mind the best outcome for all family members involved.

Judge Brown also holds Brown Bag lunches where judges discuss three cases and explore why those children remain in care, and the next steps to assist with exiting from care. Judge Brown announced that, with assistance from DFPS, service providers in Matagorda and Wharton Counties had a gathering to bring together families to increase access to meetings, drug treatment, and other services encourage continued progress. Judge Brown announced plans to expand this model to all six counties in her area, thus encouraging volunteerism in different areas of service and giving providers an opportunity to meet the judge and case worker.

Judge Brown also announced that a third CPC in her area was established in October 2019. Currently, the court hears cases from Harris County, but she anticipates that Matagorda County will join the docket soon. Judge Brown noticed a lack of communication between criminal courts, DFPS, and children’s court, and she is encouraging collaboration between the courts to better assist dual status youth. Judge Brown noted that with these changes, courts can better assist parents with services and that similar practices can be implemented in other counties to serve the same purpose.

Hon. Darlene Byrne from Austin addressed meeting attendees about an ongoing issue related to children in foster care whose parents are not U.S. citizens. She has observed there is not the same sense of urgency to obtain permanency for these children and she is interested in data regarding how long the adoption process takes for children whose parents are not citizens of the United States.

Ms. Cindy Patrick from Austin sent a survey to philanthropists across the state to gauge their interest on learning more about child welfare. Fifty responses were received from across the state. Ms. Patrick plans to convene this group to discuss Community Based Care basics and the Family First Prevention Services Act. DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters will welcome the new group and speak at the first meeting. The goal is to provide opportunities for coordination and advance practices in the child welfare system with philanthropic support.

Ms. Katie Olse from Austin thanked the Commission and for the acknowledgement of Ms. Katie Elseth. Ms. Olse shared that Ms. Elseth is available to assist with data analysis and interpretation. She also commented on TACFS’ collaboration with the Children’s Commission on the SCTIC, working with Ms. Jocelyn Fowler and Judge Darlene Byrne.

Ms. Olse shared that collaboration with Texas Permanency Outcomes Project was awarded a $7 Million-dollar, five-year grant to the Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing. The grant focuses on how foster care agencies can serve in a more supportive role for families. A two-year, pilot program will be rolled out to three areas of the state: Harris County, Region 2 (Corpus Christi), and the Rio Grande Valley. Ms. Olse shared that the projects are slated to start in the fall of 2020. Multiple trainings are also being offered around the state with a focus on community organizations that have

7

direct care of children, youth, and families, to support prevention and early intervention, with a focus on clinical work.

Ms. Olse expressed her gratitude to Judge Hofmann for his assistance to help educate judicial leaders, attorneys, youth, families, providers, and healthcare professionals about Community Based Care.

Ms. Olse also shared an update on the collaborative work with DFPS and Casey Family Programs, on the Families First Prevention Services Act, which has potential for significant change in Texas. Ms. Olse concluded her update with a request for meeting attendees to support the National Trauma Campaign urging Congress to adopt more trauma-informed policy.

Dr. Gary Blau from Houston expressed his gratitude to meeting attendees for incorporating youth voice, and the engagement of young people with lived experience in the child welfare reform process. Dr. Blau reported that primary care providers make up 75% of referrals for children who are referred to mental health services. he noted that at present pediatricians are primarily concerned with child mental health. As part of his job at the Hackett Center, Dr. Blau is exploring ways to broaden evidence-based practices and making use of the provisions of the federal FFPSA.

Dr. Blau also commented on the Building Bridges Initiative which started over 10 years ago in Nebraska, and is now in 17 states, including Texas. Dr. Blau expressed the importance of tracking young adults who have aged out of care and has conducted trainings with both DePelchin and Upbring focusing on necessary and timely supports for youth who have experienced residential treatment.

Dr. Blau concluded his report announcing a grant that was awarded to the City of Houston in partnership with the Baylor School of Medicine.

Ms. Elizabeth Farley from Austin introduced herself to meeting attendees. Ms. Farley represents Governor Abbott’s office, noting her most recent position with Representative Four Price. Ms. Farley also works closely with DFPS focusing on the implementation of bills and the budget for the next legislative session. Ms. Farley offered her assistance to anyone she could be helpful to, concluding her report to the Commission.

Presentation from Mr. Felix Herrera

Mr. Felix Herrera from Austin gave a presentation on the Consulate General of Mexico in Austin. Mr. Herrera shared in-depth information on the Consulate and how it can assist with community affairs. The Consulate offers programs in education, culture, health, economic development, leadership training, and community engagement.

COLLABORATIVE COUNCIL MEMBER UPDATES

Ms. Carolyne Rodriguez of Austin, updated Commission meeting attendees on the nonprofit ChangeOne. She announced that they will be holding a fundraiser on Saturday and all proceeds will be going to the organization. Ms. Rodriguez will chronicle the story of ChangeOne once her service on the board concludes. She announced that she may be reaching out to a few judges to answer interview questions and requested that anyone interested in submitting a quote for the chronicle to

8

contact her. The Community Based Care Program in Austin has reached out to the youth of ChangeOne for feedback, she thinks it would be great if all regions did this. Ms. Rodriguez closed out her update by speaking on the challenges of helping a small nonprofit with no staff and no funding. She asked that anyone interested in meeting or sitting at a roundtable to discuss how to sustain funding contact her. Ms. Barbara Elias-Perciful of Dallas expressed her gratitude to Governor Abbott for awarding the grant for two-day, 15-hour trainings on trauma for judges, attorneys, and stakeholders for the second year in a row. She announced that Dr. Bruce Perry will be the keynote speaker for the Child Protection Law Conference on March 26-27, 2020 in Houston. Ms. Elias-Perciful ended her update by requesting that the Children’s Commission put together a task force or workgroup that focuses on the issue of misdiagnosis of foster children. DFPS / CPS UPDATE

Ms. Sasha Rasco of Austin opened her update by speaking about the departure of Kristene Blackstone and how much she will be missed. She announced how excited the Department is about the new Family Connects Initiative, which allows nurses to visit new moms after birth. The Department has formed a framework group to figure out how to ensure that families have access to and are getting the necessary services under Family First. She announced to the group that they currently have an application out for their Texas Service Member Veteran Families Services and this year they opened it up statewide. Lastly, she announced they are planning a spring listening tour to get feedback on how things are going across the state. Ms. Kristene Blackstone of Austin announced that the Child Protection Investigation held a Domestic Violence Conference to help strengthen our knowledge on the issue. CPI was awarded a grant that gives them the opportunity to seek out leadership coaching to assist with decision making and management. The Office of the Governor and DFPS have been working together on strategies to address child sex trafficking in Texas. DFPS has been setting up response teams when children are recovered from sex trafficking situations. She was very proud to announce that DFPS has cut down call wait times to seven minutes, which is a significant improvement and has raised the efficiency within the department. Ms. Blackstone began her update on Child Protective Services by talking about the work they have been doing on Family First. They held a hearing on January 31 to talk about the intent of the bill, required conditions, and the work the department is doing. They were able to hear from stakeholders about services that the public would like to see. She was also able to meet with the Parent Collaborative Group and hear from parents with lived experience about services they feel could have helped them in their time of need. The Department is trying to partner with PEI and help them with evidence-based programs. They will give their recommendations to the legislature on September 1, 2020. Ms. Blackstone gave an update about the progress of Community Based Care by announcing they will be going live with Stage 2 on March 1, 2020 in the Fort Worth area. Stage 2 means that conservatorship management services will be turned over to the local SSCC which in this area is Our

9

Community Our Kids and referred attendees to the Department’s website for additional information, including the Department’s implementation plan. Ms. Blackstone closed her update by expressing how excited she is to meet with the new group of judges in Houston. OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION UPDATE

Ms. Anissa Johnson of Austin, on behalf of Mr. David Slayton, provided the update for Office of Court Administration. Ms. Johnson announced that they received funding to create new child protection courts across the state. The presiding judges will be meeting at their retreat next month to discuss the child protection courts across Texas.

JURIST IN RESIDENCE UPDATE

Hon. Rob Hofmann of Mason County announced that he and Judge Sage spoke at the Judicial Conference in Wyoming in October 2019. There is a lot of work being done with Community Based Care, when the program moves to your area there will be a program administrator that will serve as a liaison for that area. Judge Hofmann announced that the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is aware of the recommendation to double the current CIP budget. Judge Martinez-Jones will be going to Washington to discuss this request next week. Judge Hofmann stated that the 10th Annual Hill Country Ad Litem will be held next Thursday, February 27, 2020. Judge Hofmann commended Renee Castillo on the great work she has done transitioning into the new role of chair of the Foster Care and Education Committee. Judge Hofmann ended his update by announcing how proud he was of the work of Texas A&M University and their implementation of Supervised Independent Living Programs at five new campuses. Lastly, Judge Hofmann announced that the Education Reach Conference would be held June 3-5, 2020 and encouraged all judges to attend. NEW BUSINESS

Justice Guzman announced the next Commission Meeting date: May 21, 2020, at the State Bar of Texas. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 2:47 p.m.

INSERT - TAB 3

Repo

rt to

Com

mis

sion

May

22,

202

0

Chi

ldre

n’s

Com

mis

sion

®

SUP

RE

ME

CO

UR

T O

F T

EX

AS

PE

RM

AN

EN

T J

UD

ICIA

LC

OM

MIS

SIO

N F

OR

CH

ILD

RE

N, Y

OU

TH

AN

D F

AM

ILIE

S

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

Goa

l I: E

ncou

rage

judi

cial

lead

ersh

ip, a

ccou

ntab

ility

, and

app

ropr

iate

ove

rsig

ht o

f chi

ld p

rote

ctio

n ca

ses t

o im

prov

e sa

fety

, per

man

ency

, and

wel

l-bei

ng o

f chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es.

I.A. O

bjec

tive:

Sup

port

stat

ewid

e ef

fort

s to

ensu

re a

nd im

prov

e ch

ild sa

fety

.

I.A.1

. Str

ateg

y: C

olla

bora

te a

nd su

ppor

t age

ncy

and

part

ner e

ffort

s to

exam

ine,

secu

re, a

sses

s, a

nd im

prov

e ch

ild sa

fety

.

Back

grou

nd: T

he F

amily

Firs

t Pre

vent

ion

Serv

ice

Act (

FFPS

A) b

ecam

e ef

fect

ive

on F

ebru

ary

9, 2

018.

FFP

SA re

stru

ctur

es fe

dera

l chi

ld w

elfa

re fu

ndin

g, p

artic

ular

ly T

itle

IV-E

and

Ti

tle IV

-B o

f the

Soc

ial S

ecur

ity A

ct, w

hich

Tex

as u

ses t

o pa

y fo

r ser

vice

s for

chi

ldre

n in

fost

er c

are

and

thei

r fam

ilies

. FFP

SA se

eks t

o re

duce

ent

ry in

fost

er c

are,

to li

mit

the

use

of c

ongr

egat

e ca

re, a

nd to

incr

ease

acc

ess t

o su

bsta

nce

abus

e an

d m

enta

l hea

lth se

rvic

es. T

here

are

cer

tain

trai

ning

pro

visio

ns d

irect

ly im

pact

ing

the

cour

ts a

nd C

ourt

Im

prov

emen

t Pro

gram

s, b

ut b

eyon

d th

at, F

FPSA

also

man

date

s tha

t sta

tes s

eeki

ng T

itle

IV-E

fund

ing

crea

te a

nd p

rovi

de m

ore

robu

st p

reve

ntio

n se

rvic

es fo

r fam

ilies

in th

e st

ate’

s chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

. Also

, with

the

FFPS

A an

d th

e Co

mpr

ehen

sive

Addi

ctio

n an

d Re

cove

ry A

ct (C

ARA)

am

endm

ents

to th

e Ch

ild A

buse

Pre

vent

ion

and

Trea

tmen

t Act

(C

APTA

), it

will

be

nece

ssar

y fo

r the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n to

eng

age

with

stak

ehol

ders

mor

e de

eply

on

prev

entio

n ef

fort

s. T

he C

ARA

amen

dmen

ts to

CAP

TA re

quire

mor

e fo

cus o

n w

hat a

re k

now

n as

Pla

ns o

f Saf

e Ca

re, a

nd a

lthou

gh th

ere

is no

spec

ific

cour

t ove

rsig

ht o

f Pla

ns o

f Saf

e Ca

re, t

he ju

dici

ary

is be

ing

aske

d to

bec

ome

fam

iliar

with

the

CARA

am

endm

ents

and

par

tner

with

chi

ld w

elfa

re in

a m

anne

r tha

t mak

es e

xist

ing

and

new

Pla

ns o

f Saf

e Ca

re m

ore

mea

ning

ful.

The

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

is co

llabo

ratin

g cl

osel

y w

ith th

e De

part

men

t of F

amily

and

Pro

tect

ive

Serv

ices

(DFP

S) o

n th

e im

plem

enta

tion

of F

FPSA

, as i

s req

uire

d by

the

fede

ral A

dmin

istra

tion

for C

hild

ren

and

Fam

ilies

. Tex

as h

as e

lect

ed to

del

ay im

plem

enta

tion

of c

erta

in p

rovi

sions

rela

ted

the

use

of c

ongr

egat

e ca

re, w

hich

man

date

that

Co

urt I

mpr

ovem

ent P

rogr

ams p

rovi

de tr

aini

ng a

nd e

duca

tion

to ju

dges

and

oth

er le

gal s

yste

m st

akeh

olde

rs o

n th

e lim

itatio

ns o

n fu

ndin

g fo

r use

of n

on-fo

ster

fam

ily h

ome

plac

emen

ts. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

is co

llabo

ratin

g w

ith C

asey

Fam

ily P

rogr

ams a

nd o

ther

nat

iona

l wor

kgro

ups o

n be

st p

ract

ices

for i

mpl

emen

tatio

n of

all

FFPS

A pr

ovisi

ons,

incl

udin

g th

e de

velo

pmen

t of I

V-E

prev

entio

n pr

ogra

ms,

cou

rt o

vers

ight

of c

ongr

egat

e ca

re p

lace

men

ts, a

nd c

ourt

invo

lvem

ent i

n en

cour

agin

g a

prim

ary

prev

entio

n ap

proa

ch. C

ongr

ess r

ecen

tly e

nact

ed th

e Fa

mily

Firs

t Tra

nsiti

on A

ct to

pro

vide

$50

0 m

illio

n in

one

-tim

e, fl

exib

le tr

ansit

ion

fund

ing

to h

elp

juris

dict

ions

with

FFP

SA

impl

emen

tatio

n. T

his f

undi

ng is

inte

nded

to h

elp

offs

et c

osts

ass

ocia

ted

with

pro

gram

star

tup,

IV-E

wai

ver t

rans

ition

, and

impr

ovem

ents

to fo

ster

car

e sa

fety

and

qua

lity.

The

le

gisla

tion

also

offe

rs g

rant

s to

juris

dict

ions

with

exp

iring

IV-E

wai

vers

if th

ey fa

ce si

gnifi

cant

fund

ing

loss

es, e

nsur

ing

stab

ility

and

con

tinui

ty o

f car

e fo

r the

chi

ldre

n in

car

e as

th

e tr

ansit

ion

cont

inue

s to

new

mod

els u

nder

FFP

SA. I

n ad

ditio

n to

thes

e ne

w fu

ndin

g re

sour

ces,

the

bill

crea

tes a

two-

year

del

ayed

pha

se-in

for F

FPSA

’s “

wel

l-sup

port

ed”

requ

irem

ent f

or p

reve

ntio

n se

rvic

es, w

hich

sets

the

evid

ence

thre

shol

d pr

even

tion

serv

ices

mus

t mee

t und

er F

FPSA

to b

e el

igib

le fo

r fun

ding

reim

burs

emen

t. Th

e de

lay

offe

rs st

ates

and

cou

ntie

s gre

ater

flex

ibili

ty to

pro

ceed

with

exi

stin

g, e

vide

nce-

base

d fo

ster

car

e pr

even

tion

prog

ram

s.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

On

Mar

ch 2

6, 2

020,

the

Child

ren’

s Bur

eau

anno

unce

d ne

w ra

tings

for a

dditi

onal

pro

gram

s and

serv

ices

add

ed to

the

Clea

ringh

ouse

, inc

ludi

ng C

hild

-Par

ent

Psyc

hoth

erap

y, F

amily

Beh

avio

r The

rapy

for A

dole

scen

t, Ad

ult,

and

Adul

t with

Chi

ld W

elfa

re S

uppl

emen

t, Ho

meb

uild

ers,

and

Sol

utio

n Ba

sed

Case

wor

k, to

go

alon

g w

ith th

e ot

her d

ozen

or s

o pr

ogra

ms a

lread

y in

clud

ed.

The

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

rece

ntly

join

ed a

sess

ion

of th

e Pr

even

tion

and

Early

Inte

rven

tion

(PEI

) List

enin

g To

ur to

eng

age

with

DFP

S an

d se

rvic

e pr

ovid

ers a

roun

d pr

even

tion

and

child

safe

ty. I

n ad

ditio

n, C

omm

issio

n st

aff w

ill p

artic

ipat

e on

the

PEI P

reve

ntio

n Fr

amew

ork

Wor

kgro

up m

ovin

g fo

rwar

d.

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

I.B. O

bjec

tive:

Sup

port

the

impr

ovem

ent o

f edu

catio

n ou

tcom

es fo

r chi

ldre

n in

the

cons

erva

tors

hip

of D

FPS

to in

crea

se o

ppor

tuni

ties f

or e

duca

tiona

l pro

gres

s, le

adin

g to

a

mor

e pr

oduc

tive

and

stab

le a

dult

life.

I.B.1

. Str

ateg

y: Im

plem

ent t

he T

exas

Edu

catio

n Bl

uepr

int.

Back

grou

nd: S

ince

the

ince

ptio

n of

the

Educ

atio

n Co

mm

ittee

in 2

010

and

the

rele

ase

of th

e Te

xas B

luep

rint i

n 20

12, t

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

has c

onve

ned

a m

ulti-

disc

iplin

ary,

stat

ewid

e ef

fort

aim

ed a

t im

prov

ing

educ

atio

n ou

tcom

es fo

r chi

ldre

n an

d yo

uth

in fo

ster

car

e. T

he F

oste

r Car

e an

d Ed

ucat

ion

(FC&

Ed) C

omm

ittee

was

es

tabl

ished

in 2

015

to c

ontin

ue th

e im

plem

enta

tion

of th

e Te

xas B

luep

rint r

ecom

men

datio

ns. I

n FY

2019

, the

stru

ctur

e of

the

FC&

Ed c

olla

bora

tion

shift

ed fr

om a

wor

kgro

up

mod

el to

a p

roje

ct-c

ente

red

mod

el. T

he F

C&Ed

Com

mitt

ee w

ill c

ontin

ue to

dev

elop

prio

ritie

s and

pro

vide

ove

rsig

ht fo

r the

stat

ewid

e ef

fort

. As p

roje

cts a

re id

entif

ied,

smal

l gr

oups

will

eac

h m

eet p

erio

dica

lly w

ith a

def

ined

scop

e, d

eliv

erab

les,

and

a ti

mel

ine.

Alth

ough

the

stru

ctur

e w

ill c

hang

e, th

e co

re p

rinci

ples

of s

tren

gthe

ning

col

labo

ratio

n be

twee

n ed

ucat

ion,

cou

rts,

and

chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

s, d

evel

opin

g cr

oss-

trai

ning

opp

ortu

nitie

s, a

nd e

ncou

ragi

ng d

ata-

driv

en d

ecisi

on-m

akin

g re

mai

n fu

ndam

enta

l to

the

FC&

Ed C

omm

ittee

mod

el.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

FC&

Ed C

omm

ittee

met

on

May

1, 2

020

and

rece

ived

upd

ates

on

wor

kgro

up p

roje

cts t

his y

ear.

The

next

FC&

Ed C

omm

ittee

mee

ting

will

occ

ur o

n Au

gust

21,

202

0.

• Th

e Ed

ucat

ion

in R

esid

entia

l Tre

atm

ent C

ente

rs (R

TCs)

Wor

kgro

up h

as b

een

draf

ting

a se

ries o

f col

or-c

oded

, one

-pag

e re

sour

ces f

or le

gal p

rofe

ssio

nals,

pro

vide

rs,

and

educ

ator

s. T

he o

ne-p

ager

add

ress

ed to

lega

l pro

fess

iona

ls is

in th

e de

sign

phas

e an

d an

onl

ine

vers

ion

will

be

mad

e av

aila

ble

soon

with

a h

ardc

opy

to fo

llow

. The

w

orkg

roup

ant

icip

ates

that

the

prov

ider

and

edu

catio

n on

e-pa

gers

will

be

com

plet

ed b

y Au

gust

1, 2

020.

•

The

Reso

urce

s for

Hig

her E

duca

tion

Prof

essio

nals

Wor

kgro

up is

cre

atin

g a

Pow

erPo

int s

lide

deck

with

acc

ompa

nyin

g on

e-pa

gers

and

refe

renc

e do

cum

ents

(e.g

. Hi

gher

Edu

catio

n Re

sour

ces C

hart

, Edu

catio

n &

Tra

inin

g Vo

uche

r (ET

V) in

form

atio

n, T

uitio

n an

d Fe

e W

aive

r pro

cess

map

) aim

ed a

t pro

vidi

ng h

igh

leve

l tra

inin

g,

tool

s, a

nd re

sour

ces f

or p

rofe

ssio

nals

in h

ighe

r edu

catio

n in

clud

ing,

but

not

lim

ited

to, a

dmin

istra

tors

, fin

anci

al a

id o

ffice

rs, a

dmiss

ions

, fos

ter c

are

liaiso

ns, a

nd

othe

rs w

ho m

ay a

ssist

or p

rovi

de se

rvic

es to

fost

er c

are

alum

ni o

n ca

mpu

s. T

he w

orkg

roup

is o

n ta

rget

to c

ompl

ete

the

proj

ect b

y M

ay 2

020

and

will

disc

uss

pres

enta

tion

optio

ns a

t its

nex

t sch

edul

ed m

eetin

g in

May

. •

The

Non

-tra

ditio

nal P

ost-

Seco

ndar

y Ed

ucat

ion

Wor

kgro

up is

com

pilin

g in

form

atio

n re

late

d to

the

Tuiti

on a

nd F

ee W

aive

r, ET

V fu

nds,

and

oth

er a

vaila

ble

fund

ing

for

fost

er c

are

alum

ni se

ekin

g no

n-tr

aditi

onal

pos

t-se

cond

ary

educ

atio

n pa

thw

ays s

uch

as tr

ade

and

cert

ifica

te p

rogr

ams.

The

info

rmat

ion

will

be

conv

erte

d in

to

flow

char

ts, a

glo

ssar

y of

term

s, a

n in

tera

ctiv

e el

igib

ility

det

erm

inat

ion

tool

, and

a o

ne-p

ager

hig

hlig

htin

g im

port

ant i

nfor

mat

ion

for s

tude

nts.

The

wor

kgro

up h

as a

ta

rget

del

iver

able

dist

ribut

ion

date

of S

epte

mbe

r 202

0.

• Th

e Re

cord

s & In

form

atio

n Sh

arin

g W

orkg

roup

pla

ced

its p

roje

ct o

n ho

ld u

ntil

the

end

of th

e 20

19-2

020

acad

emic

scho

ol y

ear.

The

wor

kgro

up re

conv

ened

on

May

12

, 202

0 to

disc

uss c

hang

es to

the

deliv

erab

le ti

mel

ine

and

whe

ther

any

add

ition

al re

cord

s and

info

rmat

ion

shar

ing

issue

s hav

e be

en id

entif

ied

durin

g th

e CO

VID-

19

crisi

s tha

t nee

d to

be

addr

esse

d.

• Th

e Ev

ery

Stud

ent S

ucce

eds A

ct W

orkg

roup

pla

ced

its p

roje

ct o

n ho

ld u

ntil

the

end

of th

e 20

19-2

020

acad

emic

scho

ol y

ear.

The

wor

kgro

up w

ill re

conv

ene

in M

ay to

di

scus

s cha

nges

to th

e de

liver

able

tim

elin

e an

d to

iden

tify

addi

tiona

l top

ics,

if a

ny, t

o ad

dres

s as a

resu

lt of

CO

VID-

19 c

risis.

I.C. O

bjec

tive:

Pro

mot

e aw

aren

ess o

f and

em

bed

a cu

lture

and

pra

ctic

e am

ong

the

judi

ciar

y an

d le

gal c

omm

unity

aro

und

Trau

ma-

Info

rmed

Car

e so

that

the

lega

l and

ju

dici

al c

omm

unity

is a

war

e, e

duca

ted,

and

supp

ortiv

e of

the

conc

ept a

nd a

pplic

atio

n.

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

I.C.1

. Str

ateg

y: P

artn

er w

ith tr

aum

a an

d m

enta

l hea

lth a

dvoc

ates

and

age

ncie

s to

impl

emen

t and

app

ly p

rinci

ples

of T

raum

a-In

form

ed C

are

in th

e re

spec

tive

disc

iplin

es.

Back

grou

nd: I

n Ju

ly 2

017,

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

laun

ched

the

Stat

ewid

e Co

llabo

rativ

e on

Tra

uma-

Info

rmed

Car

e (S

CTIC

), to

ele

vate

trau

ma-

info

rmed

pol

icy

and

prac

tices

in th

e Te

xas c

hild

wel

fare

syst

em b

y cr

eatin

g a

stat

ewid

e st

rate

gy to

supp

ort s

yste

m re

form

, org

aniza

tiona

l lea

ders

hip,

cro

ss-s

yste

ms c

olla

bora

tion,

and

com

mun

ity-

led

effo

rts w

ith d

ata-

info

rmed

initi

ativ

es. T

he S

CTIC

ado

pted

four

bro

ad g

oals

with

spec

ific

stra

tegi

es a

nd d

efin

ition

s for

its y

ear o

ne p

lan.

The

SCT

IC e

ndea

vors

to ra

ise

awar

enes

s abo

ut T

raum

a-In

form

ed C

are

thro

ugh

trai

ning

and

edu

catio

nal o

ppor

tuni

ties;

lead

a S

CTIC

to c

reat

e a

trau

ma-

info

rmed

and

trau

ma-

resp

onsiv

e ch

ild w

elfa

re

syst

em th

at b

ette

r mee

ts th

e ne

eds o

f chi

ldre

n w

ho h

ave

expe

rienc

ed tr

aum

a; a

nd p

artn

er w

ith o

ther

Tex

as a

nd n

atio

nal t

raum

a-in

form

ed w

orkg

roup

s and

col

labo

rativ

es.

Base

d on

the

wor

k of

the

SCTI

C, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n pu

blish

ed a

fina

l rep

ort i

n Fe

brua

ry 2

019:

Bui

ldin

g a

Trau

ma-

Info

rmed

Chi

ld W

elfa

re S

yste

m: A

Blu

eprin

t. Th

e Bl

uepr

int p

rovi

des a

fram

ewor

k fo

r the

stat

e to

adv

ance

trau

ma-

info

rmed

car

e pr

actic

es in

the

child

wel

fare

syst

em. T

he S

CTIC

con

tinue

s und

er th

e gu

idan

ce o

f an

Impl

emen

tatio

n Ta

sk F

orce

and

util

izes t

he B

luep

rint t

o di

rect

the

SCTI

C’s w

ork.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Cha

ired

by Ju

dge

Darle

ne B

yrne

of t

he 1

26th

Dist

rict C

ourt

, the

SCT

IC Im

plem

enta

tion

Task

For

ce la

st m

et o

n Fe

brua

ry 2

8, 2

020

and

will

mee

t aga

in o

n Ju

ne 1

2, 2

020

via

vide

ocon

fere

ncin

g. O

n Fe

brua

ry 2

8, T

ask

Forc

e m

embe

rs h

eard

upd

ates

from

its t

hree

wor

kgro

ups a

nd d

eter

min

ed n

ext s

teps

. Dur

ing

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is,

all w

orkg

roup

s hav

e m

et a

t lea

st o

nce

to to

uch

base

with

mem

bers

and

ass

ess p

riorit

ies f

or S

CTIC

wor

kgro

ups.

Polic

y &

Pra

ctic

e W

orkg

roup

: The

Pol

icy

and

Prac

tice

Wor

kgro

up’s

firs

t prio

rity

has b

een

to a

ddre

ss B

luep

rint S

trat

egy

1.1

calli

ng fo

r the

ado

ptio

n of

def

initi

ons t

o cr

eate

a

com

mon

lang

uage

am

ong

stak

ehol

ders

. DFP

S in

tend

s to

adop

t def

initi

ons o

f “tr

aum

a” a

nd “

trau

ma-

info

rmed

” by

rule

. DFP

S re

ques

ted

that

the

SCTI

C se

rve

as a

stak

ehol

der

feed

back

gro

up. T

he P

olic

y an

d Pr

actic

e W

orkg

roup

took

into

con

sider

atio

n ex

istin

g an

d co

mm

only

use

d de

finiti

ons a

nd a

gree

d on

dra

ft la

ngua

ge ta

ken

prim

arily

from

the

Subs

tanc

e Ab

use

and

Men

tal H

ealth

Ser

vice

s Adm

inist

ratio

n bu

t with

add

ition

al la

ngua

ge fr

om N

atio

nal C

hild

Tra

umat

ic S

tres

s Net

wor

k to

mor

e fu

lly ro

und

out t

he c

once

pt

of “

trau

ma-

info

rmed

.” T

he w

orkg

roup

subm

itted

thei

r rec

omm

enda

tions

to th

e SC

TIC

Task

For

ce o

n Fe

brua

ry 2

8. A

fter

a m

inor

add

ition

to th

e “t

raum

a-in

form

ed”

defin

ition

, Ta

sk F

orce

mem

bers

vot

ed to

app

rove

the

wor

kgro

up’s

reco

mm

enda

tions

. A fi

nal r

epor

t with

the

reco

mm

enda

tions

was

sent

to D

FPS

lead

ersh

ip o

n M

arch

13th

. DFP

S’ le

gal

depa

rtm

ent i

s cur

rent

ly e

valu

atin

g th

e be

st lo

catio

n in

the

Texa

s Adm

inist

rativ

e Co

de to

add

this

defin

ition

and

is e

xpec

ted

to in

itiat

e th

e fo

rmal

rule

mak

ing

proc

ess i

n th

e ne

ar fu

ture

. The

orig

inal

agr

eed-

upon

tim

elin

e fo

r thi

s pro

cess

has

bee

n di

srup

ted

due

to C

OVI

D-19

prio

ritie

s. T

he o

ffici

al ru

lem

akin

g pr

oces

s to

adop

t def

initi

ons w

ill li

kely

ta

ke n

ine

mon

ths t

o on

e ye

ar.

Trai

ning

Wor

kgro

up: A

t the

Feb

ruar

y 28

Tas

k Fo

rce

mee

ting,

the

Trai

ning

Wor

kgro

up p

rese

nted

a fi

nal d

raft

of t

he o

ne-p

ager

exp

lain

ing

the

goal

s of t

he S

CTIC

. Tas

k Fo

rce

mem

bers

pro

vide

d ad

ditio

nal f

eedb

ack

and

the

wor

kgro

up w

ill a

im to

hav

e a

revi

sed

draf

t ava

ilabl

e fo

r rev

iew

at t

he n

ext f

ull T

ask

Forc

e m

eetin

g. T

he w

orkg

roup

has

pa

rtne

red

with

staf

f fro

m th

e So

uth

Sout

hwes

t Men

tal H

ealth

Tec

hnol

ogy

Tran

sfer

Cen

ter (

MHT

TC) t

o de

velo

p a

trai

ning

dat

abas

e (fo

rmer

ly re

ferr

ed to

as a

n en

viro

nmen

tal

scan

) of c

urre

nt a

vaila

ble

trau

ma-

info

rmed

trai

ning

s. W

orkg

roup

mem

bers

are

ass

istin

g M

HTTC

staf

f in

iden

tifyi

ng tr

aini

ngs r

elev

ant t

o ch

ild w

elfa

re. O

nce

the

data

base

is

near

ly c

ompl

ete,

the

wor

kgro

up w

ill fi

lter t

he li

st fo

r cer

tain

aud

ienc

es su

ch a

s car

egiv

ers a

nd p

aren

ts, l

egal

com

mun

ity, a

nd se

rvic

e pr

ovid

ers a

nd m

ake

this

info

rmat

ion

avai

labl

e on

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

web

site.

The

trai

ning

dat

abas

e m

ight

also

hel

p id

entif

y ga

ps in

trai

ning

acr

oss t

he st

ate

and

dire

ct th

e w

orkg

roup

’s e

ffort

s.

The

wor

kgro

up a

lso se

rved

as t

he c

urric

ulum

adv

isory

gro

up fo

r the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n st

aff i

n de

velo

ping

the

Judi

cial

Tra

uma

Inst

itute

(JTI

) con

fere

nce

whi

ch w

as

sche

dule

d fo

r lat

e M

arch

202

0 bu

t pos

tpon

ed d

ue to

CO

VID-

19. T

he w

orkg

roup

pro

vide

d fe

edba

ck o

n th

e id

ea o

f tra

nsiti

onin

g th

e JT

I to

a vi

rtua

l for

mat

and

will

con

tinue

to

supp

ort C

omm

issio

n st

aff i

n id

entif

ying

the

best

ave

nue

for t

rain

ing

the

judi

cial

cou

rt te

ams f

or w

hom

the

JTI w

as d

esig

ned.

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

Info

rmat

ion

Shar

ing,

Dat

a, &

Fun

ding

Wor

kgro

up: T

he In

form

atio

n Sh

arin

g, D

ata,

and

Fun

ding

Wor

kgro

up is

focu

sed

on S

trat

egy

7.2

of th

e Tr

aum

a Bl

uepr

int w

hich

cal

ls fo

r a

stat

ewid

e w

ebsit

e to

serv

e as

a p

rimar

y so

urce

of r

elev

ant i

nfor

mat

ion

and

trai

ning

on

trau

ma-

info

rmed

car

e an

d pr

actic

es. A

t the

Feb

ruar

y 28

Tas

k Fo

rce

mee

ting,

the

wor

kgro

up p

rese

nted

a d

raft

web

site

conc

ept p

aper

whi

ch id

entif

ies t

he g

ener

al re

quire

men

ts a

nd p

roce

ss fo

r ide

ntify

ing

a ho

st o

rgan

izatio

n to

dev

elop

the

Texa

s-sp

ecifi

c sit

e. A

goa

l is f

or th

e ho

st o

rgan

izatio

n to

also

secu

re fu

ndin

g to

mai

ntai

n th

e da

y-to

-day

ope

ratio

ns o

f the

site

. The

prim

ary

site

audi

ence

will

be

fam

ily a

nd c

areg

iver

s, c

hild

w

elfa

re p

rofe

ssio

nals,

dire

ct a

nd n

on-d

irect

serv

ice

prov

ider

s, a

nd c

omm

unity

col

labo

rativ

es. T

he w

orkg

roup

is a

lso d

evel

opin

g a

“Ret

urn

on In

vest

men

t” d

ocum

ent t

o ill

ustr

ate

the

pote

ntia

l lon

g-te

rm b

enef

its fo

r inv

estin

g in

trau

ma-

info

rmed

pol

icie

s and

pra

ctic

es.

I.D. O

bjec

tive:

Pro

mot

e aw

aren

ess o

f and

pro

vide

trai

ning

, res

ourc

es, a

nd su

ppor

t for

add

ress

ing

Hum

an T

raffi

ckin

g an

d sp

ecifi

cally

dom

estic

chi

ld se

x tr

affic

king

so th

at

the

judi

cial

syst

em c

an a

ssis

t in

prev

entin

g an

d re

spon

ding

to th

e co

mm

erci

al se

xual

exp

loita

tion

of c

hild

ren

in D

FPS’

con

serv

ator

ship

.

I.D.1

. Str

ateg

y: C

olla

bora

te w

ith st

ate

and

loca

l par

tner

s to

prev

ent a

nd a

ddre

ss c

omm

erci

al se

xual

exp

loita

tion

of y

outh

in fo

ster

car

e.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

part

ners

with

man

y ke

y st

akeh

olde

rs w

ith a

goa

l of p

reve

ntin

g an

d ad

dres

sing

com

mer

cial

sexu

al e

xplo

itatio

n of

chi

ldre

n an

d yo

uth

in fo

ster

car

e. In

add

ition

to se

rvin

g on

the

Texa

s Hum

an T

raffi

ckin

g Pr

even

tion

Task

For

ce, t

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

also

wor

ks w

ith th

e O

ffice

of t

he T

exas

Gov

erno

r’s

Child

Sex

Tra

ffick

ing

Team

, the

DFP

S Hu

man

Tra

ffick

ing

and

Child

Exp

loita

tion

team

, and

the

Offi

ce o

f Cou

rt A

dmin

istra

tion

to d

evel

op st

rate

gies

to im

prov

e ju

dici

al h

andl

ing

of c

hild

wel

fare

cas

es w

here

chi

ldre

n or

you

th a

re a

t hig

h ris

k of

bec

omin

g tr

affic

king

vic

tims.

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n is

focu

sed

prim

arily

on

prov

idin

g in

form

atio

n to

ju

dges

and

att

orne

ys re

spon

sible

for c

hild

wel

fare

cas

es to

raise

aw

aren

ess a

bout

hum

an tr

affic

king

as i

t im

pact

s chi

ldre

n in

volv

ed w

ith th

e ch

ild w

elfa

re sy

stem

. The

Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n al

so p

artic

ipat

es in

the

stat

e an

d na

tiona

l tra

inin

gs o

n hu

man

traf

ficki

ng to

stay

info

rmed

abo

ut su

cces

sful

stra

tegi

es to

com

bat t

raffi

ckin

g an

d de

velo

p ex

pert

ise to

rela

y in

form

atio

n to

judg

es a

nd a

ttor

neys

as n

eede

d.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Com

miss

ion

will

con

tinue

to w

ork

with

chi

ld w

elfa

re a

nd c

ourt

stak

ehol

ders

to b

uild

cap

acity

to a

ddre

ss tr

affic

king

thro

ugho

ut th

e st

ate.

In A

pril,

Co

mm

issio

n st

aff p

rovi

ded

inpu

t in

the

Texa

s Hum

an T

raffi

ckin

g Pr

even

tion

Coor

dina

ting

Coun

cil s

urve

y ai

med

at c

aptu

ring

anti-

traf

ficki

ng e

ffort

s thr

ough

out t

he st

ate.

Co

mm

issio

n st

aff p

artic

ipat

es in

the

Adm

inist

ratio

n fo

r Chi

ldre

n an

d Fa

mili

es (A

CF) R

egio

n VI

Hum

an T

raffi

ckin

g W

orkg

roup

to sp

read

bes

t pra

ctic

es a

nd b

ette

r coo

rdin

ate

with

oth

er st

ates

on

com

batt

ing

hum

an tr

affic

king

. The

wor

kgro

up c

onve

ned

on A

pril

7 to

disc

uss p

ossib

le e

ffect

s of C

OVI

D-19

on

yout

h vu

lner

abili

ty to

traf

ficki

ng.

Goa

l II:

Prom

ote,

exp

and,

and

shar

e be

st a

nd p

rom

isin

g ch

ild w

elfa

re a

nd c

ourt

pra

ctic

es a

nd re

sour

ces t

o im

prov

e ju

dici

al a

dmin

istr

atio

n an

d st

reng

then

the

child

w

elfa

re sy

stem

.

II.A.

Obj

ectiv

e: C

reat

e op

port

uniti

es to

brin

g to

geth

er su

bjec

t mat

ter e

xper

ts, j

udic

ial a

nd e

xecu

tive

bran

ch le

ader

s, a

nd k

ey p

olic

y m

aker

s so

that

impo

rtan

t and

urg

ent

issu

es a

re e

xam

ined

, and

reco

mm

enda

tions

and

solu

tions

are

iden

tifie

d.

II.A.

1. S

trat

egy:

Wor

k w

ith D

FPS

and

othe

r sta

keho

lder

s to

iden

tify

topi

cs fo

r Rou

nd T

able

disc

ussio

ns.

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

Back

grou

nd: R

ound

Tab

le d

iscus

sions

are

des

igne

d to

add

ress

key

, urg

ent i

ssue

s affe

ctin

g th

e Te

xas c

hild

wel

fare

syst

em th

roug

h a

half-

day

prog

ram

that

is fa

cilit

ated

by

a su

bjec

t-m

atte

r and

lega

l exp

ert.

The

topi

cs v

ary

year

to y

ear a

nd th

e nu

mbe

r of R

ound

Tab

les h

oste

d ea

ch y

ear a

lso v

arie

s acc

ordi

ng to

the

inte

rest

of s

take

hold

ers a

nd

issue

s dem

andi

ng a

tten

tion.

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n’s r

ole

usua

lly c

onsis

ts o

f for

min

g a

smal

l wor

kgro

up to

disc

uss t

he o

vera

ll pu

rpos

e, c

reat

ing

an in

vita

tion

and

dist

ribut

ion

list,

secu

ring

a ve

nue,

han

dlin

g al

l inv

itatio

ns, R

SVPs

, and

trav

el re

imbu

rsem

ents

, and

pro

duci

ng a

writ

ten

repo

rt o

r pap

er w

ithin

abo

ut 4

to 6

mon

ths f

ollo

win

g th

e ev

ent.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ha

d to

pos

tpon

e th

e Ro

und

Tabl

e on

Sha

cklin

g in

Juve

nile

Cou

rt sc

hedu

led

for A

pril

13, 2

020

in A

ustin

due

to th

e CO

VID-

19

crisi

s. A

futu

re d

ate

is st

ill to

be

dete

rmin

ed a

nd C

omm

issio

n st

aff i

s exp

lorin

g m

ultip

le w

ays t

o en

gage

stak

ehol

ders

on

this

issue

. No

othe

r Rou

nd T

able

disc

ussio

ns a

re

sche

dule

d at

this

time.

II.B.

Obj

ectiv

e: E

nsur

e av

aila

bilit

y of

qua

lity

judi

cial

reso

urce

s suc

h as

the

Benc

h Bo

ok, J

uris

t in

Resi

denc

e (J

IR) s

uppo

rt a

nd JI

R co

rres

pond

ence

and

com

mun

ique

to

ensu

re ju

dges

are

equ

ippe

d to

mak

e in

form

ed, e

duca

ted

deci

sion

s, a

nd u

se b

est p

ract

ices

in c

ondu

ctin

g he

arin

gs th

at w

ill c

ontr

ibut

e to

bet

ter o

utco

mes

for c

hild

ren

and

fam

ilies

.

II.B.

1. S

trat

egy:

Pro

vide

JIR

supp

ort t

o th

e ju

dici

ary

and

the

lega

l and

chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

s.

Back

grou

nd: T

he Ju

rist i

n Re

siden

ce (J

IR) p

ositi

on w

as c

reat

ed to

fost

er ju

dici

al le

ader

ship

and

pro

mot

e gr

eate

r exp

ertis

e am

ong

child

pro

tect

ion

judg

es. T

he JI

R de

velo

ps

rela

tions

hips

with

retir

ed a

nd si

ttin

g ju

dges

, act

s as a

con

sulta

nt, t

rain

er, a

nd sp

eake

r to

prov

ide

expe

rt a

nd se

ason

ed ju

dici

al a

dvic

e on

mat

ters

affe

ctin

g co

urts

and

lega

l sy

stem

han

dlin

g of

chi

ld w

elfa

re c

ases

and

issu

es, a

nd p

ublis

hes i

nfor

mat

iona

l let

ters

and

ele

ctro

nic

com

mun

ique

s (“e

-bla

sts”

) con

cern

ing

item

s of i

nter

est,

such

as c

hang

es

in p

olic

y, la

w, p

ract

ice,

and

trai

ning

eve

nts.

Add

ition

ally

, the

JIR

assis

ts w

ith th

e de

velo

pmen

t of c

urric

ulum

for t

he a

nnua

l Chi

ld W

elfa

re Ju

dges

Con

fere

nce,

and

mod

erat

es

and

pres

ents

at t

he c

onfe

renc

e, a

s nee

ded;

revi

ews u

pdat

es to

the

Child

Pro

tect

ion

Law

Ben

ch B

ook;

and

att

ends

and

par

ticip

ates

in e

vent

s on

beha

lf of

the

Child

ren’

s Co

mm

issio

n, in

clud

ing

Roun

d Ta

bles

, oth

er c

onfe

renc

es, a

nd T

rial S

kills

Tra

inin

gs.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Sup

rem

e Co

urt h

as tw

o Ju

rists

in R

esid

ence

: Jud

ge D

ean

Ruck

er a

nd Ju

dge

Rob

Hofm

ann.

The

JIR

activ

ities

will

rem

ain

muc

h th

e sa

me

for F

Y202

0, w

ith

addi

tiona

l em

phas

is on

ele

vatin

g ju

dici

al le

ader

s with

exp

ertis

e an

d in

tere

sts r

elat

ed to

pre

vent

ion

of re

mov

al to

fost

er c

are,

chi

ld a

nd fa

mily

wel

l-bei

ng, a

nd im

prov

ing

child

an

d fa

mily

voi

ce in

chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

refo

rm. S

ince

late

Feb

ruar

y, b

oth

JIRs h

ave

assis

ted

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

in h

andl

ing

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is an

d its

effe

ct o

n co

urts

an

d ju

dici

al p

roce

sses

acr

oss t

he st

ate.

Juris

t in

Resid

ence

(JIR

) Let

ters

and

Judi

cial

and

Att

orne

y Re

sour

ce L

ette

rs (J

ARLs

) iss

ued

betw

een

Febr

uary

202

0 an

d M

ay 2

020

incl

ude:

• 5/

21/2

020:

Ben

efits

of U

tilizi

ng T

echn

olog

y in

Chi

ld W

elfa

re C

ases

•

5/13

/202

0: A

nnou

ncem

ent r

egar

ding

the

Child

ren’

s Com

mis

sion

web

site,

CO

VID-

19 w

ebpa

ge a

nd re

sour

ce li

nks

• 5/

8/20

20: R

egist

er N

ow: W

ebca

st o

n Ef

fect

ive

Advo

cacy

in th

e Vi

rtua

l CPS

Cou

rtro

om o

n M

ay 2

2nd

•

5/1/

2020

: Sav

e th

e Da

te! U

pcom

ing

Web

cast

on

Effe

ctiv

e Ad

voca

cy in

the

Virt

ual C

PS C

ourt

room

•

4/28

/202

0: R

esou

rces

to S

uppo

rt E

duca

tiona

l Suc

cess

for S

tude

nts i

n Fo

ster

Car

e Du

ring

COVI

D-19

•

4/20

/202

0: R

esou

rces

for P

aren

ts a

nd F

amili

es In

volv

ed w

ith C

PS

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=ue7GNRb1gRU

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=WEzgQAtYGIs

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=Gh3AzA5xU98

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=y3VyOo5B1fE

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=TjgOsnxSeqA

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=jXQtqwzS-gY

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

• 4/

14/2

020:

Apr

il is

Nat

iona

l Chi

ld A

buse

Pre

vent

ion

Mon

th

• 4/

8/20

20: H

andl

ing

Sens

itive

or P

rote

cted

Info

rmat

ion

in C

hild

Pro

tect

ion

Hear

ings

; Int

ervi

ew o

f Chi

ld in

Cha

mbe

rs

• 4/

1/20

20: G

uida

nce

for S

ervi

ces a

nd S

ervi

ce P

lans

• 3/

25/2

020:

DFP

S Is

sues

Virt

ual C

onta

ct G

uide

lines

for C

asew

orke

rs

• 3/

23/2

020:

Cur

rent

Sug

gest

ed B

est P

ract

ices

for F

amily

Visi

tatio

n Du

ring

the

COVI

D-19

Cris

is •

3/20

/202

0: C

OVI

D-19

Res

ourc

es R

elat

ed to

CPS

Cas

es

• 3/

19/2

020:

Sup

rem

e Co

urt E

mer

genc

y O

rder

s Sus

pend

ing

Dead

lines

and

Pro

cedu

res

• 3/

2/20

20: D

FPS

New

s Rel

ease

on

Com

mun

ity-B

ased

Car

e •

2/19

/202

0: H

ands

-on

Tria

l Ski

lls T

rain

ing

Appl

icat

ions

Ext

ende

d to

Frid

ay, F

ebru

ary

21st

• 2/

13/2

020:

MCL

E on

Ess

entia

ls of

Fam

ily R

epre

sent

atio

n in

CPS

Cas

es N

ow A

vaila

ble

in th

e Te

xasB

arCL

E O

nlin

e Cl

assr

oom

II.B.

2. S

trat

egy:

Mai

ntai

n, u

pdat

e, a

nd su

ppor

t a h

igh-

qual

ity C

hild

Pro

tect

ion

Law

Ben

ch B

ook

for C

PS Ju

dges

(Ben

ch B

ook)

.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

mai

ntai

ns a

Ben

ch B

ook

that

out

lines

the

stat

e an

d fe

dera

l sta

tuto

ry re

quire

men

ts fo

r jud

ges h

andl

ing

child

pro

tect

ion

case

s,

incl

udin

g to

pica

l sec

tions

and

che

cklis

ts. T

he B

ench

Boo

k al

so in

clud

es ti

ps a

nd b

est a

nd p

rom

ising

pra

ctic

es. I

t is u

pdat

ed a

nnua

lly w

ith n

ew in

form

atio

n, a

s nee

ded,

and

is

diss

emin

ated

to ju

dges

at t

rain

ing

even

ts a

nd u

pon

requ

est.

The

Benc

h Bo

ok is

also

hos

ted

on th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n w

ebsit

e an

d th

roug

h La

wBo

x, w

hich

can

bot

h be

ac

cess

ed th

roug

h th

e Co

mm

issio

n w

ebsit

e.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Tex

as C

hild

Pro

tect

ion

Law

Ben

ch B

ook

was

last

upd

ated

in O

ctob

er 2

019

to in

corp

orat

e st

atut

ory

chan

ges r

esul

ting

from

the

86th

Tex

as L

egisl

ativ

e Se

ssio

n an

d to

incl

ude

upda

tes t

o al

l top

ical

cha

pter

s. N

ew se

ctio

ns o

n de

nov

o he

arin

gs a

nd jo

int m

anag

ing

cons

erva

tors

hip,

as w

ell a

s new

topi

cal c

hapt

ers o

n ch

ildre

n w

ith

disa

bilit

ies,

Mex

ican

Con

sula

r rel

atio

ns, a

nd su

bsta

nce

use

diso

rder

s wer

e ad

ded.

The

Ben

ch B

ook

is cu

rren

tly u

nder

goin

g up

date

s for

dist

ribut

ion

in O

ctob

er 2

020.

The

cu

rren

t ver

sion

of th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n’s B

ench

Boo

k is

mai

ntai

ned

onlin

e he

re: h

ttp:

//be

nchb

ook.

texa

schi

ldre

nsco

mm

issio

n.go

v/. T

he B

ench

Boo

k is

also

hos

ted

by

Law

Box

onlin

e se

rvic

es fo

r FY2

020.

II.C.

Obj

ectiv

e: E

nsur

e av

aila

bilit

y of

hig

h-qu

ality

att

orne

y re

sour

ces s

uch

as A

ttor

ney

Reso

urce

Let

ters

, an

atto

rney

web

page

on

the

Child

ren’

s Com

mis

sion

web

site

, and

ot

her r

elev

ant e

vent

s to

impr

ove

cour

t-re

late

d ou

tcom

es fo

r chi

ldre

n an

d pa

rent

s thr

ough

lega

l rep

rese

ntat

ion

that

is tr

aine

d an

d in

form

ed.

II.C.

1. S

trat

egy:

Dev

elop

and

dist

ribut

e in

form

atio

n to

att

orne

ys th

at c

omm

unic

ate

or a

nnou

nce

chan

ges i

n la

w, p

olic

y, o

r pra

ctic

e an

d in

form

att

orne

ys o

f tra

inin

g an

d ot

her

even

ts.

Back

grou

nd: S

ince

May

201

6, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ha

s mai

ntai

ned

a di

strib

utio

n lis

t to

help

info

rm le

gal p

ract

ition

ers o

f tra

inin

g an

d sc

hola

rshi

p op

port

uniti

es a

nd to

re

lay

pert

inen

t chi

ld w

elfa

re-r

elat

ed in

form

atio

n. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

publ

ishes

att

orne

y re

sour

ce le

tter

s abo

ut e

mer

ging

, rel

evan

t, an

d ch

angi

ng p

olic

y, la

ws,

pr

actic

e, a

nd tr

aini

ng o

ppor

tuni

ties t

hat a

re o

f int

eres

t to

atto

rney

s han

dlin

g Ch

ild P

rote

ctiv

e Se

rvic

es (C

PS) c

ases

. All

lett

ers a

re p

oste

d on

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion’

s w

ebsit

e.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=0hJvsbeZJFg

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=XuzANSWP_co

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=fPmwjeqTp8E

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=6w2UC1wXX4E

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=MhpDrEuodj8

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=OzFXoS20Dqg

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=PeZdbdH_cJg

https://conta.cc/32Hnobq

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Important-Information-for-Judges-and-Attorneys-Handling-CPS-Cases.html?soid=1129497844492&aid=ZBGPeRc-uWg

https://conta.cc/2vvuQKi

http://benchbook.texaschildrenscommission.gov/

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n’s d

istrib

utio

n lis

t has

gro

wn

to m

ore

than

4,1

00 T

exas

att

orne

ys, j

udge

s, c

ourt

staf

f, an

d st

akeh

olde

rs. S

ee S

trat

egy

II.B.

1 fo

r a

listin

g of

Judi

cial

/ At

torn

ey R

esou

rce

Lett

ers (

JARL

s) d

istrib

uted

bet

wee

n Fe

brua

ry a

nd M

ay 2

020.

II.D.

Obj

ectiv

e: M

aint

ain

and

enha

nce

the

Child

ren’

s Com

mis

sion

web

site

to p

rovi

de a

n ea

sily

acc

essi

ble,

use

r-fr

iend

ly re

sour

ces f

or th

e ju

dici

ary,

att

orne

ys, a

nd th

e ch

ild

wel

fare

com

mun

ity to

obt

ain

info

rmat

ion

and

best

pra

ctic

es in

thei

r int

erac

tions

with

chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es.

II.D.

1. S

trat

egy:

Mai

ntai

n an

d en

hanc

e us

abili

ty a

nd fu

nctio

n of

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

web

site.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

mai

ntai

ns a

web

site

that

feat

ures

pub

lishe

d re

port

s, g

uide

s, a

nnou

ncem

ents

, and

trai

ning

opp

ortu

nitie

s. C

IP g

rant

app

licat

ions

and

gr

ant r

ecip

ient

info

rmat

ion

are

also

incl

uded

on

the

web

site.

The

web

site

links

to a

Tw

itter

acc

ount

, @TX

Child

rens

Com

m th

roug

h w

hich

JIR

and

JARL

com

mun

ique

s are

an

noun

ced

once

they

are

pub

lishe

d.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Com

miss

ion

web

site

was

upd

ated

in F

ebru

ary

2020

to re

flect

rece

nt C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

Com

mitt

ee st

ruct

ure

chan

ges a

nd is

rout

inel

y up

date

d fo

r co

nten

t and

new

ly re

leas

ed re

port

s and

reso

urce

s. A

web

page

ded

icat

ed to

CO

VID-

19 re

sour

ces a

nd a

nnou

ncem

ents

incl

udin

g em

erge

ncy

cour

t ord

ers r

elat

ed to

chi

ld

prot

ectio

n ca

ses w

as c

reat

ed in

Mar

ch 2

020.

Whi

le th

e w

ebsit

e is

spec

ific

to ju

dges

and

att

orne

ys, w

ebsit

e vi

sitor

s hav

e fu

ll ac

cess

to th

ese

onlin

e to

ols a

nd c

an su

bscr

ibe

to

join

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n el

ectr

onic

mai

ling

lists

to re

ceiv

e an

noun

cem

ents

.

II.E.

Obj

ectiv

e: S

uppo

rt c

ount

y, st

ate,

and

nat

iona

l chi

ld w

elfa

re le

ader

s and

org

aniz

atio

ns to

enh

ance

kno

wle

dge

and

com

pete

ncy

and

shar

e ex

perie

nce

and

expe

rtis

e w

ith a

nd th

roug

hout

Tex

as.

II.E.

1. S

trat

egy:

Pro

vide

ass

istan

ce to

and

col

labo

rate

with

loca

l jur

isdic

tions

, DFP

S, a

nd st

ate

and

natio

nal p

artn

ers a

nd o

rgan

izatio

ns.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

prov

ides

var

ious

type

s of s

uppo

rt fo

r chi

ld w

elfa

re p

artn

ers a

nd st

akeh

olde

rs in

clud

ing

mee

ting

faci

litat

ion

and

supp

ort,

trav

el

reim

burs

emen

t for

mee

ting

and

trai

ning

eve

nt a

tten

dees

, pre

sent

atio

ns b

y Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n st

aff a

s req

uest

ed, a

nd a

ssist

ance

secu

ring

spea

kers

for l

ocal

, reg

iona

l, or

na

tiona

l eve

nts,

as a

ppro

pria

te.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

In M

arch

202

0, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n of

fere

d a

scho

lars

hip

for o

ne a

ttor

ney

who

staf

fs th

e Tr

avis

Coun

ty D

rug

Cour

t (Pa

rent

ing

in R

ecov

ery)

to a

tten

d th

e an

nual

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of D

rug

Cour

t Pro

fess

iona

ls (N

ADCP

) con

fere

nce

on M

ay 2

7-30

, 202

0 in

Ana

heim

, CA.

The

NAD

CP B

oard

of D

irect

ors h

as d

eter

min

ed th

at

RISE

20 c

an n

o lo

nger

be

held

in p

erso

n. T

he c

onfe

renc

e w

ill n

ow b

e he

ld v

irtua

lly o

n M

ay 2

6-29

, 202

0. T

opic

s at t

he c

onfe

renc

e in

clud

e dr

ug te

stin

g, su

bsta

nce

abus

e,

pare

ntal

eng

agem

ent,

trea

tmen

t pla

nnin

g, in

cent

ives

, san

ctio

ns, a

nd b

est p

ract

ices

gle

aned

thro

ugh

rese

arch

on

drug

cou

rt p

rogr

ams.

II.F.

Obj

ectiv

e: S

uppo

rt th

e us

e of

bes

t pra

ctic

es in

cou

rt c

ase

man

agem

ent.

II.F.

1. S

trat

egy:

Par

tner

with

Offi

ce o

f Cou

rt A

dmin

istra

tion

(OCA

) to

supp

ort t

he m

aint

enan

ce, e

nhan

cem

ents

, im

pact

, and

usa

bilit

y of

the

Child

Pro

tect

ion

Case

Man

agem

ent

Syst

em (C

PCM

S), a

s wel

l as e

ffort

s to

enha

nce

child

and

fam

ily e

ngag

emen

t in

cour

t pro

ceed

ings

.

o

f 24

S

YSTE

MS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DA

TA |

DU

AL S

TATU

S

Back

grou

nd: C

PCM

S is

a ca

se m

anag

emen

t sys

tem

that

is u

niqu

e to

Chi

ld P

rote

ctio

n Co

urts

(CPC

s) th

at h

as b

een

in u

se si

nce

2009

. CPC

MS

is cu

rren

tly in

mai

nten

ance

mod

e.

OCA

staf

fs a

CPC

MS

Advi

sory

Cou

ncil

of C

PC ju

dges

, OCA

staf

f, an

d Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n st

aff t

o id

entif

y an

d di

scus

s var

ious

enh

ance

men

ts a

nd is

sues

. Use

r-ge

nera

ted

prob

lem

s and

enh

ance

men

ts a

re ro

uted

thro

ugh

the

Advi

sory

Cou

ncil,

whi

ch a

lso a

dvic

es o

n da

ta c

olle

ctio

n an

d re

port

ing

feat

ures

of C

PCM

S. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

regu

larly

col

labo

rate

s with

OCA

on

the

stat

ue o

f CPC

MS’

func

tioni

ng, p

robl

ems,

and

enh

ance

men

ts.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

CPC

Adv

isory

Cou

ncil

met

on

Mar

ch 6

, 202

0, to

disc

uss p

lann

ed u

pdat

es fo

r CPC

MS.

The

Adv

isory

Cou

ncil

revi

ewed

the

new

Dua

l Sta

tus f

lag

indi

catin

g Ju

veni

le C

ourt

invo

lvem

ent a

nd w

elco

med

mem

bers

of t

he C

omm

issio

n’s D

ual S

tatu

s Tas

k Fo

rce

to p

artic

ipat

e in

the

Advi

sory

Cou

ncil.

The

cou

ncil

disc

usse

d pr

ogre

ss o

n th

e cu

stom

izabl

e “D

ata

Dash

boar

d” a

nd re

ques

ts fo

r enh

ance

men

ts a

nd fi

xes.

Sin

ce th

e Ad

viso

ry C

ounc

il m

eetin

g an

d th

e ou

tbre

ak o

f the

CO

VID-

19 c

risis,

the

Advi

sory

Cou

ncil

has t

aken

step

s to

insu

re C

PCM

S ad

apts

to th

e cr

isis a

nd th

e tr

ansit

ion

to v

irtua

l cou

rt ro

oms,

incl

udin

g sw

itchi

ng to

a si

x m

onth

’s fo

rwar

d vi

ew o

f cou

rt d

ocke

ts a

nd a

ddin

g a

CPC

dire

ctor

y of

You

Tube

cha

nnel

s to

the

CPCM

S po

stin

g do

cket

web

page

. The

targ

et d

ate

for t

he n

ext C

PCM

S up

date

will

be

Augu

st 2

020

and

will

incl

ude

the

Judi

cial

Da

shbo

ard

feat

ure

afte

r fee

dbac

k th

e ju

dici

al fo

cus g

roup

hel

ped

narr

ow th

e pa

ram

eter

s. T

he n

ext m

eetin

g of

the

CPCM

S Ad

viso

ry C

omm

ittee

is sc

hedu

led

for e

arly

June

20

20.

II.F.

2. S

trat

egy:

Col

labo

rate

with

and

pro

vide

supp

ort f

or sp

ecia

lty c

ourt

s, d

ocke

ts, o

r pro

gram

s.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

part

ners

with

or s

uppo

rts i

ndiv

idua

l cou

rt e

ffort

s see

king

to a

dopt

spec

ializ

es p

ract

ices

or p

rogr

ams.

For

exa

mpl

e, in

FY2

019,

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

prov

ided

seed

mon

ey th

roug

h O

CA to

em

ploy

an

Asso

ciat

e Ju

dge

and

Cour

t Coo

rdin

ator

to a

ssist

in h

andl

ing

child

abu

se a

nd n

egle

ct c

ases

file

d in

Da

llas C

ount

y Fa

mily

Cou

rts t

o pr

omot

e ac

hiev

ing

perm

anen

cy fo

r chi

ldre

n in

the

Perm

anen

t Man

agin

g Co

nser

vato

rshi

p of

the

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Fam

ily a

nd P

rote

ctiv

e Se

rvic

es.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

re a

re n

o ne

w sp

ecia

lty c

ourt

par

tner

ship

s or f

undi

ng re

ques

ts to

con

sider

cur

rent

ly, b

ut si

nce

Mar

ch 2

019,

the

Dalla

s Cou

nty

Child

Pro

tect

ion

&

Perm

anen

cy C

ourt

has

ass

isted

you

th in

the

long

-ter

m c

are

of C

PS. P

artic

ipat

ing

cour

ts in

clud

e th

e 25

4th,

256

th, 3

01st

, 303

rd D

istric

t Cou

rts.

Effo

rts a

re u

nder

way

for a

n ev

alua

tion

of D

alla

s Per

man

ency

Cou

rt m

odel

to e

xam

ine

the

perm

anen

cy a

nd w

ell-b

eing

out

com

es in

the

cour

t and

iden

tify

whi

ch p

ract

ices

pro

mot

e po

sitiv

e ou

tcom

es fo

r ch

ildre

n an

d yo

uth.

II.F.

3. S

trat

egy:

Con

vene

a T

ask

Forc

e to

exa

min

e th

e iss

ues r

elat

ed to

you

th in

volv

ed b

oth

in th

e ju

veni

le ju

stic

e an

d ch

ild w

elfa

re sy

stem

s.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

has w

orke

d sin

ce it

s inc

eptio

n to

stre

ngth

en c

ourt

s for

chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es in

the

Texa

s chi

ld p

rote

ctio

n sy

stem

. Fed

eral

Cou

rt

Impr

ovem

ent f

unds

requ

ire a

focu

s on

child

ren

who

are

abu

sed

and

negl

ecte

d bu

t chi

ldre

n in

volv

ed in

the

juve

nile

just

ice

syst

em p

rese

nt w

ith m

any

of th

e sa

me

chal

leng

es

and

need

s. T

he T

exas

Judi

cial

Cou

ncil

reco

mm

ende

d to

the

Supr

eme

Cour

t in

2018

that

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

shou

ld c

onve

ne a

task

forc

e to

stud

y an

d re

port

on

issue

s re

latin

g to

you

th w

ith in

volv

emen

t in

the

juve

nile

just

ice

and

child

wel

fare

syst

ems.

The

task

forc

e w

as fo

rmed

to e

stab

lish

a co

mm

on, s

tate

wid

e de

finiti

on(s

) for

the

popu

latio

n, id

entif

y re

sour

ces n

eede

d to

mee

t the

nee

ds o

f dua

l sta

tus y

outh

, and

mak

e ot

her r

ecom

men

datio

ns a

s may

be

nece

ssar

y to

impr

ove

outc

omes

for d

ual s

tatu

s yo

uth.

The

task

forc

e w

as d

irect

ed a

lso to

add

ress

trai

ning

nee

ds fo

r jud

ges a

nd o

ther

nec

essa

ry p

artie

s on

hand

ling

case

s inv

olvi

ng y

outh

invo

lved

in b

oth

syst

ems.

The

Tas

k Fo

rce

is co

-cha

ired

by Ju

dge

Gary

Col

ey o

f the

74t

h Di

stric

t Cou

rt in

Wac

o an

d Ju

dge

Lisa

Jarr

ett o

f the

436

th D

istric

t Cou

rt in

San

Ant

onio

. On

July

24,

201

9, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s

Com

miss

ion

conv

ened

the

first

Dua

l Sta

tus T

ask

Forc

e (D

STF)

mee

ting.

The

DST

F pl

ans t

o m

eet 4

-6 ti

mes

ove

r an

18-m

onth

tim

e pe

riod

to d

evel

op d

efin

ition

s of d

ual s

tatu

s yo

uth

and

reco

mm

enda

tions

for i

mpr

oved

han

dlin

g of

dua

l sta

tus c

ases

.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

DST

F cr

eate

d fiv

e w

orkg

roup

s to

stud

y an

d m

ake

reco

mm

enda

tions

on

seve

ral a

spec

ts o

f ser

ving

dua

l sta

tus y

outh

. The

Tas

k Fo

rce

appr

oved

two

defin

ition

s pre

sent

ed b

y th

e De

finiti

ons W

orkg

roup

, one

for d

ual s

tatu

s you

th w

ho a

re c

oncu

rren

tly in

volv

ed in

bot

h sy

stem

s and

ano

ther

for d

ual s

yste

m y

outh

who

hav

e a

hist

ory

of in

volv

emen

t in

eith

er o

r bot

h sy

stem

s. T

he Ju

dici

al P

ract

ices

Wor

kgro

up w

ill e

xplo

re is

sues

rang

ing

from

doc

umen

ting

wha

t wor

ks in

juris

dict

ions

that

alre

ady

have

cr

osso

ver d

ocke

ts to

exp

lorin

g th

e im

plic

atio

ns o

f SB

1887

(86t

h Te

xas L

egisl

ativ

e Se

ssio

n). T

he T

rain

ing

Wor

kgro

up w

ill id

entif

y tr

aini

ng n

eeds

for j

udge

s, la

wye

rs, a

nd

advo

cate

s as w

ell a

s oth

er in

tere

sted

stak

ehol

ders

. The

Leg

al R

epre

sent

atio

n &

Adv

ocac

y W

orkg

roup

will

focu

s on

addr

essin

g et

hica

l iss

ues i

n re

pres

entin

g du

al st

atus

you

th,

raisi

ng a

war

enes

s abo

ut th

e du

al st

atus

pop

ulat

ion

amon

g pr

osec

utor

s, a

nd d

efin

ing

the

role

of a

gua

rdia

n ad

lite

m in

a d

ual s

tatu

s cas

e. T

he T

rans

ition

Pla

nnin

g &

Loc

al

Coor

dina

tion

will

add

ress

how

to st

reng

then

supp

ort f

or d

ual s

tatu

s you

th d

urin

g tr

ansit

ions

bet

wee

n sy

stem

s (e.

g. re

-ent

ry) a

nd id

entif

ying

oth

er o

ppor

tuni

ties f

or

colla

bora

tion

at th

e lo

cal l

evel

. The

Tas

k Fo

rce

last

met

on

Mar

ch 3

, 202

0 an

d w

ill c

onve

ne a

gain

on

July

31,

202

0. A

t the

Mar

ch m

eetin

g, th

e Ta

sk F

orce

diss

olve

d th

e De

finiti

ons W

orkg

roup

and

app

rove

d th

e cr

eatio

n of

a D

ata

Wor

kgro

up to

ass

ess w

hat d

ata

curr

ently

exi

sts t

o ge

t a b

ette

r und

erst

andi

ng o

f bot

h th

e po

pula

tion

size

and

the

outc

omes

for d

ual s

yste

m a

nd d

ual s

tatu

s you

th in

Tex

as.

Goa

l III:

Fac

ilita

te a

nd in

stitu

tiona

lize

colla

bora

tion,

com

mun

icat

ion,

and

resp

ect b

etw

een

the

judi

cial

syst

em a

nd c

hild

wel

fare

par

tner

s.

III.A

. Obj

ectiv

e: P

artic

ipat

e in

and

pro

mot

e in

stitu

tiona

l col

labo

ratio

n am

ong

high

-leve

l sta

te a

nd ju

dici

al le

ader

s, a

s w

ell a

s am

ong

mul

ti-di

scip

linar

y ch

ild w

elfa

re

stak

ehol

ders

to e

nsur

e op

en a

nd c

ontin

uous

dia

logu

e be

twee

n an

d am

ong

the

vario

us c

hild

wel

fare

par

tner

s aim

ed a

t im

prov

ing

the

child

wel

fare

syst

em fu

nctio

nalit

y,

prom

otin

g eq

uita

ble

serv

ices

, and

ens

urin

g ju

stic

e fo

r all

part

ies.

III.A

.1. S

trat

egy:

Par

ticip

ate

in a

nd p

rovi

de a

foru

m a

nd o

ppor

tuni

ty fo

r chi

ld w

elfa

re st

akeh

olde

rs to

col

labo

rate

, com

mun

icat

e, a

nd sh

are

info

rmat

ion

abou

t chi

ld w

elfa

re

prac

tices

, pol

icie

s, n

eeds

, and

stre

ngth

s.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

help

s ins

titut

iona

lize

colla

bora

tion

by m

aint

aini

ng a

stat

ewid

e m

ulti-

disc

iplin

ary

judi

cial

com

miss

ion,

hol

ding

regu

lar m

eetin

gs th

at

incl

ude

child

wel

fare

stak

ehol

ders

, par

tner

ing

with

the

stat

e ch

ild w

elfa

re a

genc

y, a

nd p

artn

erin

g w

ith o

ther

stat

e an

d na

tiona

l lev

el e

xecu

tives

, par

tner

s, a

nd o

rgan

izatio

ns.

The

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

crea

tes a

n en

viro

nmen

t and

the

spac

e fo

r sta

keho

lder

s to

colla

bora

te, c

omm

unic

ate,

and

shar

e in

form

atio

n on

an

ongo

ing

basis

.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n he

ld it

s firs

t mee

ting

of F

Y202

0 on

Sep

tem

ber 2

7, 2

019

and

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

appr

oved

seve

ral f

undi

ng a

nd p

roje

ct

stra

tegi

es. T

he se

cond

mee

ting

of th

e fis

cal y

ear w

as h

eld

on F

ebru

ary

21, 2

020,

whe

re th

e Co

mm

issio

n w

elco

med

Dr.

Jerr

y M

ilner

, Ass

ocia

te C

omm

issio

ner o

f the

Chi

ldre

n’s

Bure

au a

nd h

is Sp

ecia

l Ass

istan

t Dav

id K

elly

, to

disc

uss f

eder

al p

ersp

ectiv

es o

n im

prov

ing

the

child

wel

fare

syst

em. C

olla

bora

tive

Coun

cil M

embe

r Fel

ix H

erre

ra m

ade

a sp

ecia

l pre

sent

atio

n ab

out t

he se

rvic

es a

vaila

ble

thro

ugh

the

Offi

ce o

f the

Con

sula

te G

ener

al o

f Mex

ico.

Ms.

Kar

la B

aker

and

her

att

orne

y, M

s. D

anna

May

hall

also

pre

sent

ed

on th

e im

port

ance

of p

aren

t eng

agem

ent a

nd h

igh-

qual

ity le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

orga

nize

d a

team

of s

take

hold

ers,

incl

udin

g CP

S, P

EI, a

nd th

e Te

xas A

llian

ce o

f Chi

ld a

nd F

amily

Ser

vice

s to

atte

nd th

e St

ate

Team

Pla

nnin

g m

eetin

g in

Was

hing

ton,

DC

from

Mar

ch 1

1-13

.

Sinc

e th

e be

ginn

ing

of M

arch

, the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ha

s can

cele

d or

pos

tpon

ed m

ost,

if no

t all

even

ts, d

ue to

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

post

pone

d th

e Ro

und

Tabl

e on

Sha

cklin

g in

Juve

nile

Cou

rt th

at h

ad b

een

sche

dule

d fo

r Frid

ay, A

pril

13, 2

020.

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ha

s con

tinue

d its

par

tner

ship

s with

its m

any

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

colla

bora

tors

, with

mos

t eve

nts t

akin

g pl

ace

onlin

e vi

a Zo

om o

r con

fere

nce

calls

. All

part

ners

hips

and

stak

ehol

der r

elat

ions

hips

are

inta

ct in

clud

ing,

but

not

lim

ited

to, t

he

Offi

ce o

f the

Gov

erno

r, O

ffice

of t

he A

ttor

ney

Gene

ral,

the

Judi

cial

Com

miss

ion

on M

enta

l Hea

lth, T

exas

Juve

nile

Just

ice

Depa

rtm

ent,

the

Texa

s Alli

ance

of C

hild

and

Fam

ily

Serv

ices

, The

Uni

vers

ity o

f Tex

as S

choo

l of S

ocia

l Wor

k, M

eado

ws M

enta

l Hea

lth P

olic

y In

stitu

te, a

nd th

e Ch

ild P

rote

ctio

n Re

form

Rou

nd T

able

. Also

, DFP

S le

ader

ship

has

a

stan

ding

pos

ition

on

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

and

at le

ast o

ne st

ate-

leve

l DFP

S st

aff m

embe

r is o

n ev

ery

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

com

mitt

ee. D

FPS

part

icip

ates

in a

bi-w

eekl

y co

llabo

rativ

e co

nfer

ence

cal

l with

chi

ld w

elfa

re st

akeh

olde

rs, w

hich

occ

urre

d w

eekl

y un

til M

ay 1

3, 2

020,

and

incl

ude

the

exec

utiv

e st

aff o

f DFP

S, O

CA, C

ASA,

the

Child

ren’

s Co

mm

issio

n’s C

olla

bora

tive

Coun

cil,

and

othe

r chi

ld w

elfa

re st

akeh

olde

rs.

III.B

. Obj

ectiv

e: C

onfe

r reg

ular

ly w

ith th

e De

part

men

t of F

amily

and

Pro

tect

ive

Serv

ices

on

the

Child

and

Fam

ily S

ervi

ce R

evie

ws,

Pro

gram

Impr

ovem

ent P

lans

, Chi

ld a

nd

Fam

ily S

tate

Pla

ns, a

nd th

e Co

urt I

mpr

ovem

ent P

rogr

am S

trat

egic

Pla

ns.

III.B

.1. S

trat

egy:

Con

fer w

ith D

FPS

on fe

dera

l pla

ns, a

udits

, and

requ

irem

ents

as m

anda

ted

by fe

dera

l pro

gram

inst

ruct

ions

.

Back

grou

nd: F

eder

al L

aw m

anda

tes t

hat s

tate

s rec

eivi

ng T

itle

IV-E

fund

s mus

t col

labo

rate

with

the

stat

e’s C

ourt

Impr

ovem

ent P

rogr

am (C

IP).

The

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

adm

inist

ers t

he C

IP fo

r Tex

as. A

s suc

h, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n is

requ

ired

to c

olla

bora

te a

nd p

artn

er c

lose

ly w

ith th

e De

part

men

t of F

amily

and

Pro

tect

ive

Serv

ices

. Sp

ecifi

cally

, the

ent

ities

are

requ

ired

to c

olla

bora

te o

n th

e St

ate’

s fiv

e-ye

ar C

hild

and

Fam

ily S

tate

Pla

n (C

FSP)

, per

iodi

c Ch

ild a

nd F

amily

Ser

vice

Rev

iew

s and

ens

uing

Pro

gram

Im

prov

emen

t Pla

ns (P

IP),

and

the

annu

al C

ourt

Impr

ovem

ent P

rogr

am S

trat

egic

Pla

n an

d Se

lf-As

sess

men

t. Th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ED

and

Sta

ff se

rve

on a

nd a

dvise

the

Stat

e PI

P Te

am.

The

Exec

utiv

e an

d As

sista

nt D

irect

ors o

f the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n re

gula

rly c

onfe

r with

DFP

S to

disc

uss c

erta

in e

lem

ents

of t

he C

FSP

and

PIP.

Spe

cific

are

as o

f col

labo

ratio

n,

som

e of

whi

ch a

re in

clud

ed in

the

appr

oved

PIP

incl

ude:

• Pa

rtic

ipat

ion

in th

e Co

mm

issio

n’s a

nnua

l chi

ld w

elfa

re ju

dges

con

fere

nce

by jo

inin

g re

gion

al d

irect

ors a

nd ju

dges

to d

iscus

s dat

a, g

aps,

and

pro

cess

es. T

his P

IP e

lem

ent

was

com

plet

ed in

Oct

ober

201

9. (5

.1; 5

.5).

• Co

llabo

ratio

n on

impr

ovin

g no

tice

and

enga

gem

ent o

f par

ties b

eyon

d th

e CP

C Co

urts

and

the

CPCM

S sy

stem

. •

Colla

bora

tion

on R

ound

tabl

e di

scus

sions

abo

ut sy

stem

ic a

nd sp

ecia

lized

topi

cs.

• Co

nsid

erat

ion

of le

gal a

nd ju

dici

al in

put r

egar

ding

: o

W

orki

ng w

ith c

ourt

stak

ehol

ders

to e

nsur

e ef

fect

ive

and

appr

opria

te u

se o

f cou

rt in

volv

emen

t in

case

s with

cou

rt-o

rder

ed se

rvic

es (3

.6.6

);

o

Dete

rmin

ing

barr

iers

and

pos

sible

stra

tegi

es to

stre

ngth

en D

PFS

polic

y an

d pr

actic

e re

late

d to

inca

rcer

ated

par

ents

(4.1

.5; 4

.1.6

);

o

Shar

ing

prac

tice

guid

ance

rega

rdin

g ho

w to

bes

t eng

age

and

supp

ort p

aren

t vic

tims o

f fam

ily v

iole

nce

(4.5

); o

Co

ntin

uing

to ra

ise a

war

enes

s and

impr

ove

prac

tices

rega

rdin

g th

e im

port

ance

of f

amily

eng

agem

ent w

ith st

aff a

nd c

hild

and

par

ent r

epre

sent

ativ

es w

ho h

ave

dire

ct c

onta

ct w

ith p

aren

ts a

nd c

hild

ren

serv

ed b

y DF

PS (4

.6);

o

Co

nsul

ting

with

att

orne

ys w

ho re

pres

ent p

aren

ts to

det

erm

ine

barr

iers

and

stra

tegi

es to

stre

ngth

en D

FPS

polic

y an

d pr

actic

e re

late

d to

Fam

ily G

roup

Dec

ision

-M

akin

g 5.

4.3;

5.4

.4);

o

Po

lling

judg

es (t

hrou

gh C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

proc

ess)

abo

ut th

e ch

alle

nges

and

sugg

estio

ns fo

r im

prov

emen

ts to

enh

ance

and

spee

d pe

rman

ency

in c

ases

in

volv

ing

the

Inte

rsta

te C

ompa

ct o

n th

e Pl

acem

ent o

f Chi

ldre

n (t

he IC

PC) (

5.9.

4);

o

Shar

ing

info

rmat

ion

abou

t Col

labo

rativ

e Fa

mily

Eng

agem

ent (

CFE)

and

any

eva

luat

ions

and

nex

t ste

ps re

late

d to

exp

andi

ng C

FE (5

.10.

4).

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

o

Util

izing

the

Child

ren’

s Com

mis

sion

Lega

l Rep

rese

ntat

ion

Com

mitt

ee to

obt

ain

lega

l and

cou

rt st

akeh

olde

r fee

dbac

k (4

.6.1

1)

o

DFPS

will

par

tner

with

lega

l and

chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

stak

ehol

ders

, inc

ludi

ng re

pres

enta

tives

of t

he c

ourt

syst

em o

n Tr

aum

a In

form

ed C

are

prac

tices

and

refo

rm

(6.4

.4)

In a

dditi

on to

the

item

s in

the

PIP,

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion,

at t

he su

gges

tion

of A

CF a

nd re

ques

t of D

FPS,

form

ed a

n At

torn

ey A

dviso

ry G

roup

(AAG

) com

prise

d of

se

ason

ed, e

xper

ienc

ed c

hild

wel

fare

att

orne

ys fr

om a

cros

s the

stat

e w

ho h

ave

agre

ed to

offe

r inp

ut a

nd p

ersp

ectiv

e on

an

ad h

oc b

asis

via

emai

l or c

onfe

renc

e ca

ll on

m

atte

rs o

f DFP

S po

licy

chan

ges w

hen

requ

este

d by

DFP

S, g

augi

ng th

e im

pact

of a

legi

slativ

e pr

opos

al, o

r pro

vidi

ng fe

edba

ck o

n tr

ends

or p

ract

ice

issue

s and

con

cern

s.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

In Ja

nuar

y 20

20, C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

staf

f att

ende

d an

Ado

ptio

n Su

mm

it sp

onso

red

by th

e fe

dera

l Chi

ldre

n’s B

urea

u to

con

tinue

mom

entu

m fr

om th

e fir

st A

dopt

ion

Call

to A

ctio

n su

mm

it he

ld in

Aug

ust 2

019

and

focu

sed

on a

chie

ving

per

man

ency

for c

hild

ren

in c

are

with

out a

per

man

ent f

amily

. The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n,

in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith D

FPS,

also

par

ticip

ated

in a

n Ad

optio

n / P

erm

anen

cy W

orks

hop

spon

sore

d by

the

Capa

city

Bui

ldin

g Ce

nter

for C

ourt

s in

Febr

uary

focu

sing

on th

e pe

rman

ency

goa

ls an

d ac

hiev

emen

ts o

f the

Dal

las P

MC

Cour

t whi

ch w

as la

unch

ed in

Dec

embe

r 201

8. T

he C

BCC

wor

ksho

p el

emen

ts in

clud

e: u

nder

stan

ding

the

proj

ect a

nd

sett

ing

inte

ntio

ns/g

oals

for t

he n

ext 1

2 m

onth

s; e

xplo

ring

data

and

how

to u

se it

effe

ctiv

ely;

con

duct

ing

a ro

ot c

ause

ana

lysis

and

dev

elop

ing

a th

eory

of c

hang

e;

impl

emen

tatio

n su

cces

ses;

iden

tifyi

ng a

ppro

pria

te p

rogr

am/p

ract

ice

chan

ge a

nd im

plem

enta

tion

plan

s; fi

delit

y an

d ou

tcom

e as

sess

men

ts; a

nd p

roje

ct e

valu

atio

n. T

he

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

subm

itted

info

rmat

ion

to D

FPS

rela

ted

to th

e co

mpl

etio

n of

seve

ral P

IP it

ems o

n 4/

2/20

and

4/2

3/20

and

pro

vide

d an

upd

ate

to th

e DF

PS S

tate

Pla

n on

4/2

9/20

. The

AAG

pro

vide

d fe

edba

ck o

n th

e De

part

men

t’s P

erm

anen

cy P

lann

ing

Reso

urce

Gui

de in

Apr

il 20

20.

Goa

l IV:

Pro

mot

e hi

gh q

ualit

y co

urt p

roce

edin

gs th

at sa

fegu

ard

due

proc

ess,

ens

ure

child

and

fam

ily in

volv

emen

t, an

d su

ppor

t effe

ctiv

e le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n of

par

ties.

IV.A

. Obj

ectiv

e: Im

prov

e le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n so

that

par

ents

, chi

ldre

n, a

nd th

e St

ate

of T

exas

exp

erie

nce

high

-qua

lity

cour

t hea

rings

.

IV.A

.1 S

trat

egy:

Con

vene

and

mai

ntai

n a

Lega

l Rep

rese

ntat

ion

Com

mitt

ee to

supp

ort e

ffort

s to

ensu

re h

igh

qual

ity le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n fo

r par

ties.

Back

grou

nd: W

hen

a fa

mily

is in

volv

ed in

a c

hild

pro

tect

ion

proc

eedi

ng, q

ualit

y le

gal c

ouns

el is

ess

entia

l for

all

part

ies t

o en

sure

that

the

cour

t str

ikes

the

appr

opria

te b

alan

ce

betw

een

the

right

s and

dut

ies o

f all

part

ies i

nvol

ved.

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ha

s mai

ntai

ned

a Le

gal R

epre

sent

atio

n Co

mm

ittee

(LRC

) sin

ce it

s inc

eptio

n. T

he C

omm

ittee

ex

ists t

o id

entif

y tr

aini

ng n

eeds

, adv

ise c

hild

wel

fare

syst

em st

akeh

olde

rs o

n be

st le

gal a

nd ju

dici

al sy

stem

pra

ctic

es, e

valu

ate

prop

osed

stat

utor

y am

endm

ents

, ass

ess t

he

qual

ity o

f leg

al re

pres

enta

tion

thro

ugho

ut th

e st

ate,

and

hel

p en

sure

that

cou

rt p

roce

edin

gs sa

fegu

ard

due

proc

ess,

pro

mot

e ch

ild a

nd fa

mily

eng

agem

ent,

and

prod

uce

qual

ity le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n ou

tcom

es fo

r the

chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es in

volv

ed.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

pro

ject

s disc

usse

d at

the

Janu

ary

30, 2

020

LRC

mee

ting

cont

inue

d to

adv

ance

des

pite

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is. C

omm

issio

n st

aff c

ontin

ued

to re

fine

the

Tool

Kit

for R

epre

sent

ing

Pare

nts a

nd C

hild

ren

in C

PS C

ases

in re

spon

se to

the

feed

back

from

the

LRC

Com

mitt

ee a

nd th

e To

ol K

it W

orkg

roup

. How

ever

, the

cris

is an

d th

e ca

ncel

atio

n of

the

Stat

e Ba

r of T

exas

Chi

ld P

rote

ctio

n La

w S

ectio

n Ad

vanc

ed C

LE o

n M

arch

26,

202

0 fo

rced

an

adju

stm

ent t

o th

e tim

elin

e fo

r pub

lishi

ng th

e To

ol K

it. T

he

Com

miss

ion

hope

s to

have

an

onlin

e ve

rsio

n of

the

Tool

Kit

avai

labl

e in

June

and

har

d co

pies

ava

ilabl

e in

Aug

ust f

or th

e Ad

vanc

ed F

amily

Law

Chi

ld A

buse

wor

ksho

p. T

he

wor

k of

the

Task

For

ce o

n Co

urt-

Appo

inte

d Le

gal R

epre

sent

atio

n co

ntin

ued

with

eac

h of

subc

omm

ittee

hol

ding

virt

ual m

eetin

gs to

disc

uss w

hat a

djus

tmen

ts n

eede

d to

be

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

mad

e du

e to

the

crisi

s. T

he T

ask

Forc

e ag

reed

to d

ivid

e th

e Ap

ril 2

4, in

-per

son

mee

ting,

into

thre

e vi

rtua

l mee

tings

from

Apr

il 24

-May

1. T

he m

eetin

gs fe

atur

ed a

que

stio

n an

d an

swer

sess

ion

with

gue

st re

pres

enta

tives

from

diff

eren

t mod

els o

f rep

rese

ntat

ion

from

Cal

iforn

ia, N

ew Y

ork,

Pen

nsyl

vani

a, N

orth

Dak

ota,

Mas

sach

uset

ts, a

nd

Was

hing

ton.

The

Tas

k Fo

rce

will

hol

d its

nex

t mee

ting

in e

arly

June

202

0 an

d th

e ne

xt m

eetin

g of

the

Lega

l Rep

rese

ntat

ion

Com

mitt

ee w

ill b

e on

Aug

ust 2

8, 2

020.

IV.B

. Obj

ectiv

e: D

evel

op, a

dopt

and

pro

mot

e st

anda

rds o

f pra

ctic

e fo

r att

orne

ys re

pres

entin

g pa

rtie

s in

child

pro

tect

ion

case

s so

that

att

orne

ys a

re e

ncou

rage

d to

gai

n a

high

er le

vel o

f exp

ertis

e an

d pr

ovid

e hi

gh-q

ualit

y le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n.

IV.B

.1. S

trat

egy:

Sup

port

dev

elop

men

t and

ado

ptio

n of

Sta

ndar

ds o

f Rep

rese

ntat

ion

for a

ttor

neys

repr

esen

ting

child

ren

and

pare

nts i

n ch

ild p

rote

ctio

n ca

ses.

Back

grou

nd: T

houg

h at

torn

eys f

or p

aren

ts a

nd c

hild

ren

are

requ

ired

by th

e Fa

mily

Cod

e to

bec

ome

fam

iliar

with

the

ABA

stan

dard

s of p

ract

ice

for a

ttor

neys

who

repr

esen

t pa

rent

s and

chi

ldre

n in

abu

se a

nd n

egle

ct c

ases

, Tex

as d

oes n

ot re

quire

com

plia

nce

with

the

ABA

stan

dard

s as a

con

ditio

n of

app

oint

men

t, no

r has

Tex

as a

dopt

ed it

s ow

n st

anda

rds o

f pra

ctic

e fo

r cou

rt-a

ppoi

nted

att

orne

ys. T

he 2

018

Lega

l Rep

rese

ntat

ion

Stud

y su

rvey

ed st

akeh

olde

rs re

gard

ing

the

effe

ct th

at th

e la

ck o

f enf

orce

able

stan

dard

s of

pra

ctic

e ha

s on

the

lega

l rep

rese

ntat

ion

of p

aren

ts a

nd c

hild

ren.

Acr

oss s

take

hold

er g

roup

s, p

artic

ipan

ts d

emon

stra

ted

a hi

gh le

vel o

f con

fiden

ce th

at th

e cr

eatio

n an

d en

forc

emen

t of s

tand

ards

wou

ld im

prov

e th

e qu

ality

of r

epre

sent

atio

n, in

clud

ing

70%

of r

espo

ndin

g co

urt-

appo

inte

d at

torn

eys i

ndic

atin

g th

at st

anda

rds w

ould

hav

e a

posit

ive

effe

ct.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Tas

k Fo

rce

on C

ourt

-App

oint

ed L

egal

Rep

rese

ntat

ion’

s sub

com

mitt

ee o

n qu

ality

, sta

ndar

ds, a

nd a

ccou

ntab

ility

for a

ttor

neys

met

on

April

3 to

disc

uss

wha

t rol

e st

anda

rds o

f rep

rese

ntat

ion

will

pla

y in

the

Task

For

ce’s

Rep

ort t

o th

e Te

xas L

egisl

atur

e in

Nov

embe

r 202

0. T

he su

bcom

mitt

ee is

wor

king

to id

entif

y Te

xas-

spec

ific

requ

irem

ents

that

any

stan

dard

s mus

t inc

lude

to e

nsur

e qu

ality

lega

l rep

rese

ntat

ion.

IV.C

. Obj

ectiv

e: E

ncou

rage

att

orne

ys w

ho w

ish

to a

chie

ve a

hig

her l

evel

of u

nder

stan

ding

and

exp

ertis

e to

pur

sue

child

wel

fare

spec

ializ

atio

n th

roug

h th

e Te

xas B

oard

of

Lega

l Spe

cial

izat

ion

to p

rovi

de a

hig

her c

alib

er o

f leg

al re

pres

enta

tion.

IV.C

.1. S

trat

egy:

Sup

port

the

Texa

s Boa

rd o

f Leg

al S

peci

aliza

tion

Advi

sory

and

Exa

m C

omm

ittee

s and

the

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of C

ouns

el fo

r Chi

ldre

n in

effo

rts t

o ce

rtify

Tex

as

atto

rney

s as s

peci

alist

s in

Texa

s and

nat

iona

l chi

ld w

elfa

re la

w.

Back

grou

nd: O

n Fe

brua

ry 1

4, 2

017,

the

Texa

s Sup

rem

e Co

urt o

ffici

ally

reco

gnize

d Ch

ild W

elfa

re L

aw a

s the

20t

h ar

ea o

f cer

tifie

d le

gal s

peci

aliza

tion.

Judg

e De

an R

ucke

r se

rves

as t

he c

hair

of th

e Ad

viso

ry C

omm

issio

n w

hich

con

sider

s app

licat

ions

to b

ecom

e bo

ard

cert

ified

in c

hild

wel

fare

law

and

has

the

auth

ority

to re

view

and

sugg

est

chan

ges i

n st

anda

rds.

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n st

aff s

erve

as t

he c

hair

of E

xam

Com

miss

ion,

whi

ch is

resp

onsib

le fo

r dra

ftin

g an

d gr

adin

g th

e ce

rtifi

catio

n ex

am. A

lso, f

or

seve

ral y

ears

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

has o

ffere

d re

imbu

rsem

ent o

f eith

er th

e Ap

plic

atio

n Fe

e or

the

Cert

ifica

tion

Exam

Fee

for T

exas

att

orne

ys a

nd ju

dges

who

su

cces

sful

ly q

ualif

y fo

r and

pas

s the

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of C

ouns

el fo

r Chi

ldre

n’s C

hild

Wel

fare

Law

Spe

cial

ist E

xam

. The

scho

lars

hip

incl

udes

the

NAC

C Re

d Bo

ok T

rain

ing

to

help

app

lican

ts p

repa

re fo

r the

exa

m a

nd a

cop

y of

the

Red

Book

. Add

ition

ally

, ass

istan

ce is

ava

ilabl

e to

Tex

as a

ttor

neys

and

judg

es w

ho a

re se

ekin

g re

-cer

tific

atio

n of

thei

r CW

LS e

very

five

yea

rs. A

s of J

une

2017

, the

pro

gram

is o

pen

in 4

3 st

ates

and

ther

e ar

e ov

er 6

00 C

WLS

acr

oss t

he c

ount

ry. T

exas

is c

urre

ntly

in th

e to

p fiv

e st

ates

for n

umbe

r of

cer

tifie

d at

torn

eys/

judg

es.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Due

to th

e CO

VID-

19 c

risis,

the

Texa

s Boa

rd o

f Leg

al S

peci

aliza

tion

has e

xten

ded

the

dead

line

to su

bmit

appl

icat

ions

for 2

020

cert

ifica

tion

until

May

18,

20

20. T

he e

xam

will

be

held

Oct

ober

12,

202

0 an

d th

e Bo

ard

of L

aw E

xam

iner

s is m

eetin

g re

gula

rly to

est

ablis

h sa

fety

pro

toco

l and

pro

cedu

res f

or th

e ex

am. T

he E

xam

Co

mm

issio

n w

ill c

ontin

ue to

mee

t thr

ough

out t

he y

ear t

o re

vise

exi

stin

g ex

am q

uest

ions

and

dra

ft n

ew q

uest

ions

in p

repa

ratio

n fo

r the

Oct

ober

202

0 Ex

am.

IV.D

. Obj

ectiv

e: C

reat

e, d

istr

ibut

e, m

aint

ain,

supp

ort,

and

eval

uate

reso

urce

s for

par

ents

invo

lved

in C

PS c

ases

so th

at p

aren

ts c

an g

ain

mor

e eq

ual f

ootin

g an

d su

ppor

t fo

r the

ir rig

hts o

nce

they

bec

ome

invo

lved

with

CPS

.

IV.D

.1. S

trat

egy:

Mai

ntai

n a

Pare

nt R

esou

rce

Wor

kgro

up a

nd th

e Pa

rent

Res

ourc

e Gu

ide.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

supp

orts

a P

aren

t Res

ourc

e Gr

oup

whi

ch is

mad

e up

on

pare

nt m

ento

rs, p

aren

t adv

ocat

es, p

aren

t att

orne

ys, D

FPS

pers

onne

l, an

d ot

her i

nter

este

d st

akeh

olde

rs. P

rior t

o es

tabl

ishin

g th

e Fa

mily

Hel

plin

e, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n pa

rtne

red

with

the

Uni

vers

ity o

f Tex

as a

nd o

ther

stak

ehol

ders

to p

rodu

ce

the

Pare

nt R

esou

rce

Guid

e, w

hich

is a

vaila

ble

in p

rint a

nd o

nlin

e on

the

Child

ren’

s Com

mis

sion

web

site

as w

ell a

s man

y on

oth

er C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

part

ner a

nd a

dvoc

ate

web

sites

, in

Engl

ish a

nd S

pani

sh.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Par

ent R

esou

rce

Grou

p m

et o

n M

arch

6, 2

020

to d

iscus

s how

to su

ppor

t par

ents

exp

erie

ncin

g a

CPS

case

and

how

to m

ake

the

best

use

of t

he P

aren

t Re

sour

ce G

uide

as w

ell a

s the

“W

hat D

oes a

Par

ent’s

Att

orne

y Do

?” p

amph

let.

In re

spon

se to

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is, th

e Co

mm

issio

n co

llabo

rate

d w

ith v

ario

us st

akeh

olde

rs to

id

entif

y re

sour

ces a

vaila

ble

to h

elp

pare

nts n

avig

ate

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is an

d pu

blish

ed a

Res

ourc

e Le

tter

to ju

dges

and

att

orne

ys w

ith a

n ex

tens

ive

list o

f res

ourc

es fo

r pa

rent

s and

fam

ilies

in C

PS c

ases

. The

Par

ent R

esou

rce

Grou

p w

ill h

old

its n

ext m

eetin

g M

ay 1

9, 2

020

to id

entif

y fu

rthe

r nee

ds a

nd su

ppor

ts fo

r par

ents

.

IV.D

.2. S

trat

egy:

Sup

port

effo

rts t

o pr

ovid

e ac

cess

to in

form

atio

n an

d re

sour

ces f

or T

exas

fam

ilies

thro

ugh

the

Texa

s Leg

al S

ervi

ces C

ente

r Fam

ily H

elpl

ine.

Back

grou

nd: S

ince

201

7, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ha

s par

tner

ed w

ith A

cces

s to

Just

ice

and

the

Child

ren’

s Jus

tice

Act t

o fu

nd th

e Te

xas L

egal

Ser

vice

s Cor

pora

tion

to

esta

blish

the

Fam

ily H

elpl

ine,

whi

ch p

rovi

des e

asy,

stat

ewid

e ac

cess

for p

aren

ts a

nd fa

mily

mem

bers

to b

asic

info

rmat

ion,

edu

catio

n, a

nd re

sour

ces a

ddre

ssin

g pa

rent

al

right

s as t

hey

rela

te to

CPS

Inve

stig

atio

ns, t

he p

rovi

sion

of F

amily

Bas

ed S

ervi

ces,

Par

enta

l Chi

ld S

afet

y Pl

acem

ents

, Cha

pter

34

non-

pare

nt a

gree

men

ts, t

erm

inat

ion

of

pare

ntal

righ

ts, c

usto

dy, a

cces

s, v

isita

tion,

serv

ice

plan

s, th

e co

urt’s

role

in c

ondu

ctin

g he

arin

gs a

nd o

vers

ight

, rig

ht to

lega

l cou

nsel

, non

-offe

ndin

g pa

rent

s, m

inor

par

ents

, in

carc

erat

ed p

aren

ts, s

urvi

vors

of f

amily

vio

lenc

e, in

terg

ener

atio

nal i

ssue

s, a

nd o

ther

var

iatio

ns o

f the

se si

tuat

ions

.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

CO

VID-

19 c

risis

has r

equi

red

the

Fam

ily H

elpl

ine

to a

dapt

in se

vera

l way

s. T

exas

Leg

al S

ervi

ces

Corp

orat

ion

has f

roze

n al

l hiri

ng, i

nclu

ding

the

Help

line’

s ope

n st

aff a

ttor

ney

posit

ion.

The

Hel

plin

e ha

s cea

sed

all i

n-pe

rson

out

reac

h ac

tiviti

es, e

duca

tiona

l act

iviti

es, a

nd tr

avel

for t

he sa

fety

of t

heir

staf

f and

the

gene

ral

publ

ic a

nd is

eva

luat

ing

call

volu

me

to d

eter

min

e if

elec

tron

ic o

utre

ach

wou

ld b

e a

feas

ible

and

an

alte

rnat

ive

to in

-per

son

outr

each

. The

Hel

plin

e al

so sa

w a

dro

p in

cal

l vo

lum

e in

the

mid

dle

of M

arch

, as t

he C

OVI

D-19

cris

is be

gan

to c

ause

mul

tiple

cha

nges

and

clo

sure

s thr

ough

out t

he st

ate.

How

ever

, in

April

the

redu

ctio

n in

cal

ls di

ssip

ated

an

d ca

ll vo

lum

e is

now

stea

dy. I

n th

e se

cond

qua

rter

of F

Y202

0, th

e He

lplin

e ai

ded

over

430

indi

vidu

al c

alle

rs a

bout

chi

ld w

elfa

re le

gal i

ssue

s acr

oss t

he st

ate

of T

exas

. The

ca

lls in

volv

ed 4

63 a

dults

and

724

chi

ldre

n, a

nd c

over

ed q

uest

ions

rega

rdin

g 10

8 di

ffere

nt is

sues

rela

ted

to C

PS. D

espi

te th

e re

duct

ion

in st

aff a

nd th

e di

srup

tions

due

to th

e cr

isis,

the

Fam

ily H

elpl

ine

was

abl

e to

pro

vide

con

tinuo

us se

rvic

e to

Tex

as fa

mili

es d

ue to

the

crea

tion

of a

wor

k-fr

om-h

ome

prog

ram

that

was

impl

emen

ted

befo

re th

e ou

tbre

ak b

egan

. The

pro

gram

allo

wed

staf

f to

tran

sitio

n to

a re

mot

e w

ork

envi

ronm

ent w

ithou

t any

disr

uptio

n in

serv

ices

and

rem

ain

avai

labl

e to

ass

ist th

e pu

blic

at t

heir

regu

lar h

ours

of o

pera

tion.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

IV.E

. Obj

ectiv

e: Im

prov

e an

d ex

pand

eng

agem

ent o

f fam

ilies

and

car

egiv

ers i

n co

urt h

earin

gs so

that

cou

rt h

earin

gs a

re h

ighe

r qua

lity

and

mor

e m

eani

ngfu

l for

the

fam

ilies

and

chi

ldre

n in

volv

ed.

IV.E

.1. S

trat

egy:

Pro

mot

e an

d im

prov

e av

aila

bilit

y an

d us

e of

the

OCA

Not

ice

and

Enga

gem

ent t

ool.

Back

grou

nd: A

ll pa

rtie

s inv

olve

d in

CPS

cas

es c

ontin

ue to

stru

ggle

with

secu

ring

cons

isten

t and

tim

ely

notic

e of

sche

dule

d he

arin

gs fr

om D

FPS.

Thi

s iss

ue in

clud

es th

e fo

ster

pl

acem

ents

and

DFP

S se

rvic

e pr

ovid

er fa

cilit

ies w

here

the

child

ren/

yout

h ar

e in

pla

cem

ent a

nd re

sults

in m

any

part

ies n

ot b

eing

abl

e to

att

end

sche

dule

d co

urt h

earin

gs. T

he

proj

ect i

nvol

ves u

sing

non-

conf

iden

tial c

ase

data

to p

rovi

de e

mai

l not

ice

to u

sers

abo

ut u

pcom

ing

hear

ings

. OCA

will

mar

ket t

he re

sour

ce a

nd p

erio

dica

lly re

-issu

e an

noun

cem

ents

, sur

vey

user

s on

the

usef

ulne

ss a

nd e

ffect

iven

ess o

f the

syst

em a

nd m

onito

r the

syst

em lo

gin

and

sear

ch in

form

atio

n. N

otic

es w

ill b

e m

onito

red

to e

valu

ate

whe

ther

the

corr

ect h

earin

g da

ta is

pop

ulat

ing

acco

rdin

g to

sear

ch c

riter

ia. R

epor

ts/d

ata

will

be

prod

uced

and

pro

vide

d to

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

On

May

8, 2

020,

OCA

exp

erie

nced

a se

curit

y br

each

in it

s net

wor

k, d

isabl

ing

seve

ral O

CA w

ebsit

es a

nd d

ata

syst

ems i

nclu

ding

CPC

MS

and

its n

otic

e an

d en

gage

men

t too

l. Si

nce

that

tim

e, O

CA h

as b

een

wor

king

tire

less

ly w

ith la

w e

nfor

cem

ent,

cybe

rsec

urity

pro

fess

iona

ls, a

nd th

e Te

xas D

epar

tmen

t of I

nfor

mat

ion

Reso

urce

s to

get t

he sy

stem

s up

and

runn

ing

as so

on a

s pos

sible

. OCA

and

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

rem

ain

com

mitt

ed e

xpan

ding

and

impr

ovin

g th

e no

tice

and

enga

gem

ent t

ool o

nce

the

syst

em is

rest

ored

.

IV.F

. Obj

ectiv

e: P

rom

ote

the

valu

e of

med

iatio

n in

CPS

cas

es, w

hich

may

, in

turn

, hel

p ch

ildre

n an

d fa

mili

es e

xit t

he c

hild

wel

fare

syst

em m

ore

quic

kly.

IV.F

.1. S

trat

egy:

Est

ablis

h an

und

erst

andi

ng a

nd fr

amew

ork

rega

rdin

g av

aila

bilit

y, q

ualit

y, su

ppor

t, co

st, t

rain

ing,

and

use

fuln

ess o

f med

iatio

n in

CPS

cas

es.

Back

grou

nd: M

edia

tion

is us

ed in

CPS

cas

es th

roug

hout

Tex

as a

nd c

an b

e an

effe

ctiv

e an

d fin

anci

ally

pru

dent

met

hod

of re

solv

ing

case

s. O

ne b

enef

it of

med

iatio

n is

that

it

can

enha

nce

part

icip

ants

’ sen

se th

ey w

ere

trea

ted

fairl

y. S

tudi

es sh

ow th

at a

n en

hanc

ed se

nse

of fa

ir tr

eatm

ent i

ncre

ases

bot

h ac

cept

ance

and

com

plia

nce

with

cou

rt

deci

sions

. Tho

ugh

the

use

of m

edia

tion

to re

solv

e CP

S ca

ses p

rior t

o tr

ial h

as b

ecom

e w

idel

y ac

cept

ed, t

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

is in

tere

sted

in e

xplo

ring

whe

ther

m

edia

tion

is be

ing

unde

r-ut

ilize

d in

CPS

cas

es b

ecau

se it

oft

en o

ccur

s too

late

in th

e ca

se ti

mel

ine

for t

he b

enef

its o

f inc

reas

ed c

ompl

ianc

e to

be

real

ized.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Com

miss

ion

host

ed a

Rou

nd T

able

on

Med

iatio

n in

CPS

cas

es o

n Fe

brua

ry 2

2, 2

019

at th

e U

nive

rsity

of T

exas

at A

ustin

. The

Rou

nd T

able

bro

ught

to

geth

er 4

5 m

edia

tors

, att

orne

ys, j

udic

ial l

eade

rs, s

ubje

ct m

atte

r exp

erts

, and

pol

icym

aker

s fro

m a

cros

s Tex

as to

disc

uss i

ssue

s affe

ctin

g m

edia

tion

in c

hild

pro

tect

ion

case

s.

Part

icip

ants

exc

hang

ed e

xper

ienc

es a

nd id

eas r

egar

ding

how

to c

reat

e co

nditi

ons f

or su

cces

sful

med

iatio

n, w

hen

and

how

to u

se m

edia

tion

as a

n ef

fect

ive

tool

, as w

ell a

s the

ch

alle

nges

faci

ng d

iver

se ju

risdi

ctio

ns in

est

ablis

hing

effe

ctiv

e m

edia

tion

prog

ram

s. T

he C

omm

issio

n w

ill b

e pu

blish

ing

the

repo

rt fr

om th

e Ro

und

Tabl

e in

June

202

0 an

d is

form

ing

a w

orkg

roup

to a

naly

ze th

e iss

ues t

hat a

rose

from

the

disc

ussio

n an

d to

dev

elop

act

ion

item

s tha

t can

be

impl

emen

ted

to ra

ise th

e qu

ality

of m

edia

tion

in C

PS c

ases

ac

ross

the

stat

e of

Tex

as. I

n re

spon

se to

the

COVI

D-19

cris

is, th

e Co

mm

issio

n is

mak

ing

effo

rts t

o co

nnec

t exp

erie

nced

CPS

med

iato

rs w

ho a

re a

ble

to c

ondu

ct m

edia

tion

rem

otel

y w

ith c

ourt

s who

may

lack

acc

ess t

o ex

perie

nced

med

iato

rs in

thei

r loc

al ju

risdi

ctio

ns o

r who

are

look

ing

to e

xpan

d ho

w th

ey u

tilize

med

iatio

n.

IV.G

. Obj

ectiv

e: Im

prov

e an

d ex

pand

eng

agem

ent o

f you

th in

cou

rt h

earin

gs a

nd re

late

d de

cisi

on-m

akin

g so

that

you

th fe

el m

ore

invo

lved

and

ass

ured

that

thei

r voi

ce is

he

ard

and

impo

rtan

t to

the

deci

sion

s bei

ng m

ade

abou

t the

ir liv

es.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

IV.G

.1. S

trat

egy:

Ele

vate

the

impo

rtan

ce o

f you

th v

oice

, you

th p

rese

nce,

and

you

th in

put i

n th

e ou

tcom

e of

thei

r cas

e, in

clud

ing

the

use

of v

ideo

con

fere

ncin

g se

rvic

es to

fa

cilit

ate

yout

h pa

rtic

ipat

ion

in c

ourt

hea

rings

, and

supp

ort n

orm

alcy

stra

tegi

es a

nd a

ctiv

ities

.

Back

grou

nd: I

n FY

2018

, the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n he

lped

Tex

as N

etw

ork

of Y

outh

Ser

vice

s (TN

OYS

) est

ablis

h a

Stat

ewid

e Yo

ung

Adul

t Lea

ders

hip

Coun

cil (

YALC

) des

igne

d to

el

evat

e an

d in

corp

orat

e yo

uth

voic

e in

stat

ewid

e po

licy

and

adm

inist

rativ

e pr

oced

ure

disc

ussio

ns, p

artic

ular

ly in

the

area

of t

he c

hild

wel

fare

syst

em. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Co

mm

issio

n al

so g

rant

ed T

NO

YS fu

ndin

g to

ass

ist w

ith P

hysic

al a

nd E

nviro

nmen

tal A

ctiv

ities

for K

now

ledg

e an

d Sk

ills (

PEAK

S) A

dven

ture

Pro

gram

whi

ch h

elps

tran

sfor

m th

e liv

es o

f par

ticip

ants

, whi

ch in

clud

e yo

uth

and

youn

g ad

ults

livi

ng in

shel

ters

, hal

fway

hou

ses,

and

juve

nile

just

ice

faci

litie

s to

help

you

th b

uild

resil

ienc

y sk

ills t

hrou

gh

stru

ctur

ed e

xper

ient

ial l

earn

ing

and

posit

ive

inte

ract

ions

with

adu

lts a

nd y

outh

pee

rs. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

also

con

tinue

s to

supp

ort a

vid

eo c

onfe

renc

ing

proj

ect

whi

ch e

nabl

es c

hild

ren

invo

lved

in c

hild

abu

se a

nd n

egle

ct c

ases

to p

artic

ipat

e in

per

man

ency

and

pla

cem

ent r

evie

w h

earin

gs w

ithou

t bei

ng p

hysic

ally

pre

sent

in th

e co

urtr

oom

. The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n pr

ovid

es fu

ndin

g to

OCA

via

a g

rant

to h

ost a

nd su

ppor

t the

har

dwar

e an

d so

ftw

are

requ

ired

to fa

cilit

ate

vide

o co

nfer

enci

ng b

etw

een

cour

ts a

nd re

siden

tial p

lace

men

ts (p

rimar

ily R

TCs)

. In

furt

hera

nce

of th

e Pr

even

ting

Sex

Traf

ficki

ng a

nd S

tren

gthe

ning

Fam

ilies

Act

(P. L

. 113

‒183

), th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n he

ld a

Rou

nd T

able

in F

ebru

ary

2019

and

pro

vide

d fu

ndin

g to

Tex

as C

ASA

to e

xpan

d un

ders

tand

ing,

ava

ilabi

lity,

and

impl

emen

tatio

n of

nor

mal

cy c

ultu

re a

nd a

ctiv

ities

th

roug

hout

the

child

wel

fare

sys

tem

. The

Com

miss

ion

also

pro

vide

s fun

ding

eac

h ye

ar to

prin

t the

Fos

ter Y

outh

Agi

ng O

ut G

uide

pub

lishe

d by

Tex

as R

ioGr

ande

Leg

al A

id.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

PEAK

S: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

mis

sion

prov

ided

$20

,000

in g

rant

fund

ing

to T

NO

YS to

supp

ort t

he p

artic

ipat

ion

of y

outh

and

you

ng a

dults

at i

ts F

Y202

0 PE

AKS

cam

p. D

ue to

CO

VID-

19, T

NO

YS w

ill b

e un

able

to h

ost P

EAKS

as

plan

ned

in fi

scal

yea

r 202

0. T

NO

YS d

id in

cur $

5,00

0 in

sun

k co

sts

for s

taff

and

cont

ract

or ti

me

in p

repa

ratio

n fo

r PEA

KS w

hich

the

Com

miss

ion

will

rei

mbu

rse.

TN

OYS

and

Com

miss

ion

staf

f ar

e di

scus

sing

poss

ible

rea

lloca

tion

of t

he b

udge

t to

sup

port

you

th m

ore

appr

opria

tely

und

er t

he c

urre

nt

circ

umst

ance

s.

Vide

ocon

fere

ncin

g: T

he v

ideo

-con

fere

ncin

g pr

ogra

m re

mai

ns a

vaila

ble

to th

e co

urts

to in

clud

e yo

uth

in h

earin

gs a

nd fo

r RTC

s an

d CA

SA w

orke

rs to

con

duct

visi

tatio

n. In

the

first

qua

rter

of F

Y202

0, th

ere

wer

e 53

vid

eo h

earin

gs c

ondu

cted

. In

the

seco

nd q

uart

er o

f FY2

020,

ther

e w

ere

30 v

ideo

hea

rings

con

duct

ed. T

he d

ecre

ase

is lik

ely

due

to c

ourt

s us

ing

Zoom

for a

ll he

arin

gs d

urin

g CO

VID-

19 cr

isis.

OCA

has

crea

ted

a w

ebpa

ge w

ith li

nks t

o ea

ch C

hild

Pro

tect

ion

Cour

t’s li

vest

ream

hea

ring

page

. Vid

eo co

nfer

enci

ng a

ctiv

ities

fo

r FY

2020

are

focu

sed

on u

ser

supp

ort a

nd e

ffort

s to

incr

ease

aw

aren

ess

of a

nd h

ow to

use

the

prog

ram

. OCA

is d

evel

opin

g an

onl

ine

sche

dulin

g to

ol to

mak

e sc

hedu

ling

hear

ings

mor

e co

nven

ient

for t

he c

ourt

, pla

cem

ent f

acili

ties,

and

DFP

S ca

sew

orke

rs. T

o fa

cilit

ate

deve

lopm

ent o

f thi

s to

ol, O

CA h

oste

d a

call

in M

arch

with

the

focu

s gr

oup

of

Child

Pro

tect

ion

Cour

t Ass

ocia

te Ju

dges

and

Cou

rt C

oord

inat

ors

to p

rovi

de in

put o

n fu

nctio

nal r

equi

rem

ents

. Thi

s to

ol w

ill a

ccom

mod

ate

any

vide

o pl

atfo

rm, i

nclu

ding

Zoo

m.

OCA

staf

f pla

n to

hav

e a

pilo

t of t

he sc

hedu

ler t

ool r

eady

in A

ugus

t.

Nor

mal

cy: T

he C

omm

issio

n pr

ovid

ed $

26,0

00 in

FY2

020

for T

exas

CAS

A to

cre

ate

a ro

le-b

ased

gui

de re

gard

ing

norm

alcy

in F

Y202

0. T

he g

oal o

f the

gui

de is

to in

form

the

child

w

elfa

re sy

stem

par

ticip

ants

- at

torn

eys,

judg

es, C

ASAs

, fos

ter p

aren

ts, c

ongr

egat

e ca

re st

aff,

kins

hip

care

give

rs, c

omm

unity

par

tner

s, a

genc

y em

ploy

ees,

edu

catio

n pa

rtne

rs,

and

othe

rs -

abou

t nor

mal

cy a

nd a

bout

bes

t pra

ctic

es fo

r eac

h ro

le in

pro

mot

ing

and

atta

inin

g no

rmal

cy fo

r chi

ldre

n an

d yo

uth

in fo

ster

car

e. A

noth

er g

oal o

f the

gui

de is

to

addr

ess c

halle

ngin

g to

pics

rela

ted

to n

orm

alcy

, inc

ludi

ng li

abili

ty c

once

rns,

tran

spor

tatio

n, so

cial

med

ia, u

nsup

ervi

sed

activ

ities

, dat

ing,

etc

. Tex

as C

ASA

conv

ened

a

wor

kgro

up o

f chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

par

ticip

ants

to h

elp

draf

t sec

tions

for e

ach

part

icip

ant’s

role

. The

wor

kgro

up’s

firs

t mee

ting

was

hel

d on

Janu

ary

31, 2

020

and

a se

cond

m

eetin

g w

as p

ostp

oned

due

to C

OVI

D-19

.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

Fost

er Y

outh

Agi

ng O

ut G

uide

: The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n pr

ovid

ed fu

ndin

g to

Tex

as R

ioG

rand

e Le

gal A

id to

re-d

esig

n an

d pr

int t

he 7

th E

ditio

n Fo

ster

You

th A

ging

Out

Gui

de.

The

Guid

e ha

s bee

n pr

inte

d an

d th

e on

line

vers

ion

can

be fo

und

on th

e Te

xas F

oste

r You

th P

roje

ct w

ebsit

e an

d is

shar

ed o

n th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n w

ebsit

e as

a re

sour

ce

for y

outh

voi

ce a

nd n

orm

alcy

.

Goa

l V: C

olle

ct a

nd a

naly

ze c

ourt

and

chi

ld w

elfa

re-r

elat

ed d

ata

to d

evel

op so

lutio

ns to

impr

ove

outc

omes

, qua

lity,

and

sust

aina

bilit

y of

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issi

on st

rate

gies

.

V.A.

Obj

ectiv

e: U

se c

hild

wel

fare

age

ncy,

cou

rt sy

stem

and

/or o

ther

dat

a to

impr

ove

perm

anen

cy o

utco

mes

for c

hild

ren

and

yout

h in

fost

er c

are.

V.A.

1. S

trat

egy:

Util

ize D

ata

Anal

yst t

o as

sist t

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

with

dat

a pr

ojec

ts to

iden

tify,

trac

k, a

nd m

easu

re o

utco

mes

, ide

ntify

bes

t pra

ctic

es, a

nd a

ddre

ss a

reas

in

nee

d of

impr

ovem

ent.

Back

grou

nd: I

n Ap

ril 2

019,

the

Texa

s Alli

ance

for C

hild

and

Fam

ily S

ervi

ces (

TACF

S), t

hrou

gh it

s Res

earc

h an

d Po

licy

Divi

sion

and

with

fund

ing

from

the

Child

ren

Com

miss

ion,

hi

red

a da

ta a

naly

st w

ho w

ill h

ave

the

resp

onsib

ilitie

s to

acce

ss p

ublic

ly a

vaila

ble

data

from

DFP

S, c

ourt

-spe

cific

dat

a, d

ata

from

the

TACF

S, a

nd a

naly

ze th

em in

a m

anne

r th

at p

rovi

des i

nfor

mat

ion

to th

e ju

dici

ary.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

The

Dat

a Co

mm

ittee

was

re-o

rgan

ized

in F

Y202

0 to

focu

s on

usin

g da

ta to

bet

ter u

nder

stan

d th

e re

latio

nshi

p be

twee

n ou

tcom

es a

nd p

ract

ices

and

to

deve

lop

way

s to

best

util

ize th

e da

ta a

naly

st p

ositi

on. T

he d

ata

anal

yst i

s sup

port

ing

the

Com

miss

ion’

s Dat

a Co

mm

ittee

by

anal

yzin

g pu

blic

ly a

vaila

ble

child

wel

fare

dat

a in

a

man

ner t

hat f

acili

tate

s disc

ussio

ns b

etw

een

DFPS

and

judg

es a

bout

dat

a, ju

dici

al p

roce

sses

and

pra

ctic

es, a

nd p

oten

tial s

yste

mic

impr

ovem

ents

. Dat

a Co

mm

ittee

pro

ject

s for

FY

2020

incl

ude

colla

bora

ting

with

Cas

ey F

amily

Pro

gram

s to

eval

uate

the

PMC

Spec

ialty

Cou

rts i

n Ho

usto

n an

d Da

llas,

wor

king

with

the

Offi

ce o

f Cou

rt A

dmin

istra

tion

to

crea

te a

“da

ta d

ashb

oard

” fo

r CPC

judg

es u

tilizi

ng C

PCM

S al

ong

with

a c

onde

nsed

and

use

r-fr

iend

ly g

uide

for u

nder

stan

ding

requ

ired

data

ent

ry, s

uppo

rtin

g th

e w

ork

of th

e Ta

sk F

orce

on

Cour

t-Ap

poin

ted

Lega

l Rep

rese

ntat

ion

data

and

fina

ncia

l ana

lysis

subc

omm

ittee

, and

supp

ortin

g ju

risdi

ctio

ns p

artic

ipat

ing

in th

e Ju

dici

al T

raum

a In

stitu

te to

tr

ack

the

impl

emen

tatio

n an

d ou

tcom

es o

f the

ir ac

tion

plan

s. T

he D

ata

Com

mitt

ee m

et o

n M

ay 1

4, 2

020

to d

iscus

s how

to e

valu

ate

and

prio

ritize

dat

a co

mm

ittee

pro

ject

s in

resp

onse

to th

e CO

VID-

19 c

risis.

Goa

l VI:

Deve

lop,

supp

ort a

nd fu

nd h

igh-

qual

ity, a

ppro

pria

te tr

aini

ng fo

r jud

ges,

att

orne

ys, a

nd c

hild

wel

fare

par

tner

s.

VI.A

. Obj

ectiv

e: P

rovi

de h

igh-

qual

ity a

nd e

asily

acc

essi

ble

trai

ning

reso

urce

s for

judg

es a

nd a

ttor

neys

.

VI.A

.1. S

trat

egy:

Pla

n, fu

nd, c

ondu

ct, a

nd e

valu

ate

judi

cial

trai

ning

con

fere

nces

and

eve

nts.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

colla

bora

tes w

ith th

e Te

xas C

ente

r for

the

Judi

ciar

y (T

CJ) t

o de

sign

spec

ializ

ed ju

dici

al e

duca

tion

and

trai

ning

opp

ortu

nitie

s for

act

ive,

re

tired

, and

form

er T

exas

app

ella

te, d

istric

t, an

d co

unty

cou

rt a

t law

judg

es, a

s wel

l as a

ssoc

iate

judg

es a

nd c

ourt

per

sonn

el th

roug

h its

gra

nt w

ith T

CJ. E

ach

year

TCJ

pla

ns a

t le

ast o

ne a

nnua

l Chi

ld W

elfa

re Ju

dges

Con

fere

nce

in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

also

pro

vide

s par

tial f

undi

ng fo

r a h

alf-d

ay C

PS

Cont

inui

ng Ju

dici

al E

duca

tion

(CJE

) tra

ck a

t TCJ

’s a

nnua

l Fam

ily Ju

stic

e Co

nfer

ence

. Add

ition

ally

, the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n us

ually

pla

ns a

nd fu

nds a

t lea

st o

ne

mul

tidisc

iplin

ary

conf

eren

ce o

r sum

mit

durin

g th

e fis

cal y

ear w

ith T

CJ. P

lann

ing

and

fund

ing

activ

ities

incl

ude

desig

ning

cur

ricul

um a

nd a

gend

a fo

r con

fere

nces

, det

erm

inin

g th

e bu

dget

and

num

ber o

f att

ende

es, p

artic

ipat

ing

in p

lann

ing

calls

, vet

ting

judi

cial

scho

lars

hip

appl

ican

ts, s

urve

ying

par

ticip

ants

, and

eva

luat

ing

the

proc

ess a

nd e

vent

for

futu

re p

lann

ing.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Child

Wel

fare

Judg

es C

onfe

renc

e: T

he 2

020

Child

Wel

fare

Judg

es C

onfe

renc

e (C

WJC

), ho

sted

in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith th

e Te

xas C

ente

r for

the

Judi

ciar

y (T

CJ),

is sc

hedu

led

to

conv

ene

over

Oct

ober

26-

28 at

the

Sher

aton

Aus

tin G

eorg

etow

n Ho

tel a

nd C

onfe

renc

e Ce

nter

. At t

his t

ime,

Com

miss

ion

and

TCJ s

taff

are

hope

ful t

hat t

his c

onfe

renc

e ca

n st

ill b

e he

ld in

per

son

and

are

plan

ning

acc

ordi

ngly

. Com

mis

sion

staf

f will

con

tinue

to c

onfe

r with

TCJ

to a

sses

s wha

t for

mat

is b

est a

s the

con

fere

nce

date

s app

roac

h an

d co

nsid

er sh

iftin

g to

a v

irtua

l con

fere

nce

if ne

eded

. On

April

28,

the

Com

miss

ion

conv

ened

a C

WJC

Cur

ricul

um C

omm

ittee

Cal

l with

19

judg

es fr

om a

cros

s the

stat

e, in

clud

ing

Child

Pro

tect

ion

Cour

t jud

ges,

Ass

ocia

te Ju

dges

, Dist

rict J

udge

s, a

nd a

Pre

sidin

g Ju

dge

to re

ques

t the

ir fe

edba

ck a

bout

wha

t the

y w

ould

like

the

CWJC

cur

ricul

um to

focu

s on.

Co

mm

issio

n st

aff,

OCA

staf

f, an

d TC

J sta

ff pa

rtic

ipat

ed in

this

call

as w

ell.

The

Com

miss

ion’

s pro

pose

d cu

rric

ulum

was

bas

ed in

par

t on

spec

ific

judi

cial

requ

ests

for f

urth

er

educ

atio

n in

the

2019

CW

JC p

ost-

even

t sur

vey

resu

lts c

olle

cted

by

TCJ a

nd th

e Co

mm

issio

n. T

he C

urric

ulum

Com

mitt

ee re

port

ed th

at th

ey w

ould

like

to h

ave

COVI

D-19

-re

late

d up

date

s on

judi

cial

pra

ctic

es a

nd st

atew

ide

data

, but

that

CO

VID-

19 sh

ould

not

ove

rsha

dow

the

conf

eren

ce. O

ther

sugg

estio

ns fo

r con

fere

nce

cont

ent f

rom

the

Curr

icul

um C

omm

ittee

incl

uded

the

follo

win

g pr

esen

tatio

ns: a

Cas

e La

w U

pdat

e, a

n up

date

on

Com

mun

ity B

ased

Car

e, a

pan

el h

onor

ing

retir

ing

judg

es, a

nd b

reak

out

sess

ions

with

judg

es to

revi

ew re

gion

al d

ata

with

DFP

S st

aff (

to in

clud

e Re

gion

al D

irect

ors,

Inve

stig

atio

ns st

aff,

and

Fam

ily B

ased

Saf

ety

Serv

ices

staf

f). C

omm

issio

n st

aff w

ill

refin

e th

e ag

enda

bas

ed o

n th

is in

put a

nd c

onfe

r with

the

Curr

icul

um C

omm

ittee

Mem

bers

to re

ceiv

e ad

ditio

nal f

eedb

ack

and

spea

ker r

ecom

men

datio

ns b

efor

e pr

ocee

ding

to

fina

lize

the

CWJC

Age

nda.

Judi

cial

Tra

uma

Inst

itute

: Bas

ed o

n a

stro

ng, o

ngoi

ng in

tere

st in

trau

ma-

info

rmed

trai

ning

indi

cate

d by

judg

es, C

omm

issio

n st

aff d

esig

ned

and

plan

ned

to h

ost a

Judi

cial

Tr

aum

a In

stitu

te in

par

tner

ship

with

the

Texa

s Cen

ter f

or th

e Ju

dici

ary

to m

eet t

his n

eed.

The

con

fere

nce

was

stru

ctur

ed to

follo

w a

“Be

yond

the

Benc

h” fo

rmat

, tra

ck th

e flo

w o

f a C

PS c

ase,

and

invo

lve

part

icip

atio

n w

ith c

ourt

team

s. T

wel

ve ju

dici

ally

-led

team

s of s

ix p

eopl

e ea

ch w

ere

sche

dule

d to

att

end

the

Judi

cial

Tra

uma

Inst

itute

ove

r M

arch

29-

31, 2

020,

at t

he S

hera

ton

Aust

in G

eorg

etow

n Ho

tel a

nd C

onfe

renc

e Ce

nter

, with

eac

h ju

dici

al te

am ty

pica

lly c

ompr

ised

of a

judg

e; a

cou

rt c

oord

inat

or; a

pr

osec

utor

; an

atto

rney

who

take

s app

oint

men

ts fo

r par

ents

and

for c

hild

ren

in C

PS c

ases

; a S

enio

r-le

vel C

asew

orke

r or S

uper

viso

r at D

FPS;

and

a C

ASA

Exec

utiv

e Di

rect

or o

r Pr

ogra

m D

irect

or. T

he g

oal o

f the

con

fere

nce

was

for e

ach

of th

e 12

judi

cial

team

s to

leav

e w

ith m

ore

info

rmat

ion

and

reso

urce

s abo

ut w

hat i

t mea

ns to

be

a tr

aum

a-in

form

ed a

nd tr

aum

a-re

spon

sive

cour

t on

CPS

case

s, a

nd to

hav

e a

fully

dev

elop

ed a

ctio

n pl

an a

bout

how

to im

plem

ent t

hese

gai

ns in

kno

wle

dge

in th

eir j

urisd

ictio

n up

on

retu

rn. U

nfor

tuna

tely

, due

to g

row

ing

conc

erns

abo

ut th

e sp

read

of C

OVI

D-19

, TCJ

and

the

Com

miss

ion

sent

not

ices

to a

ll at

tend

ees o

n M

arch

12t

h th

at th

e Ju

dici

al T

raum

a In

stitu

te w

ould

be

post

pone

d. G

iven

cur

rent

circ

umst

ance

s, th

e JT

I will

like

ly b

e re

sche

dule

d fo

r som

e tim

e in

202

1.

VI.A

.2. S

trat

egy:

Sup

port

spec

ializ

ed tr

aini

ng fo

r Chi

ld P

rote

ctio

n Co

urt p

rogr

am, j

udge

s, a

nd su

ppor

t sta

ff.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

Back

grou

nd: C

hild

Pro

tect

ion

Cour

ts, a

lso k

now

n as

CPC

s in

Texa

s, w

ere

crea

ted

to a

ssist

tria

l cou

rts i

n ru

ral a

reas

with

man

agin

g th

eir c

hild

abu

se a

nd n

egle

ct d

ocke

ts. L

ike

the

child

supp

ort c

ourt

ass

ocia

te ju

dges

, the

se a

ssoc

iate

judg

es a

re a

ppoi

nted

by

thei

r reg

iona

l pre

sidin

g ju

dges

and

are

OCA

em

ploy

ees.

At t

he d

iscre

tion

of th

e pr

esid

ing

judg

e, v

isitin

g ju

dges

are

som

etim

es a

ppoi

nted

to h

ear t

hese

cas

es in

stea

d of

ass

ocia

te ju

dges

. The

judg

es a

ssig

ned

to th

ese

dock

ets h

ear c

hild

abu

se a

nd n

egle

ct c

ases

ex

clus

ivel

y. W

ith th

is ex

clus

ive

focu

s, c

hild

ren

on C

PC d

ocke

ts c

an a

chie

ve p

erm

anen

cy m

ore

quic

kly

and

the

qual

ity o

f pla

cem

ent d

ecisi

ons s

houl

d be

hig

her.

The

25 c

hild

pr

otec

tion

cour

ts o

pera

te in

ove

r hal

f of T

exas

cou

ntie

s. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

prov

ides

fund

ing

to su

ppor

t CPC

MS

as w

ell a

s oth

er g

oods

and

serv

ices

requ

ired

by C

PC

judg

es a

nd c

oord

inat

ors t

o co

nduc

t hea

rings

and

man

age

case

s.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Bas

ed o

n th

e su

cces

s of t

he Ju

ly 2

019

CPC

Conv

enin

g at

whi

ch C

PC Ju

dges

and

thei

r cou

rt c

oord

inat

ors w

ere

trai

ned

on c

ourt

man

agem

ent a

nd d

ata

colle

ctio

n by

the

Com

miss

ion

in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith O

CA, t

he C

omm

issio

n pl

ans t

o ho

st a

sim

ilar c

onve

ning

in th

e su

mm

er o

f 202

1. In

the

mea

ntim

e, C

PC ju

dges

and

thei

r cou

rt

coor

dina

tors

will

rece

ive

trai

ning

from

OCA

at a

Pre

-Con

fere

nce

just

prio

r to

the

open

ing

of th

e fu

ll co

nfer

ence

at t

he u

pcom

ing

Oct

ober

26-

28, 2

020

Child

Wel

fare

Judg

es

Conf

eren

ce, r

efer

red

to u

nder

stra

tegy

VI.A

.1.

Also

, for

the

first

tim

e, C

omm

issio

n st

aff w

ill p

rodu

ce a

n in

-hou

se, j

udic

ially

-led

web

cast

des

igne

d fo

r jud

ges w

ho p

resid

e ov

er c

hild

pro

tect

ion

case

s. M

oder

ated

by

Judg

e Ro

b Ho

fman

n, JI

R fo

r the

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n, a

live

judi

cial

pan

el w

ill a

ddre

ss th

e m

any

bene

fits o

f util

izing

tech

nolo

gy in

chi

ld w

elfa

re c

ases

. The

web

cast

will

incl

ude

tips

on e

ffici

ent d

ocke

t pra

ctic

es in

CPS

cas

es a

s wel

l as s

ilver

lini

ngs a

nd su

cces

s sto

ries,

to e

ncou

rage

judg

es to

exp

and

thei

r use

of t

echn

olog

y to

con

tinue

hea

ring

CPS

case

s w

hile

hea

rings

are

con

duct

ed re

mot

ely.

The

web

cast

is sc

hedu

led

for J

une

5, 2

020

and

will

be

paire

d w

ith a

JIR

com

mun

ique

that

will

set f

orth

all

of th

e po

sitiv

e im

plic

atio

ns

for c

ontin

uing

to u

se te

chno

logy

in C

PS c

ases

.

VI.A

.3. S

trat

egy:

Pro

duce

hig

h-qu

ality

trai

ning

and

eva

luat

e de

liver

y an

d co

nten

t.

Back

grou

nd: T

rial S

kills

Tra

inin

g (T

ST) i

s a h

ands

-on

trai

ning

des

igne

d to

impr

ove

the

litig

atio

n sk

ills o

f chi

ld w

elfa

re la

w a

ttor

neys

in o

rder

to ra

ise th

e ca

liber

of l

egal

serv

ices

to

chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es in

chi

ld p

rote

ctio

n ca

ses.

Dev

elop

ed a

nd in

itial

ly sp

earh

eade

d by

Just

ice

Mic

hael

Mas

seng

ale,

the

TST

is no

w le

d by

Judg

e Pi

per M

cCra

w. T

rial S

kills

Tr

aini

ng is

hel

d on

ce a

yea

r and

offe

rs a

ppro

xim

atel

y 17

-18

MCL

E ho

urs,

incl

udin

g et

hics

hou

rs. T

en T

STs h

ave

been

hos

ted

by th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n sin

ce it

s inc

eptio

n in

O

ctob

er 2

013.

Eac

h TS

T pr

ogra

m h

as a

com

petit

ive

appl

icat

ion

proc

ess a

nd is

lim

ited

to 2

1 le

ss-e

xper

ienc

ed a

ttor

neys

. It i

nclu

des a

fict

iona

l CPS

fact

pat

tern

, with

a c

ompl

ete

case

file

cov

erin

g al

l Tex

as-s

peci

fic st

atut

ory

hear

ings

bui

ldin

g up

to fi

nal t

rial.

TST

prov

ides

par

ent,

child

, and

stat

e at

torn

eys n

umer

ous l

itiga

tion

exer

cise

s in

the

CPS

cont

ext,

incl

udin

g le

ctur

es a

nd d

emon

stra

tions

from

trai

ned

facu

lty c

ompr

ised

of se

nior

att

orne

ys a

nd ju

dges

, fol

low

ed b

y pe

rson

al c

ritiq

ues a

nd c

oach

ing.

Cas

ewor

kers

, Pe

diat

ricia

ns, a

nd P

aren

t The

rapi

sts s

erve

as l

ive

witn

esse

s. M

ater

ials

are

upda

ted,

and

new

facu

lty is

recr

uite

d an

d tr

aine

d w

ith e

ach

even

t. Ex

tens

ive

inte

rnal

and

ext

erna

l CQ

I is i

nvol

ved

with

eac

h ev

ent.

The

Child

ren’

s Jus

tice

Act c

over

s the

cos

t of p

artic

ipan

ts w

ho re

pres

ent t

he st

ate

in C

PS p

roce

edin

gs. A

lso, i

n pa

rtne

rshi

p w

ith T

exas

BarC

LE,

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

mak

es se

vera

l onl

ine

cour

ses a

vaila

ble

to c

ourt

-app

oint

ed a

ttor

neys

and

stat

e an

d DF

PS a

ttor

neys

. Onc

e ea

ch y

ear t

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

wor

ks w

ith th

e CL

E br

anch

of t

he S

BOT,

Tex

asBa

rCLE

, to

broa

dcas

t a d

ay-lo

ng, 6

MCL

E ho

urs’

wor

th o

f tra

inin

g fo

r att

orne

ys w

ho re

pres

ent c

hild

ren,

par

ents

, and

the

stat

e of

Te

xas i

n CP

S pr

ocee

ding

s. T

exas

BarC

LE’s

Onl

ine

Clas

sroo

m o

f CPS

-rel

ated

web

inar

s is a

vaila

ble

at a

redu

ced

rate

to a

ttor

neys

repr

esen

ting

child

ren

and

pare

nts,

and

ther

e ar

e sc

hola

rshi

ps a

vaila

ble

thro

ugh

the

Com

miss

ion

and

thro

ugh

the

Bar f

or a

ttor

neys

who

repr

esen

t the

Sta

te o

f Tex

as a

nd n

eed

finan

cial

ass

istan

ce to

acc

ess t

his o

nlin

e tr

aini

ng. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

colla

bora

tes w

ith th

e Tr

aini

ng C

omm

ittee

Cha

ir on

the

conf

eren

ce a

gend

a an

d de

velo

ps th

e co

nten

t bas

ed o

n CQ

I fro

m re

cent

co

nfer

ence

s and

feed

back

from

pos

t-ev

ent s

urve

ys w

here

scho

lars

hip

awar

dees

indi

cate

wha

t add

ition

al e

duca

tion

wou

ld a

ssist

them

in th

eir w

ork

on th

e CP

S do

cket

. The

Co

mm

issio

n al

so c

olla

bora

tes w

ith T

exas

BarC

LE re

gard

ing

audi

ence

, bud

get,

mar

ketin

g, a

nd e

valu

atio

n; h

elps

ens

ure

notic

e of

the

even

t to

judg

es a

nd a

ttor

neys

; ens

ures

CLE

is

avai

labl

e; a

naly

zes s

urve

y re

sults

from

eva

luat

ions

dist

ribut

ed b

y th

e or

gani

zers

; and

con

duct

s CQ

I of t

he p

roce

ss a

nd tr

aini

ng c

onte

nt.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Tria

l Ski

lls T

rain

ing:

Thi

s yea

r’s T

rial S

kills

Tra

inin

g (T

ST) w

as to

be

held

ove

r Jun

e 24

-26,

202

0 at

the

Emba

ssy

Suite

s Hot

el a

nd C

onfe

renc

e Ce

nter

in S

an M

arco

s, T

exas

and

w

ould

hav

e be

en th

e el

even

th it

erat

ion

of th

is un

ique

, effe

ctiv

e, a

nd ro

bust

han

d-on

litig

atio

n tr

aini

ng. T

he C

omm

issio

n re

ceiv

ed 5

8 ap

plic

ants

tota

l and

had

invi

ted

twen

ty-

one

final

ists t

o pa

rtic

ipat

e in

the

TST.

TST

facu

lty a

nd c

urric

ulum

pre

para

tions

as w

ell a

s coo

rdin

atio

n w

ith th

e ev

ent v

enue

wer

e un

derw

ay. H

owev

er, d

ue to

con

cern

s abo

ut

the

safe

ty a

nd h

ealth

of a

ll at

tend

ees,

as w

ell a

s res

tric

tions

on

gath

erin

gs, C

omm

issio

n st

aff i

n co

ncer

t with

the

Trai

ning

Com

mitt

ee C

hair

and

the

TST

Facu

lty d

ecid

ed to

po

stpo

ne th

e Ju

ne 2

020

in-p

erso

n TS

T to

202

1 an

d is

wor

king

with

the

conf

eren

ce h

otel

to se

cure

ear

ly sp

ring

2021

dat

es fo

r the

resc

hedu

led

June

202

0 pa

rtic

ipan

ts, a

s wel

l as

to id

entif

y da

tes f

or a

seco

nd T

ST la

ter i

n 20

21 fo

r our

yea

rly T

ST e

vent

. In

the

mea

ntim

e, C

omm

issio

n st

aff a

re c

onve

ning

a su

bcom

mitt

ee o

f TST

facu

lty to

disc

uss t

he

poss

ibili

ty o

f pro

duci

ng so

me

virt

ual t

rain

ing

in Ju

ne to

offe

r to

the

June

202

0 TS

T co

hort

.

SBO

T An

nual

One

-Day

Web

cast

with

Tex

asBa

rCLE

: Com

miss

ion

staf

f is c

oord

inat

ing

with

Tex

asBa

rCLE

to fi

nd a

dat

e fo

r thi

s yea

r’s d

ay o

f tap

ing

in th

eir s

tudi

o. T

opic

s will

be

sele

cted

in p

art f

rom

the

feed

back

whi

ch th

e Co

mm

issio

n re

ceiv

ed fr

om o

ur 2

019

post

-eve

nt su

rvey

s of s

chol

arsh

ip a

war

dees

. As i

n al

l prio

r yea

rs, a

ny w

ebca

st p

rodu

ced

by

the

Com

miss

ion

in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith T

exas

BarC

LE w

ill b

e ar

chiv

ed a

nd m

ade

avai

labl

e as

web

inar

s for

vie

win

g at

the

sam

e di

scou

nted

rate

s pro

vide

d fo

r the

live

web

cast

s in

the

CPS

Prac

tice

Area

of t

he T

exas

BarC

LE’s

Onl

ine

Clas

sroo

m. T

exas

BarC

LE p

rovi

des d

iscou

nts t

o co

urt-

appo

inte

d at

torn

eys a

nd sc

hola

rshi

ps to

oth

er v

iew

ers,

whi

le th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n pr

ovid

es sc

hola

rshi

ps to

att

orne

ys re

pres

entin

g th

e De

part

men

t of F

amily

and

Pro

tect

ive

Serv

ices

. All

prio

r yea

rs’ w

ebca

sts p

rodu

ced

in p

artn

ersh

ip

betw

een

the

Com

miss

ion

and

Texa

sBar

CLE

have

bee

n ar

chiv

ed a

nd a

re a

vaila

ble

as w

ebin

ars f

or v

iew

ing

at th

e sa

me

disc

ount

ed ra

tes p

rovi

ded

for t

he li

ve w

ebca

sts i

n th

e Te

xasB

arCL

E’s O

nlin

e Cl

assr

oom

.

Onl

ine

Clas

sroo

m: T

hrou

gh it

s CLE

arm

, Tex

asBa

rCLE

, the

SBO

T cu

rren

tly o

ffers

a n

umbe

r of o

nlin

e co

ntin

uing

lega

l edu

catio

n (C

LE) c

ours

es in

the

CPS

Prac

tice

Area

of

Texa

sBar

CLE

rela

ted

to re

pres

enta

tion

of a

ll pa

rtie

s on

the

CPS

dock

et. A

tota

l of 2

4 w

ebca

sts h

ave

been

arc

hive

d in

the

CPS

prac

tice

area

of t

he T

exas

BarC

LE’s

Onl

ine

Clas

sroo

m, t

he v

ast m

ajor

ity o

f whi

ch w

ere

prod

uced

by

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith T

exas

BarC

LE. T

he to

pics

cov

er re

leva

nt a

nd ti

mel

y iss

ues o

f int

eres

t to

atto

rney

s who

wor

k in

the

area

of c

hild

wel

fare

. Som

e or

all

the

cont

ent o

f the

se w

ebca

sts a

nd a

rchi

ved

web

inar

s may

be

cons

ider

ed in

som

e ju

risdi

ctio

ns to

satis

fy th

e ed

ucat

iona

l req

uire

men

ts fo

r cou

rt-a

ppoi

nted

att

orne

ys u

nder

Tex

as F

amily

Cod

e Se

ctio

ns 1

07.0

04 a

nd 1

07.0

131.

All

of th

e co

urse

s can

be

foun

d at

the

follo

win

g lin

k:

http

://w

ww

.texa

sbar

cle.

com

/CLE

/OCS

earc

h2.a

sp. A

t the

requ

est o

f the

Com

miss

ion,

seve

ral c

ours

es fr

om th

e 20

19 A

dvan

ced

Fam

ily L

aw’s

Chi

ld A

buse

and

Neg

lect

1-D

ay

CLE

Trac

k ha

ve b

een

adde

d to

this

rost

er b

y Te

xasB

arCL

E.

In-H

ouse

Web

cast

s: C

omm

issio

n st

aff h

ave

deve

lope

d th

e ca

paci

ty to

hos

t a re

gula

r ser

ies o

f web

cast

s to

help

edu

cate

chi

ld w

elfa

re st

akeh

olde

rs a

cros

s the

stat

e. T

his w

ill

supp

lem

ent t

he 6

hou

rs a

yea

r des

crib

ed a

bove

whi

ch th

e Co

mm

issio

n is

grat

eful

to fi

lm in

par

tner

ship

with

the

Stat

e Ba

r in

Texa

sBar

CLE’

s stu

dio.

In re

spon

se to

cur

rent

ci

rcum

stan

ces a

nd th

e ne

ed fo

r virt

ual t

rain

ing,

Com

miss

ion

staf

f is d

evel

opin

g m

ore

regu

lar w

ebca

sts t

o he

lp e

duca

te c

hild

wel

fare

stak

ehol

ders

acr

oss t

he st

ate.

In a

dditi

on

to th

e ju

dici

al p

anel

web

cast

des

crib

ed a

bove

, the

Com

mis

sion

is pl

anni

ng to

hos

t a 9

0-m

inut

e w

ebca

st o

n Zo

om a

t noo

n on

May

22,

202

0 fo

r att

orne

ys, o

n Ef

fect

ive

Advo

cacy

in th

e Vi

rtua

l CPS

Cou

rtro

om. M

oder

ated

by

JIR Ju

dge

Rob

Hofm

ann,

a p

anel

con

sistin

g of

a p

rose

cuto

r, an

AAL

, and

a p

aren

t att

orne

y w

ill d

iscus

s bes

t pra

ctic

es

and

pitf

alls

to w

atch

out

for w

hen

prep

arin

g th

eir c

ases

and

clie

nts f

or a

virt

ual h

earin

g. T

his w

ill in

clud

e ho

w to

faci

litat

e th

e cl

ient

’s m

eani

ngfu

l par

ticip

atio

n in

a v

irtua

l he

arin

g; h

ow to

pro

perly

elic

it te

stim

ony

on Z

oom

; how

to p

rope

rly e

nter

evi

denc

e on

Zoo

m; a

nd h

ow to

revi

ew o

rder

s in

a vi

rtua

l set

ting.

The

web

cast

will

be

arch

ived

on

the

Com

miss

ion’

s web

site

and

is av

aila

ble

for f

ree

to a

ll vi

ewer

s. T

he C

omm

issio

n w

ill c

ontin

ue to

pla

n an

d ho

st w

ebca

sts a

s the

opp

ortu

nity

and

nee

d ar

ise a

nd h

as

esta

blish

ed a

You

Tube

Cha

nnel

for a

dditi

onal

edu

catio

nal v

ideo

s.

http://www.texasbarcle.com/CLE/OCSearch2.asp

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

DFPS

Reg

iona

l Att

orne

y Tr

aini

ng: T

his a

nnua

l con

fere

nce

has t

wo

com

pone

nts:

the

2020

Leg

al S

uppo

rt P

rofe

ssio

nals

Trai

ning

will

be

held

on

Oct

ober

7, 2

020

in C

orpu

s Ch

risti,

Tex

as, a

nd th

e 20

20 R

egio

nal A

ttor

ney

Trai

ning

s will

be

held

at T

-Bar

-M in

New

Bra

unfe

ls, T

exas

as f

ollo

ws:

Oct

ober

26:

Tria

l Ski

lls; O

ctob

er 2

7-28

: Att

orne

y Co

nfer

ence

; Oct

ober

29:

Foc

used

trai

ning

TBD

(pos

sibly

Tra

uma

Info

rmed

Car

e). D

FPS

is cu

rren

tly w

orki

ng o

n an

age

nda

and

cont

ent f

or th

e co

nfer

ence

. The

Com

miss

ion

will

pr

ovid

e su

ppor

t for

this

trai

ning

with

a $

10,0

00 g

rant

($5,

000

will

be

allo

cate

d to

the

atto

rney

trai

ning

and

$5,

000

will

be

allo

cate

d to

the

lega

l sup

port

pro

fess

iona

ls’

trai

ning

).

VI.B

. Obj

ectiv

e: E

nsur

e th

at a

ttor

neys

and

judg

es a

re e

duca

ted

and

know

ledg

eabl

e in

ord

er to

em

ploy

bes

t pra

ctic

es in

pro

vidi

ng le

gal r

epre

sent

atio

n an

d in

con

duct

ing

hear

ings

.

VI.B

.1. S

trat

egy:

Sup

port

att

enda

nce

at st

ate

and

natio

nal j

udic

ial a

nd le

gal c

onfe

renc

es a

nd tr

aini

ng e

vent

s.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

adm

inist

ers d

iffer

ent j

udic

ial a

nd a

ttor

ney

scho

lars

hip

oppo

rtun

ities

thro

ugho

ut th

e fis

cal y

ear,

incl

udin

g bu

t not

lim

ited

to: (

1) T

he

bien

nial

ABA

Par

ent A

ttor

ney

Conf

eren

ce a

nd C

hild

ren

and

the

Law

Con

fere

nce

held

in W

ashi

ngto

n D.

C.; (

2) T

he S

BOT

Adva

nced

Fam

ily L

aw C

hild

Abu

se a

nd N

egle

ct 1

-Day

W

orks

hop;

(3) t

he N

atio

nal A

ssoc

iatio

n of

Cou

nsel

for C

hild

ren

Annu

al C

onfe

renc

e; a

nd (4

) the

Nat

iona

l Cou

ncil

of Ju

veni

le a

nd F

amily

Cou

rt Ju

dges

Ann

ual C

onfe

renc

e. F

or

all s

chol

arsh

ips,

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

dete

rmin

es sc

hola

rshi

p cr

iteria

and

dep

loys

an

appl

icat

ion

proc

ess t

hat i

nclu

des p

re- a

nd p

ost-

conf

eren

ce e

valu

atio

ns to

iden

tify

or c

onfir

m th

e kn

owle

dge

gain

ed a

nd n

ew p

ract

ices

att

ende

es p

lan

to im

plem

ent a

nd/o

r a c

urre

nt p

ract

ice

they

pla

n to

cha

nge.

The

surv

eys a

lso in

quire

abo

ut a

dditi

onal

to

pics

of i

nter

est t

o he

lp in

form

pla

nnin

g fo

r fut

ure

conf

eren

ces.

All

atto

rney

app

lican

ts fo

r Com

miss

ion

scho

lars

hips

mus

t be

curr

ently

repr

esen

ting

DFPS

or t

akin

g ap

poin

tmen

ts o

n th

e CP

S do

cket

, be

in g

ood

stan

ding

with

the

SBO

T an

d w

ith th

eir p

rimar

y ju

dge

and

com

mit

to c

ompl

etin

g a

post

-eve

nt su

rvey

from

the

Com

miss

ion.

Ju

dges

with

app

lican

ts fr

om th

eir j

urisd

ictio

n ar

e no

tifie

d by

the

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

and

aske

d to

con

firm

that

the

appl

ican

t is c

urre

ntly

repr

esen

ting

DFPS

or t

akin

g ap

poin

tmen

ts o

n th

e CP

S do

cket

.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Due

to h

ealth

and

trav

el c

once

rns a

ssoc

iate

d w

ith th

e CO

VID-

19 c

risis,

man

y 20

20 e

vent

s hav

e be

en c

ance

lled

or p

ostp

oned

. The

Com

miss

ion

had

allo

cate

d fu

nds f

or ju

dici

al a

nd a

ttor

ney

scho

lars

hips

for s

ever

al c

onfe

renc

es, b

ut, g

iven

the

conc

erns

rega

rdin

g tr

avel

at t

his t

ime,

the

Com

miss

ion

is w

aitin

g to

see

if co

nfer

ence

par

tner

s will

con

tinue

with

sum

mer

eve

nts.

Sub

sequ

ently

, man

y sc

hola

rshi

p pr

oces

ses h

ave

been

del

ayed

.

The

3rd

Annu

al A

dvan

ced

Child

Pro

tect

ion

Law

Con

fere

nce:

The

Com

miss

ion

allo

cate

d $1

0,00

0 to

cov

er c

onfe

renc

e co

sts a

nd sc

hola

rshi

ps fo

r att

ende

es fo

r the

Sec

tion’

s th

ird A

nnua

l Adv

ance

d Ch

ild P

rote

ctio

n La

w C

ours

e, w

hich

was

sche

dule

d fo

r Mar

ch 2

6-27

, 202

0 in

Hou

ston

. Due

to th

e CO

VID-

19 c

risis,

the

3rd

Annu

al A

dvan

ced

Child

Pr

otec

tion

Law

Con

fere

nce

was

can

celle

d. T

his c

onfe

renc

e w

ill n

ot b

e re

sche

dule

d.

Texa

s Dist

rict a

nd C

ount

y At

torn

ey A

ssoc

iatio

n Tr

aini

ng: T

he T

exas

Dist

rict a

nd C

ount

y At

torn

eys’

Ass

ocia

tion

(TDC

AA) h

ad in

vite

d th

e Co

mm

issio

n to

aga

in p

rovi

de 1

2 ho

urs

of C

PS-r

elat

ed M

CLE

for t

heir

CPS

Trac

k at

thei

r bie

nnia

l Crim

es A

gain

st C

hild

ren

four

-day

con

fere

nce.

TDC

AA’s

Crim

es A

gain

st C

hild

ren

Conf

eren

ce is

des

igne

d fo

r Dist

rict

and

Coun

ty A

ttor

ney

Offi

ces a

cros

s the

stat

e. T

he C

omm

issio

n pr

ovid

ed sp

eake

rs a

nd sc

hola

rshi

ps fo

r DFP

S Re

gion

al A

ttor

neys

in 2

018

and

plan

ned

to d

o so

aga

in th

is Ap

ril.

Wor

king

with

the

TDCA

A tr

aini

ng d

irect

or a

nd a

pla

nnin

g co

mm

ittee

, Com

miss

ion

staf

f dev

elop

ed c

urric

ulum

for t

he 2

-day

bre

akou

t tra

ck o

n CP

S iss

ues a

nd h

ad c

ontr

acte

d w

ith T

DCAA

to re

gist

er u

p to

28

Regi

onal

Att

orne

ys o

n Co

mm

issio

n sc

hola

rshi

ps. C

OVI

D-19

con

cern

s led

the

TDCA

A to

can

cel t

heir

conf

eren

ce. N

o po

stpo

ned

date

has

bee

n an

noun

ced

yet.

If an

d w

hen

it w

ill b

e re

sche

dule

d, th

e Co

mm

issio

n pl

ans t

o pa

rtne

r with

TDC

AA to

pro

vide

spea

kers

and

scho

lars

hips

for D

FPS

Regi

onal

Att

orne

ys a

s de

scrib

ed a

bove

.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

Adva

nced

Fam

ily L

aw O

ne-D

ay C

hild

Abu

se a

nd N

egle

ct W

orks

hop:

Thi

s yea

r’s C

hild

Abu

se a

nd N

egle

ct O

ne-D

ay W

orks

hop

is cu

rren

tly sc

hedu

led

for A

ugus

t 5, 2

020

and

will

be

hos

ted

by th

e SB

OT

Child

Pro

tect

ion

Law

Sec

tion.

The

Com

miss

ion

plan

s to

supp

ort t

his s

tate

wid

e M

CLE

effo

rt b

y pa

rtne

ring

with

the

SBO

T to

pro

vide

regi

stra

tion

scho

lars

hips

to q

ualif

ied

atto

rney

s fro

m a

cros

s the

stat

e. T

he C

omm

issio

n ha

s allo

cate

d $7

,500

to c

over

75

atto

rney

s at $

100

each

for r

egist

ratio

n to

the

live

one-

day

wor

ksho

p or

any

of t

he su

bseq

uent

repl

ays.

The

Com

miss

ion

hope

s to

anno

unce

the

atto

rney

scho

lars

hip

appl

icat

ion

proc

ess i

n th

e ne

ar fu

ture

.

NAC

C An

nual

Con

fere

nce:

The

NAC

C’s u

pcom

ing

43rd

ann

ual c

onfe

renc

e ha

s rec

ently

tran

sitio

ned

into

a v

irtua

l con

fere

nce

and

is sc

hedu

led

for M

onda

y, A

ugus

t 24

thro

ugh

Frid

ay, A

ugus

t 28,

202

0. T

he v

irtua

l pre

-con

fere

nce

is sc

hedu

led

for A

ugus

t 23r

d fo

r the

NAC

C’s R

ed B

ook

Trai

ning

(whi

ch is

hel

pful

trai

ning

esp

ecia

lly fo

r tho

se a

ttor

neys

and

ju

dges

wan

ting

to ta

ke th

e Ch

ild W

elfa

re L

aw S

peci

aliza

tion

exam

). Th

e Co

mm

issio

n ha

s allo

cate

d $1

0, 0

00 to

pro

vide

scho

lars

hips

to q

ualif

ied

Texa

s jud

ges a

nd a

ttor

neys

for

regi

stra

tion

cost

s. T

he C

omm

issio

n ho

pes t

o an

noun

ce th

e sc

hola

rshi

p ap

plic

atio

n pr

oces

s in

the

near

futu

re.

NCJ

FCJ A

nnua

l Con

fere

nce:

The

NCJ

FCJ’s

83r

d An

nual

Con

fere

nce

is cu

rren

tly sc

hedu

led

for J

uly

19-2

2, 2

020

in R

eno,

Nev

ada.

The

Com

miss

ion

has a

lloca

ted

$50,

000

to

prov

ide

reim

burs

emen

t sch

olar

ship

s for

qua

lifie

d ju

dges

upo

n re

ques

t to

cove

r reg

istra

tion

fees

and

con

fere

nce-

rela

ted

expe

nses

such

as t

rave

l, lo

dgin

g, a

nd m

eals,

up

to

the

amou

nt o

f $2,

000

per p

erso

n.

Goa

l VII:

Red

uce

raci

al a

nd e

thni

c di

spro

port

iona

lity

and

disp

ariti

es in

the

child

wel

fare

sys

tem

.

VII.A

. Obj

ectiv

e: S

uppo

rt e

ffort

s to

addr

ess d

ispr

opor

tiona

lity

and

disp

ariti

es in

the

Texa

s chi

ld w

elfa

re sy

stem

so th

at c

hild

ren

of c

olor

do

not e

xper

ienc

e di

spar

ate

effe

cts a

nd o

utco

mes

that

pro

long

thei

r sta

y in

fost

er c

are.

VII.A

.1. S

trat

egy:

Iden

tify

and

prom

ote

data

-driv

en, c

ross

-disc

iplin

ary

trai

ning

opp

ortu

nitie

s to

addr

ess d

ispro

port

iona

lity

and

disp

ariti

es a

mon

g ch

ildre

n an

d fa

mili

es in

volv

ed

in c

hild

pro

tect

ion

case

s.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

is co

mm

itted

to th

e go

al o

f red

ucin

g ra

cial

and

eth

nic

disp

ropo

rtio

nalit

y an

d di

spar

ities

in th

e ch

ild w

elfa

re s

yste

m th

roug

h de

velo

pmen

t and

dep

loym

ent o

f jud

icia

l and

att

orne

y re

sour

ces a

imed

at i

ncre

asin

g aw

aren

ess,

shar

ing

data

and

info

rmat

ion,

as w

ell a

s bes

t pra

ctic

es fo

r dea

ling

with

di

spro

port

iona

lity

and

disp

ariti

es sy

stem

ical

ly a

nd lo

cally

.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

Com

miss

ion

staf

f con

tinue

to u

se a

n eq

uity

lens

whe

n de

velo

ping

trai

ning

s and

new

pro

ject

s. T

he S

CTIC

Impl

emen

tatio

n Ta

sk F

orce

em

phas

izes e

mpl

oyin

g th

e co

ncep

ts o

f equ

ity a

s vita

l and

nec

essa

ry to

impl

emen

ting

a tr

aum

a-in

form

ed c

hild

wel

fare

syst

em. T

he C

omm

issio

n co

ntin

ues t

o id

entif

y op

port

uniti

es to

enh

ance

ju

dici

al a

nd a

ttor

ney

awar

enes

s of d

ispro

port

iona

lity

issue

s and

tech

niqu

es fo

r red

uctio

n of

disp

arat

e im

pact

s in

the

child

wel

fare

syst

em. I

n Ap

ril 2

020,

Com

miss

ion

staf

f at

tend

ed a

trai

ning

by

Nur

turin

g Di

vers

ity, e

ntitl

ed “

Raci

sm a

s Tra

uma.

” Ad

dres

sing

cultu

ral d

iffer

ence

s and

equ

itabl

e se

rvic

es w

as a

focu

s of t

he Ju

dici

al T

raum

a In

stitu

te

whi

ch w

as p

ostp

oned

in M

arch

202

0 an

d an

y vi

rtua

l or i

n-pe

rson

ver

sion

of th

e JT

I will

incl

ude

this

focu

s.

of 2

4

SYS

TEM

S IM

PRO

VEM

ENT

| LE

GAL

PO

LICY

& P

RACT

ICE

|TRA

ININ

G |D

ATA

| DU

AL S

TATU

S

Goa

l IX:

Ove

rsee

and

adm

inis

ter t

he C

ourt

Impr

ovem

ent P

rogr

am (C

IP) f

unds

to a

sses

s cur

rent

and

futu

re n

eeds

of t

he c

ourt

s, e

ndea

vor t

o in

crea

se fu

ndin

g av

aila

ble

to th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issi

on, a

nd le

vera

ge fu

nds w

ith st

rate

gic

and

stat

ewid

e pa

rtne

rs.

IX.A

. Obj

ectiv

e: E

xecu

te st

rate

gies

of t

he S

upre

me

Cour

t Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issi

on to

hel

p st

reng

then

cou

rts a

nd th

e ch

ild w

elfa

re sy

stem

to im

prov

e ou

tcom

es o

f saf

ety,

pe

rman

ency

, and

wel

l-bei

ng.

IX.A

.1. S

trat

egy:

Eng

age

in a

ctiv

ities

inte

gral

to th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n’s f

unct

ions

and

ope

ratio

ns.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

is a

stat

ewid

e, m

ulti-

disc

iplin

ary

colla

bora

tive

body

that

incl

udes

hig

h-le

vel m

embe

rshi

p fr

om th

e ex

ecut

ive,

judi

cial

, and

legi

slativ

e br

anch

es o

f Tex

as g

over

nmen

t, al

ong

with

chi

ld w

elfa

re p

artn

ers i

n th

e pr

ivat

e se

ctor

. At t

he fo

unda

tion

of th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n is

a lo

ngst

andi

ng c

olla

bora

tion

with

the

stat

e ch

ild w

elfa

re a

genc

y, th

e Te

xas D

epar

tmen

t of F

amily

and

Pro

tect

ive

Serv

ices

. The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n re

ceiv

es st

ate

appr

opria

ted

as w

ell a

s fed

eral

gra

nt fu

nds

whi

ch a

re u

sed

to o

pera

te th

e Co

mm

issio

n, fu

nd m

eetin

g fa

cilit

atio

n an

d tr

avel

reim

burs

emen

t, tr

aini

ng e

xpen

ses a

nd sc

hola

rshi

ps, a

s wel

l as p

ass-

thro

ugh

gran

ts to

sub-

Goa

l VIII

: Rec

ogni

ze a

nd re

spec

t trib

al so

vere

ignt

y, p

rote

ct th

e be

st in

tere

sts o

f Nat

ive

Amer

ican

chi

ldre

n an

d pr

omot

e st

abili

ty o

f Nat

ive

Amer

ican

chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es.

VIII.

A. O

bjec

tive:

Est

ablis

h, st

reng

then

and

supp

ort m

eani

ngfu

l and

resp

ectf

ul re

latio

nshi

ps w

ith tr

ibal

nat

ions

and

pro

mot

e aw

aren

ess,

edu

catio

n, a

nd a

pplic

atio

n of

the

Indi

an C

hild

Wel

fare

Act

so th

at In

dian

chi

ldre

n an

d fa

mili

es e

xper

ienc

e eq

uita

ble

and

resp

ectf

ul tr

eatm

ent i

n ke

epin

g w

ith th

eir c

usto

ms a

nd b

elie

fs.

VIII.

A.1.

Str

ateg

y: C

ontin

ue th

e m

utua

lly re

spec

tful

and

ong

oing

rela

tions

hips

with

Tex

as’ t

hree

fede

rally

-rec

ogni

zed

trib

es a

nd o

ther

trib

al n

atio

ns li

ving

in T

exas

.

Back

grou

nd: T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

supp

orts

par

tner

ing

with

syst

em st

akeh

olde

rs to

pro

mot

e on

goin

g kn

owle

dge

and

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

the

ICW

A an

d its

impo

rtan

ce.

The

Com

miss

ion

also

wor

ks w

ith n

atio

nal I

CWA

and

lead

ing

orga

niza

tions

on

unde

rsta

ndin

g an

d im

plem

enta

tion

of th

e Fe

dera

l Rul

e an

d Bu

reau

of I

ndia

n Af

fairs

(BIA

) Gu

idel

ines

. The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n al

so p

artn

ers w

ith D

FPS

in su

ppor

ting

trib

al/s

tate

col

labo

rativ

e m

eetin

gs a

nd c

olla

bora

tes w

ith th

e Ca

paci

ty B

uild

ing

Cent

er fo

r Cou

rts

and

the

part

icip

ants

of t

he C

IP IC

WA

Cons

titue

ncy

Grou

p.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

On

Augu

st 2

1, 2

019,

the

Com

miss

ion

sent

a JA

RL p

rovi

ding

an

upda

te in

the

case

cha

lleng

ing

the

cons

titut

iona

lity

of th

e In

dian

Chi

ld W

elfa

re A

ct (I

CWA)

, Br

acke

en v

. Ber

nhar

dt (f

orm

erly

Bra

ckee

n v.

Zin

ke).

On

Augu

st 9

, 201

9 a

thre

e-ju

dge

pane

l of t

he F

ifth

Circ

uit C

ourt

of A

ppea

ls iss

ued

an o

pini

on re

vers

ing

the

low

er c

ourt

’s

deci

sion

and

upho

ldin

g th

e IC

WA

as c

onst

itutio

nal.

On

Nov

embe

r 7, 2

019,

all

of th

e Fi

fth

Circ

uit’s

judg

es m

et a

nd v

acat

ed th

e Au

gust

9 d

ecisi

on su

a sp

onte

and

agr

eed

to

rehe

ar th

e ca

se e

n ba

nc. T

he fu

ll co

urt d

ecid

ed to

rehe

ar th

e ca

se o

n its

ow

n m

otio

n be

fore

dec

idin

g to

inst

ead

gran

t the

pla

intif

f’s m

otio

n fo

r reh

earin

g. O

ral a

rgum

ents

took

pl

ace

on Ja

nuar

y 22

, 202

0. C

omm

issio

n st

aff w

ill c

ontin

ue to

mon

itor t

his c

ase

and

prov

ide

rele

vant

upd

ates

. The

Com

miss

ion

is a

regu

lar p

artic

ipan

t in

the

CIP

ICW

A Co

nstit

uenc

y Gr

oup

mon

thly

cal

ls or

gani

zed

by th

e Ca

paci

ty B

uild

ing

Cent

er fo

r Cou

rts.

Com

miss

ion

staf

f mai

ntai

n co

ntac

t with

the

thre

e Te

xas T

ribes

dur

ing

the

COVI

D-19

cr

isis a

nd c

omm

unic

ate

any

reso

urce

s tha

t may

be

help

ful d

urin

g th

is tim

e. C

omm

issio

n st

aff a

ctiv

ely

recr

uit t

ribal

mem

bers

to p

artic

ipat

e in

Com

miss

ion

initi

ativ

es. A

be

havi

oral

hea

lth st

aff f

rom

the

Ysle

ta d

el S

ur P

uebl

o se

rves

on

the

Stat

ewid

e Co

llabo

rativ

e on

Tra

uma-

Info

rmed

Car

e.

of 2

4

SYST

EMS

IMPR

OVE

MEN

T |

LEG

AL P

OLI

CY &

PRA

CTIC

E |T

RAIN

ING

|DAT

A |

DUAL

STA

TUS

gran

tees

such

as T

exas

Cen

ter f

or th

e Ju

dici

ary

and

Offi

ce o

f Cou

rt A

dmin

istra

tion.

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n ad

opte

d its

mos

t rec

ent S

trat

egic

Pla

n in

201

6. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Co

mm

issio

n al

so c

onfe

rs re

gula

rly w

ith n

atio

nal o

rgan

izatio

ns a

nd o

ther

CIP

s and

subm

its a

nnua

l rep

orts

and

CIP

stra

tegi

c pl

ans t

o th

e Ad

min

istra

tion

for C

hild

ren

and

Fam

ilies

and

to th

e Su

prem

e Co

urt o

f Tex

as. T

he C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

hold

s Com

miss

ion

mee

tings

eve

ry fo

ur m

onth

s thr

ough

out e

ach

year

of t

he fi

ve-y

ear p

lan

and

cond

ucts

a b

i-mon

thly

col

labo

rativ

e ca

ll w

ith D

FPS

and

othe

r chi

ld w

elfa

re st

akeh

olde

rs a

s wel

l as n

umer

ous o

ther

cal

ls an

d m

eetin

gs re

late

d to

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n w

orkg

roup

s. C

hild

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

Staf

f ser

ves o

n th

e Pu

blic

Priv

ate

Part

ners

hip,

Mea

dow

s Men

tal H

ealth

Pol

icy

Inst

itute

, Edu

catio

n Re

ach

for T

exan

s, a

nd m

any

othe

r st

akeh

olde

r wor

kgro

ups a

nd su

bcom

mitt

ees f

orm

ed u

nder

the

lead

ersh

ip o

f its

chi

ld w

elfa

re p

artn

ers.

The

Chi

ldre

n’s C

omm

issio

n en

gage

s in

ongo

ing

part

icip

atio

n w

ith A

CF

and

DFPS

rega

rdin

g th

e CF

SP, A

PSR,

CFS

R an

d PI

P an

d CI

P St

rate

gic

Plan

.

05/2

2/20

Upd

ate:

In F

Y201

9, th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n re

ceiv

ed a

ppro

xim

atel

y $1

.7 m

illio

n in

fede

ral C

IP fu

nds f

or th

e 20

19-2

020

fisca

l yea

r. Th

ese

fund

s are

use

d fo

r Co

mm

issio

n op

erat

ions

as w

ell a

s bei

ng p

asse

d th

roug

h to

gra

nt re

cipi

ents

such

as t

he O

ffice

of C

ourt

Adm

inist

ratio

n, T

exas

Cen

ter f

or th

e Ju

dici

ary,

and

Tex

as L

egal

Ser

vice

s Co

rpor

atio

n, a

s wel

l as g

rant

s for

trai

ning

eve

nts t

o DF

PS, S

BOT,

Am

eric

an B

ar A

ssoc

iatio

n, N

atio

nal A

ssoc

iatio

n of

Cou

nsel

for C

hild

ren,

and

oth

ers.

DFP

S st

aff p

artic

ipat

e on

th

e fo

llow

ing

wor

kgro

ups a

nd c

omm

ittee

s: C

olla

bora

tive

Coun

cil,

Syst

ems I

mpr

ovem

ent C

omm

ittee

, Dat

a Co

mm

ittee

, Tra

inin

g Co

mm

ittee

, Leg

al P

roce

ss a

nd P

ract

ice,

Dua

l St

atus

Tas

k Fo

rce,

Fos

ter C

are

& E

duca

tion

com

mitt

ee a

nd w

orkg

roup

s, P

aren

t Res

ourc

e W

orkg

roup

, and

on

the

Stat

ewid

e Co

llabo

rativ

e on

Tra

uma-

Info

rmed

Car

e. T

he

Child

ren’

s Com

miss

ion

publ

ishes

an

upda

ted

Repo

rt to

Com

miss

ion

in a

dvan

ce o

f eac

h Co

mm

issio

n m

eetin

g as

wel

l as J

IR a

nd JA

RL le

tter

s, p

roje

ct re

port

s, m

eetin

g m

inut

es,

mee

ting

agen

das,

and

follo

w u

p re

port

s for

all

shor

t-te

rm a

nd lo

ng-t

erm

pro

ject

s thr

ough

out t

he fi

scal

yea

r. Th

e Ch

ildre

n’s C

omm

issio

n al

so p

ublis

hes a

n an

nual

repo

rt to

the

Supr

eme

Cour

t of T

exas

in D

ecem

ber o

f eac

h ye

ar.

INSERT - TAB 4

1,668,768$ 91,924$

1,791,065$ 3,551,757$

Expenses OutstandingBudget To-date Obligations

Indirect 1,273,639$ $ 667,489 $ 606,150Staff Directed Projects 183,500$ $ 34,003 $ 149,497

Grants 1,021,569$ $ 312,432 $ 709,137Scholarships 96,500$ 2,728$ 93,772$

$ 2,575,208 $ 1,016,653 $ 1,558,555

88,358$ $ 2,446,746$ 1,558,555$ 976,549*

FY 2020 BUDGET

FY 2020 OBLIGATIONS

CURRENT FINANCIAL STATUS

FY 2019 Carry Forward

Federal Fund Balance 5/15/20FY 2020 Outstanding Obligations

Estimated Unexpended/Carry Forward FY 2021

State General Revenue Balance 5/15/20

Children's CommissionFinancial Report

FY 2020 State General Revenue FY 2020 Federal Distribution

FY 2020 Available Funds

*Due to COVID-19 and resulting postponement/cancellation of conferences and meetings, the carry forward balance to FY 2021 will increase. The exact amount of this increase is not certain at this time. Actual numbers will be presented at the September 2020 Commission Meeting.

Insert Tab 5

Commissioner Updates May 2020

Ms. Paula Bibbs-Samuels - Statewide Parent Collaboration Group

The pandemic has caused many of us to have to cancel monthly meetings to adhere to the 6 feet of separation rule and recommendation. It is expected that there will be an increase in reported child abuse and domestic violence cases as a result of pandemic induced stress therefore parents are expecting to be supportive and helpful during this time. I am still talking to parents on the phone and we plan to schedule a Zoom Parent Support Group for May 21, 2020 and ensuing meetings until we are able to meet personally again.

Please remember parents of the Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and the parent liaisons in the different regions are available to you for input, advice, perspective, and to speak. We want to ensure information continues to be provided regarding parents involved in the Child Welfare system and their experiences as well as how procedures can be improved and modified to promote consistency, familial connections, and safe families.

Hon. Gary Coley - 74th District Court

Since our last meeting, I know that we have all been focused on trying to adapt and remain accessible in a remote manner. While many events were cancelled or postponed, the Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition went forward with a virtual meeting on April 16, 2020. Over 100 attendees heard Judge Robert Lung share his story at our Zoom meeting. While I wish we had been able to hear his story in person, one of the byproducts of the Zoom meeting was that we have a recording that I can share with everyone.

Webinar Recording from Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition Virtual Meeting

In April, our team in Waco hosted a webinar for the Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition with Judge Robert Lung from Colorado. Judge Lung is a survivor of sex trafficking and chair of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. You can hear him share his powerful story in the following webinar recording.

https://vimeo.com/408627094/24f8c5211f

Along those lines, Unbound also is opening a new drop-in center in Fort Worth and I am including the link to the video below.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=C955jSF0fno

Ms. Kate Olse - Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services

The Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) continues the important work of supporting direct service providers across the State. While COVID-19 presents many challenges to the entire child welfare system in Texas, the impact has been immediately felt by community organizations working directly with children, youth and families. Even through this pandemic, TACFS continues to progress our work involving





Community Based Care readiness, FFPSA, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth projects, the Texas Permanency Outcomes Project, work with our mental health cohort, and our partnership with the Children’s Commission. TACFS also continues to look for new, innovative ways support child and youth serving organizations during this challenging time through data, research, and clinical support.

TACFS Coronavirus Pandemic Response • The Texas Alliance for Child and Family Services, dedicated a page of their website for COVID-19

updates, shared protocols and state and federal information for members and stakeholders - https://tacfs.org/covid-19.php

• TACFS is facilitating communication through meetings that address new pandemic information including:

• Residential Child Care Licensing regulatory modifications to child visitations, background checks for new staff, and trainings for new foster parents and staff

• Emphasis on crisis interventions and escalating need for child maltreatment prevention • Public health shifts in service, including telehealth and telemedicine • The DFPS modifications to policy and procedures for family and court visits • Immediate COVID response expenses

• Distributing frequent updates to providers about federal financial relief and new changes to COVID-19 response and protection.

• TACFS mailed COVID care packages to child welfare organizations across the state.

And, with generous support from funders, TACFS has begun down-granting funds to child welfare direct service organizations to help address the immediate needs of children and families in response to COVID-19. We have already down-granted thousands of dollars and distributed approximately $17,000 in PPE supplies. Several thousand more dollars will be distributed over the next several weeks. Child welfare organizations have experienced varying changes in demand for services, quick adaptability to virtual services delivery, a lack of necessary PPE and protective/cleaning supplies to ensure safety of children, families, and staff, and funding challenges due to reductions in private funding, donations, volunteers, etc. Our hope is that this additional support will ensure children, youth, and families across Texas continue receiving access to high-quality services and support during this crisis.

Updates on events

TACFS recently hosted our Spring symposium on Resilience which was made up of speakers who shared their diverse perspectives and experiences on trauma and resilience in both child welfare and the healthcare sectors. They all presented impactful perspectives to inspire us as we all navigate through this uncharted territory.

May is foster care appreciation month and TACFS is honored to highlight and recognize our member organizations that have continued to provide essential services to at-risk youth in foster care and families all of the time, but especially in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Follow along on our social media platforms as we highlight their incredible work happening across Texas.

https://tacfs.org/covid-19.php

TACFS continues to plan for its annual Texas Child Care Administrators Conference, which is scheduled for October 19-21, 2020. TACFS is planning a training event not to be missed with great speakers, informative sessions, and cutting-edge training.

Ms. Vicki Spriggs - Texas CASA

Texas CASA appreciates all the hard work and innovation by the courts, Child Protective Services, attorneys and other system participants to enable us to continue our work with children and families during this public health crisis. State leaders should be proud of these combined efforts under such difficult circumstances. Texas CASA would like to share COVID-19 related resources that we have assembled and developed: We created a COVID-19 Resource page that can be found here: https://covid19.texascasa.org/.

We also created a short document identifying critical issues facing children, parents and families during the health emergency and CASA's response, which can be found here: https://covid19.texascasa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2020/04/Texas-CASA-COVID19-Response-CASAs-Essential-Role_Final4.24.pdf. We look forward to seeing all of our partners and friends with the Children's Commission soon.

Collaborative Council Updates

Ms. Christine Gendron – Texas Network of Youth Services

TNOYS has been working hard to support youth service providers in responding to COVID-19 and adapting to the new reality the pandemic creates. We help our members stay informed and ensure their needs are met, so that they can continue to provide the highest quality of service to youth and families.

Emergency Response Resource Center: TNOYS expanded its Emergency Response Resource Center, which focuses on keeping children and youth safe during and after emergencies, to include a robust array of Resources and Information on COVID-19. These resources include guidance from state and federal agencies, guidance for community-based programs on providing virtual services, and guidance for residential programs on topics including securing bulk groceries and other needed supplies amidst scarcity, implementing emergency response protocols, and managing challenging youth behavior during a time of crisis.

Facilitate Collaboration and Coordination: TNOYS is facilitating information-sharing, collaboration, and coordination between service providers and state regulatory agencies. TNOYS is utilizing its established role as a cross-system convener to facilitate information-sharing and coordination of resources across systems.

Coordinate Distribution of Supplies and Funding: TNOYS has been distributing needed supplies, such as masks, hand sanitizer, and laptops and tablets for videoconferencing, to Texas’ emergency shelters and other child and youth-serving organizations. Additionally, TNOYS is providing small grants to member organizations to support their continued operations and service provision amidst the pandemic.

https://covid19.texascasa.org/

https://covid19.texascasa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2020/04/Texas-CASA-COVID19-Response-CASAs-Essential-Role_Final4.24.pdf

https://covid19.texascasa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2020/04/Texas-CASA-COVID19-Response-CASAs-Essential-Role_Final4.24.pdf

http://tnoys.org/emergency-response-resource-center/

http://tnoys.org/resources-and-information-on-covid-19/

Impact Report from Youth Perspective: TNOYS is developing a report that examines the lasting impact of natural disasters and other emergencies on youths’ lives, from the youth perspective. TNOYS’ young adult staff are interviewing youth and young adults who are homeless or in foster care to gather information for the report.

Training to Build Texas’ Capacity to Keep Youth Safe During Emergencies: TNOYS is integrating training content relevant to the pandemic into its 37thAnnual Conference on Services to Youth and Families, which will take place virtually June 25-26. TNOYS will offer continuing education, including CLEs, to conference participants. Topics will include resilience, trauma-informed care, emergency preparedness and response, and more.

Ms. Mary Christine Reed – Texas Foster Youth Justice Project

The Texas Foster Youth Justice Project, a special project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc., provides free legal representation and guidance to current and aged out foster youth across Texas and to those that work with them. Common legal issues we address include identification document problems, issues with accessing the Former Foster Care Children’s (FFCC) Medicaid Program, name changes, and obtaining CPS records. We also address immigration/citizenship issues, sibling access, foster youth rights, education issues, clearing criminal and juvenile history, unresolved Class C misdemeanor issues from their time in foster care, access to extended foster care and aged foster youth benefits, etc. This is but a small sample of the services we provide, and we are constantly adding to this list to be responsive to the incredibly diverse needs of individuals among the current and former foster youth population.

While our physical offices have closed due to the pandemic, our staff is working remotely, and we are continuing to accept new clients. We are especially concerned about the legal needs of our client community stemming from the impact of the pandemic on our economy and other systems. We’ve developed COVID-19 resources for foster youth and made them available on our website. In addition, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid’s website has a vast array of COVID-19 legal information and resources available that are helpful to youth and families involved in the child welfare system. Additional resources are added to these websites on an ongoing basis as new information becomes available. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid has also hosted a number of Facebook Live Q&A sessions on common issues such as economic stimulus payments, worker’s rights, and family law.

Our project developed and published A Guide for Those “Aging Out” of Foster Care in Texas, currently in its 7th Edition. In February 2020, thanks to the generous financial support of the Children’s Commission, we received a large shipment of printed guides, which can be ordered from us free of charge for distribution to youth. It also can be download from our website. Due to the pandemic, we have put shipments on hold, but will resume shipment once our office reopens. Email us at [email protected] if you would like to order guides.

The Texas Foster Youth Justice Project can be reached at:

1-877-313-3688 (toll-free) [email protected]

http://tnoys.org/2020-annual-conference/

http://texasfosteryouth.org/covid-19-resources/

https://www.trla.org/covid19-main

http://texasfosteryouth.org/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

4920 N. IH 35 Austin, TX 78751 texasfosteryouth.org

We welcome referrals of youth to our Project for assistance. Even if we are unable to provide legal representation, we will always strive to give them legal advice regarding their specific issue or situation. You are welcome to contact us for initial guidance or to help facilitate the referral of the youth for services.

DFPS/CPS Updates

Ms. Deneen Dryden - Texas Department of Family & Protective Services, Child Protective Services

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a report on behalf of DFPS and Child Protective Services. I am the new CPS Associate Commissioner, as of May 2020. I am excited and humbled by this opportunity. My husband was born and raised in Texas and rejoiced in the chance to return home. I worked in the Kansas child welfare system for several years and worked in the area of Trauma Informed Care for a private agency. I also bring a residential provider perspective, with more than twenty years of experience as a foster parent and we adopted some of our foster children who were not able to return home. If you see me, I may have a “deer in the headlights” look, as there is so much to learn and I realize I have big shoes to fill. Kristene Blackstone provided tremendous leadership over the last four years and our child welfare system is much stronger because of her. I know the Children’s Commission will continue to support our work and I look forward to meeting each of you in person.

During this unprecedented pandemic, we worry about the stress that our children and families are experiencing. We are carefully monitoring their needs and will always do our part to help keep children safe.

Thank you for your continued collaboration during this challenging time. We continue to prioritize the important parent/child visitation when children are in out of home care, using face-to-face visits when possible and virtual visits when there is a standing court order related to visitation or health-related concerns. During the week of May 11, CPS staff resumed most face-to-face contacts after having relied predominantly on virtual contacts for two months. There are exceptions where we will continue to use a virtual method, such as contacts with children who have complex medical needs where our contact could jeopardize their fragile health. We are also working to reduce the contacts where possible, with practices to minimize multiple caseworkers coming into a facility or working with a family. For example, one caseworker will visit the child and the kinship caregiver, rather than both a child’s caseworker and a kinship development worker.

Our investment in a mobile workforce prior to the COVID-19 pandemic helped us be more prepared to adjust to this situation. Most of the staff are continuing to telework to increase physical distancing and reduce the viral spread. Our staff have and are using protective personal equipment in their contacts. We have closely tracked children and youth in conservatorship who have been tested for COVID-19, including

http://texasfosteryouth.org/

those who test positive. We have partnered with the medical community to provide guidance on how to best care for children who have tested positive or been exposed.

Our collaborative work with stakeholders has been critically important during the last few months and it has only strengthened our work together. Texas participates in several national calls and has been recognized for its creative efforts to continue court hearings through the use of technology in order to remove barriers to children and youth achieving permanency. The partnerships we share with the Children’s Commission stakeholders, advocates, residential and medical providers, faith-based organizations, governmental agencies, and other community groups have reminded us that even during such a widespread crisis, our focus on safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families is an important mission and we are not in it alone. Thank you for your valuable partnership during this difficult time.

Our ongoing work, such as the expansion of Community Based Care, the analysis of options for the Family First Act, the improvement of our support for youth transitioning to adulthood, preparation for an upcoming legislative session, and other critical areas remain. I look forward to future involvement with the Children’s Commission and the opportunity to update you on our strategic efforts to continue moving the Texas child welfare system forward.

Office of Court Administration Update

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders, in late March, the Office of Court Administration (OCA) established protocols to continue court activities by providing state judges the ability to stream and host court proceedings via Zoom and YouTube.

On Friday, May 8th, the Office of Court Administration (OCA), the information technology provider for the appellate courts and state judicial agencies within the Texas Judicial Branch, identified a serious security event in the branch network, which was later determined to be a ransomware attack. The attack is unrelated to the courts’ migration to remote hearings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Work continues to bring all judicial branch resources back online. Critical judicial branch information, including updates concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, is available on the Texas Judicial Branch website.

Jurist in Residence Report

Hon. Rob Hofmann – Jurist in Residence and 452nd District Court

Since the last meeting:

• Attended the Texas HHSC Public Private Partnership meeting, October 11, Austin • Continued work as board member and committee chair for National Council of Juvenile and

Family Court Judges and attended Board Meetings, Nov 14, Pittsburg, PA and March 20, Virtual • Attended the Texas HHSC Public Private Partnership meeting, January 10, Austin • Chaired the Foster Care and Education Committee meeting, January 10, Austin • Chaired the Systems Improvement Committee meeting, February 11, Virtual

http://www.txcourts.gov/

• Presented at the Concho Valley Foster Care Education Consortium, February 24, San Angelo • Assisted with planning and present at the Hill Country Ad Litem Training, February 28, Kerrville • Participated in Commission’s conference calls Re: Covid-19 Guidance Documents • Assisted with planning and prepared to moderate the Texas Judicial Trauma Institute, Postponed • Served as Subject Matter Expert for the Texas Office of Court Administration Uniform Case

Management System Virtual Workshops, March 30, April 13, 15, 17, 20, 21 • Participated in CIP-OCA-DFPS Stakeholder collaborative calls • Participated in Education Reach for Texans Higher Education Liaison Covid-19 calls, April 9, 13 • Participated in Children’s Bureau Covid-19 call, April 9 • Attended National Judicial College Constitutional Examination of Covid-19 Pandemic, April 14, Virtual • Participated in Commission’s conference calls Re: Emergency Orders/CPS Deadlines • Held conference call with One Accord for Kids Staff, April 22 • Participated in conference call with planning team for the Child Welfare Conference, April, 28 • Chaired the Foster Care and Education Committee meeting, May 1, Virtual • Chaired the Systems Improvement Committee meeting, May 12, Virtual • Planned/moderated Commission’s Best Practice in Virtual Hearings Seminar, May 22, Virtual • Planned for and prepared to moderate Commission’s Silver Linings Seminar, Late May, Virtual

Future events:

• Attend the Children’s Commission Staff Retreat, June • Attend the Texas HHSC Public Private Partnership Meeting, July 10, Austin • Continue work as board member and committee chair for National Council of Juvenile and Family

Court Judges and attend Board Meetings, July 18, Sparks, NV; and Nov 12, Pittsburg, PA • Attend the 83rd National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Annual Conference, July 19,

Sparks, NV • Attend the Concho Valley Foster Care Education Consortium, September 28, San Angelo • Attend the Child Welfare Conference, October 25-28, Georgetown • Present at the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Annual

Conference, November 11, San Antonio • Present at the Education Reach for Texans Conference, postponed to Spring, 2021

Insert - Tab 6

COVID-19 in Texas and the Child Welfare System Response

On March 11, 2020, the novel coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19, was declared a pandemic and efforts quickly went into place to protect the health and safety of children and families in Texas and throughout the United States. Texas Governor Greg Abbott first issued a declaration of a state of emergency on March 13, 2020. In general, measures to protect the community included orders to stay home in many jurisdictions, closure of schools through the end of the 2019-2020 school year, and guidance regarding protective equipment and masks, social distancing, and conducting essential business. Below is a summary of some of the most impactful changes to the Texas child welfare system.

Virtual Court Proceedings The Supreme Court of Texas has issued various Orders related to the judicial system response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Courts throughout the state have suspended in-person hearings and have been directed to convene court through the use of technology. The Office of Court Administration purchased Zoom licenses for all Texas courts and offered various webinars and technical support to ensure judges and court staff have tools at their disposal to provide access to the virtual courtroom. For more information, please visit OCA’s Zoom Information and YouTube Support webpage.

Child Abuse Prevention The spread of COVID-19 coincided with the observation of Child Abuse Prevention Month. The effects of the pandemic causing office, school, and childcare facilities to close underscores the importance of preventing child abuse and neglect and addressing the underlying issues that put children in danger. Supreme Court Justice and Chair of the Children’s Commission, Justice Eva Guzman, authored an editorial aimed at raising awareness about the need to prevent child abuse and emphasized the urgency of prevention efforts in the wake of the pandemic. The editorial entitled, “The Challenge to Protect Our Children Has Never Been Greater,” was released by multiple news sites, including the Austin American Statesman.

Guidance on Handling Child Welfare Cases The Children’s Commission has developed a series of communiques to assist Texas judges and lawyers handling child welfare matters in adjusting their practice and approach in response to

https://www.txcourts.gov/court-coronavirus-information/electronic-hearings-zoom/

https://www.txcourts.gov/court-coronavirus-information/electronic-hearings-zoom/

https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20200405/challenge-to-protect-our-children-has-never-been-greater

the pandemic. The following topics have been shared via guidance documents as well as webinars via Zoom: modifying service plans and expectations for compliance when services may be unavailable in person; handling sensitive matters and protecting privacy while upholding the open courts doctrine; maintaining a commitment to child abuse prevention when many mandated reporters are not in direct contact with children; identifying special needs for parents and accessing technology and support when parents lack resources; maintaining educational progress amidst school closures; encouraging strong legal advocacy in the virtual courtroom; and preventing case backlog by leveraging the available online and technology avenues available for resolution. For more information, please visit the Children’s Commission website.

Virtual Contact and Virtual Visitation The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) issued guidance regarding how caseworkers and staff can conduct case planning that involves children and families while observing health and safety precautions. The Department also developed virtual visitation guidelines to promote continued contact between children, families, caregivers, and caseworkers. DFPS has also closely monitored placements and tracked the spread of COVID-19 among the population of children and youth in DFPS managing conservatorship. For more information, please visit the DFPS Coronavirus Resources webpage.

Additional Links and Resources: • National Association of Council for Children: COVID-19 Resource Hub • National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Parent/Caregiver Guide To Helping Families

Cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 • National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges: COVID-19 Resources and Updates • Texas Alliance of Child & Family Services: COVID-19 webpage • Texas CASA: Updates & Resources Regarding COVID-19 • Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium: COVID-19 Mental Health Resources

webpage • Texas Council on Family Violence: COVID-19 Resource Center • Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Statewide COVID-19 Mental Health

Support Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, toll-free at 833-986-1919. • Texas Network of Youth Services: Resources and Information on COVID-19 • Texans Care for Children: Coronavirus webpage • TexProtects: A Helpful Guide for Families to Thrive During COVID-19

http://texaschildrenscommission.gov/

https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/About_DFPS/Coronavirus/

https://www.naccchildlaw.org/page/CoronavirusCOVID-19

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/parent-caregiver-guide-to-helping-families-cope-with-the-coronavirus-disease-2019

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/parent-caregiver-guide-to-helping-families-cope-with-the-coronavirus-disease-2019

https://www.ncjfcj.org/covid-19-resources-and-updates/

https://tacfs.org/covid-19.php

https://covid19.texascasa.org/

https://www.utsystem.edu/pophealth/tcmhcc/resources/

https://www.utsystem.edu/pophealth/tcmhcc/resources/

https://tcfv.org/covid-19/

http://tnoys.org/resources-and-information-on-covid-19/

https://txchildren.org/coronavirus

https://www.texprotects.org/familyguidetothrive/