Adoption and Permanency Forum II

1. Adoption and PermanencyForum II Expediting Court Process Sponsored by State Court Administrative Office, Child Welfare Services Division 30 October 2009

2. Envisioning and Actualizing Change: Rules of the Road and Tips For the Trip Judge Nancy Salyers

3. Envisioning Change In the beginning, there was a problem, which became an opportunity which became a problem again.

4. Rules of the Road #1 “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Anonymous

5. Rules of the Road • From a schoolhouse . . .

6. Rules of the Road . . . To a warehouse.

7. Rules of the Road “There are three kinds of groups: Those which make things happen; Those which wait for things to happen; and Those which wonder what happened.” Anonymous

8. Rules of the Road #2 “Pay attention to the questions you need to ask, Not the answers you want to hear.” Leonard Hirsch

9. Rules of the Road Why must this child come into care? Where are the parents? Where are the relatives? Who has a significant relationship? Why is this child still in foster care? How is this child doing in school? Is this continuance necessary?

10. Rules of the Road Why is this child still in care? Who are the relatives? Where are the relatives? How are visits progressing? When is the next visit? What is the next expectation marker? Why must this child stay in care?

11. Rules of the Road In Whose Best Interests?

12. Rules of the Road Best Practice of Law Plus Best Practice of Social Work Equal Best Interests of Children

13. Rules of the Road CLIENT FAMILY or COURT FAMILY Which has more issues?

14. Set the Tone COLLABORATION vs CLOBBERATION

15. Set the Tone Docketed One Judge Staggered Call Undocketed Several Judges Cattle Call

16. Rules of the Road #3 Show Up Show Up Prepared Uniform note taking, reason for hearing, expectation for next hearing, uniform case plan

17. Set the Tone Urgency vs Delay Shared Responsibility vs Mistrust Knowledgeable Action vs Fear High Expectation vs None

18. Philosophy One Judge One Family Strategic Plan Mission Statement Permanent = Permanent Information is meant to be shared We are Accountable Children need childhood

19. Rules of the Road #4 “If you have a lot of things to do, get the nap out of the way first.” an 8 year old

20. Rules of the Road Permanency begins on Day 1. Permanency has no end, but the process does.

21. Admonish, Admonish, Admonish Words Visual Reinforce Reinforce Reinforce

22. Admonish . . . Concurrent Plan Good Bye Letter Voluntary Relinquishment Establishment of Paternity by order + Child Support

23. Resources Children Parents Foster Parents Service Providers CASA CRB Stakeholders

24. Resources Court Coordinators Court Facilitators Parent educators Paternity testers Head Start Public Schools PTA

25. Resources Child Support Enforcement Adoption Information Center Children’s Room Table of Five Child Protection Advisory Workgroup Geographic Calendars Universities

26. Rules of the Road #5 Do No Harm (Safety vs. Risk) Watch the Dancing Line

27. Remove/Reunify “Parents don’t have to be perfect” “Compliance doesn’t mean behavioral change” “Get to the root of behavior” “How does it interfere with parenting safely?”

28. Rules of the Road #6 “When you get to the fork in the road, take it.” Yogi Berra

29. Cook County Court & IDCFS Jointly Manage for Results

30. Results in Cook County Opened Closed Pending 1994 9,991 2,834 58,000 1999 3,984 12,055 19,081 2007 1,150 2,455 8,802

31. Rules of the Road #7 “Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.” Dave Barry

32. Rules of the Road Sworn affidavit listing relatives 1 hour “Preliminary” Hearing Open Discovery Joint Interview of Investigator Set first visit + + + Schedule Court Family Conference (45 day conference)

33. Rules of the Road Parent Education Project “What Parents Can Do” Raise Expectations Set Expectations Articulate Expectations Reinforce, Reinforce, Reinforce

34. Rules of the Road Court Improvement Program + AFSA + CFSR Process + Program Improvement Plan + Pew Commission Recommendations + Court Performance Measures + Program Improvement Plan +

35. Rules of the Road National Leadership Summit + Call to Action + Fostering Court Improvement + Expanded CIP Funding = MOVEMENT

36. Movement The act of moving Change of pace, place or posture Progress and advancement Motion of the mind or feeling CHANGE

37. Rules of the Road #8 The only person who likes CHANGE is a wet baby.

38. Change Journey Placement Notebooks Statewide Information System Reasonable Efforts re: safety Safety vs Risk Concerns/Ideas

39. Change/Expectations Concurrent Planning Good-bye Letter Voluntary Relinquishment Expanded definition of Family Importance of Visitation Judicial Leadership (Stakeholders, Community, Legal Community)

40. Change The Hawthorne Effect

41. Rules of the Road #9 What gets measured gets done Or DATA, DATA, DATA IS NOT YADA, YADA, YADA. Judge Nancy Salyers

42. Rules of the Road #10 “Even if you think you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers

43. “Some days there aren’t any trumpets, just lots of dragons. Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.” Mary Anne Radmacher