<h3>Louisiana Court Improvement Program: Achieving Permanency for Children</h3><div class="col-md-8 text-justify"><h4>Background</h4><p>The Louisiana CIP is coordinated by the <a href="/Children_Families?p=CIP">Louisiana Supreme Court (LASC)</a>. Through a subgrant agreement with LASC, the <a href="https://pelicancenter.org/index.html" target="_blank">Pelican Center for Children and Families</a> administrates some of the CIP Strategic Plan on behalf of LASC, including providing training and conferences, consultations with courts and other legal and child welfare stakeholders, resources on the <a href="https://clarola.org" target="_blank">Children’s Law Advocacy Resources Online (CLARO)</a> website, data collection and analysis, best practice guides and bulletins, strategic planning meetings, project planning and implementation, and other expertise. The Pelican Center also partners with DCFS and an alliance of the seven Louisiana public university schools of social work to implement the Louisiana Child Welfare Training Academy (LCWTA) and serves on the LCWTA Steering Committee.</p><h4>Committees, Subcommittees, and Workgroups</h4><p>CIP has created, and is involved in, multiple committees, subcommittees, and workgroups. The CIP Child Advocacy Resource Effort (CARE) Committee serves as the CIP statewide multidisciplinary taskforce and meets quarterly to provide oversight and direction to CIP activities, subcommittees, and workgroups, reviews and assesses relevant child welfare data, and identifies opportunities for collaborative interventions and strategies to improve outcomes for Louisiana children and families. The CIP Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Subcommittee meets at least quarterly to collect and analyze relevant qualitative and quantitative data to track the success of the CIP strategies and propose interventions to the CIP Child Advocacy Resource Effort (CARE) Committee and other child welfare and legal stakeholders as appropriate.</p><p>Multiple CIP workgroups meet consistently and include but are not limited to the: CIP Alternatives to Removal and Benchbook Workgroup, Youth Voice Workgroup, CIP Children’s Code Workgroup, Title IV-E Workgroup, Resolution 606 Workgroup, Children Without Immigration Status Workgroup, Child Contact Information Workgroup, Motion Practice Workgroup, Together We Can (TWC) Conference Steering Committee, Child Welfare Law Specialist (CWLS) Workgroup, CIP Training and CLARO Workgroup, CIP Strategic Plan Workgroup with the DCFS Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Child Welfare, CIP Strategic Plan Workgroup with the Deputy Judicial Administrator, Children and Families of LASC, CIP Implementation Workgroup, CIP Judicial Fellow Workgroup, TBRI Court Training Workgroup, Trial Skills Building Training Workgroup, Court Documents Workgroup, Louisiana District Attorney Association (LDAA) Strategic Planning Workgroup, CIP Data Map Workgroup, CIP Café Workgroup and other training development/implementation workgroups.</p><p>The CIP also has representation on multiple committees, subcommittees, and workgroups led by various child welfare and legal stakeholders, including but not limited to the: Pelican Center Training and Education Committee, Vulnerable Youth Subcommittee, Governor’s Office Children’s Advisory Committee, Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI) Workgroup, Pelican Center Disproportionality & Disparate Outcomes Committee (DDOC), Pelican Center Fellows Workgroup, Children’s Rights Workgroup, DCFS Program Improvement Plan (PIP) Implementation and Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) Workgroup, DCFS Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) State Steering Committee, Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) Children’s Law Committee, Louisiana State Law Institute Children’s Code Committee, Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Children’s Justice Act Task Force, DCFS Safety and Decision Making Team, LCWTA Steering Committee, ICWA workgroup, LSBA CINC Task Force, DCFS Kinship Navigator Statewide Committee, Substance Exposed Newborns Policy Academy Workgroup, and DCFS Family Preservation Team.</p><h4>Priority Areas and Projects</h4><p>The Louisiana CIP has the following four priority areas and specific projects for its five-year CIP Strategic Plan:</p><ol><li><strong>Improving the Quality of CINC Hearings and Reviews</strong> <ul><li>CINC Benchbook and Court Documents Project</li><li>Court Hearing Project</li><li>Race Equity, Disproportionalities, and Disparities Project</li><li>Appellate Project</li><li>Remote Hearings Project</li><li>Youth Voice Project</li><li>Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and Tribal Project</li><li>Guardianship as a Permanent Plan Project</li></ul></li><li><strong>Providing Quality CINC Training and Resources for Judges and Legal and Child Welfare Stakeholders</strong> <ul><li>Training and Support Project</li></ul></li><li><strong>Improving the Quality of Legal Representation in CINC Cases</strong> <ul><li>Child Representation Protection Commission Project</li><li>Title IV-E Funding Project</li><li>Engagement and Advocacy Project</li><li>Multidisciplinary Representation Program Project</li><li>Mediation Project</li><li>Child Welfare Law Specialist (CWLS) Certification Project</li><li>Motion Practice Project</li></ul></li><li><strong>Joint Projects between CIP and DCFS to Improve Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being Outcomes</strong> <ul><li>Child Welfare Decision Making Model (CWADM) Project</li><li>My Community Cares (MCC) Project</li><li>Civil Legal Services Project</li><li>Foster Caregiver Project </li></ul></li></ol><p>To learn more, see the full five-year <a href="/children_families%2F2024_CIP_Strategic_Plan.pdf" target="_blank">CIP Strategic Plan</a>.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Contact: </strong></p><p><strong>Louisiana Supreme Court Division of Children and Families</strong><br />Storm Ehlers<br />Deputy Judicial Administrator for Children and Families<br />400 Royal Street, Suite 1190<br />New Orleans, LA 70130-8101<br />Phone: (504) 310-1661<br />Fax: (504) 310-1669<br /><a href="mailto:sehlers@lasc.org">sehlers@lasc.org</a></p><p> </p><p> </p></div><div class="col-md-4"><div class="panel panel-primary"><div class="panel-heading"><div class="panel-title">Quick Links</div></div><div class="panel-body"><ul><li><a href="/children_families%2F2024_CIP_Strategic_Plan.pdf" target="_blank" title="CIP Strategic Plan">CIP Strategic Plan</a><a href="/children_families/CIP_Local_Rules.pdf" target="_blank"></a></li><li><a href="/children_families/CIP_Local_Rules.pdf" target="_blank">CIP Model Local Rules</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/ISSUEREQ.pdf" target="_blank">Issuing/Notice Requirements checklist</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/Intro_to_CLARO.pdf" target="_blank">Introduction to CLARO</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/timelinessreport.pdf" target="_blank">Report of Non-Compliance with Statutory Time Limits</a></li><li><a href="/Children_Families?p=Qualified_Attorneys">Attorneys Representing Children</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/ATTORNEYS_QUALIFIED_TO_REPRESENT_CHILDREN.pdf" target="_blank">List of Qualified Attorneys</a></li><li><a href="/Children_Families?p=2023_CIP_Updates">2023 CIP Updates</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="panel panel-primary"><div class="panel-heading"><div class="panel-title">Louisiana CINC Bench Book and Forms</div></div><div class="panel-body"><ul><li><a href="/children_families/LouisianaBenchBook2021.pdf" target="_blank">Bench Book for Judges</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/BenchCards.pdf" target="_blank">Bench Cards for Judges</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/BenchBookEditableWordDocuments.zip" target="_blank">Editable CINC Forms and Documents</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lasc.org/children_families/Child_Welfare_Safety_Assessment_and_Decision_Making_Model_(CWADM).pdf" target="_blank">Child Welfare Safety Assessment and Decision Making Model</a> (CWADM Model)</li></ul></div></div><!--<div class="panel panel-primary">
<div class="panel-heading">
<div class="panel-title">Model Forms for CINC cases</div>
</div>
<div class="panel-body">
<ul>
<li><a href="/children_families/CONTINUED_CUSTODY_HEARING_ORDERrev.pdf" target="_blank">Continued custody hearing</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/CONTINUED_CUSTODY_ORDER_FOR_DELINQUENCY.pdf" target="_blank">Continued custody order for delinquency/FINS cases</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/Appearance_to_Answerrev.pdf" target="_blank">Appearance to answer</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/Adjudication_Orderrev.pdf" target="_blank">Adjudication</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/disposition_orderrev.pdf" target="_blank">Disposition</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/CaseReviewrev.pdf" target="_blank">Case Review</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/REUNIFICATION.pdf" target="_blank">Reunification</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/ADOPTION.pdf" target="_blank">Adoption</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/GUARDIANSHIP.pdf" target="_blank">Guardianship</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/PERMANENT_LIVING_ARRANGEMENT.pdf" target="_blank">Permanent living arrangement</a></li>
<li><a href="/children_families/RELATIVES_PLACEMENT.pdf" target="_blank">Relative placement</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>--> <div class="panel panel-primary"><div class="panel-heading"><div class="panel-title">Historical Documents</div></div><div class="panel-body"><ul><li><a href="/Children_Families?p=2022_CIP_Updates">2022 CIP Updates</a></li><li><a href="/children_families%2F2020_CIP_Strategic_Plan.pdf" title="CIP Strategic Plan" target="_blank">2020 CIP Strategic Plan</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/STPL03rev.pdf" target="_blank">Strategic Plan</a> (October 1, 2002 - September 30, 2006)</li><li><a href="/children_families/CFP_Pilot_Final_Report.pdf" target="_blank">Connections for Permanency Final Report</a> (August 2007)</li><li><a href="/Children_Families?p=juv_reform">Juvenile Justice Reform Efforts</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/Pelican_Center_Update_0213.pdf" target="_blank">Creation of the Pelican Center</a></li><li><a href="/children_families/09_New_Child_Protection_System.pdf" target="_blank">Memo to Judges</a></li></ul></div></div></div>