New Products Highlight Importance of Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare Court Cases

Two new resources seek to improve the child welfare court process by deepening the understanding of judicial decision-making and hearing quality and their hypothesized associations to the case process and outcomes:

• The Conceptual Model of Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare illustrates components and subcomponents of the child welfare court process—and their potential connections—based on literature, practice recommendations, and expert feedback. For example, preliminary evidence shows that judges’ experience may affect their emotional response to case factors used to make decisions.
• The Compendium of Measures and Data Sources delves into the types and range of measures and data sources used to study judicial decision-making and hearing quality in child welfare cases. Geared toward researchers and court practitioners alike, the document aims to inform measurement decisions for research, evaluation, practice improvement, and policy.

Both products were developed for an ongoing project funded through the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation and the Children’s Bureau. JBA is pleased to partner on the project with Dr. Alicia Summers (Data Savvy Consulting), Dr. Sophia Gatowski (Systems Change Solutions), and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law.