Compendium of Measures and Data Sources: Understanding Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare

Examining hearing quality and judicial decision-making can shed light on the current child welfare court system and how to strengthen related research, evaluation, practices, and policies.

This report summarizes information about the types and range of measures and data sources available for this emerging area of study. The 49 measures and 13 data sources selected for inclusion span the following sections:

• Table of Measures by Measurement Strategy and Component Measured. This list shows which measures are available for each component of the child welfare court process and measurement strategy.
• Measures that Assess Overlapping Components. This diagram displays the number of measures of judicial characteristics, judicial decision-making, and hearing quality and the number of instances where measures assess one or more of these components.
• Measure Profiles. The profiles provide detailed information about each measure to help readers select the best fit for judicial decision-making and hearing quality assessments.
• Toolkit of Court Performance Measures in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases. This section highlights a toolkit of court performance measures for child welfare cases.
• Data Sources Table. The table includes information about available datasets or data dashboards that may be useful in assessing the identified key components and their relationship to child welfare case outcomes.
• Appendix of Measures. The appendix includes copies of all measures for which the report authors obtained permission for a reprint.

Judges, attorneys, and legal professionals may wish to begin with a summary document explaining how they can use the compendium to inform the legal community.