Juvenile Judges Find Benchcards Helpful in Reuniting Families

Politicians use teleprompters, pilots use checklists, so shouldn't juvenile judges use a benchcard to make sure they ask all the right questions at preliminary protective hearings regarding removing children from their homes? Yes, according to a study released by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and discussed last month at a roundtable conducted by leading child welfare judges during the NCJFCJ's annual meeting in New York City. In fact, the judges were so impressed with the results that they wanted to move rapidly into national training on the benchcard and to utilize it to track-and reduce-- the overrepresentation of children of color in the foster care system.