Interview Guide for Youth Services Officers/Case Managers

Interview Guide for Youth Services Officers/Case Managers (4/8/04)

Begin with purpose of focus group, taping and note taking, ground rules regarding privacy and confidentiality of information, and introductions (education, experience, how long in position, etc.)

Organizational Issues: Duties, Caseload, Use of Time, Training, JCIS, etc.

1. What are the responsibilities of your position?

--What percentage of time is spent on your major duties? (Get time in court.)

--Where are you spending too much time that could be used for something else?

2. How are cases assigned? What is the average caseload size?

3. How much of your staff time is devoted to child abuse and neglect proceedings? How does this compare to your other cases?

4. What’s the hardest part of your job?

--What needs to be improved?

--How could that be improved?

5. In general, how much interaction do you have with the judge/referee, child, parents, DCS case manager or attorney, GAL, CASA or others involved in a foster care case?

6. How much training have you had?

--What training are you getting?

--What do you still need?

7. What are the major problems/issues facing your community that affect the types of cases coming before your Court?

8. Is the Court being run efficiently for the use of everyone’s time?

--What needs to be improved?

--How could that be improved?

Quality of Proceedings: Completeness and Depth of Hearings—Court Process

I’d like to get a sense of how your court process works.

For D/N cases:

1. When someone comes to court alleging child abuse/neglect, what happens?

2. When a petition is filed by DCS or a private party alleging abuse, what happens?

3. When is the preliminary hearing held?

--Is another hearing scheduled at the preliminary hearing (or closer to when it’s going to happen)?

4. When a private party files a dependency petition, what happens next?

5. Are pre-trial settlement conferences held? (Probe: For what cases, what happens then?)

6. When does the adjudication hearing occur?

--Approximately how many of your cases are settled rather than tried at the adjudication?

--If there is a trial, how is it scheduled? (days in row, spread out, ?)

--If there is a trial, are the adjudicatory and dispositional hearings held at the same time? If not, when is the disposition hearing scheduled?

7. When does the court ratify the permanency plan?

--Is there a hearing or does the court sign it? Who usually attends?

--If parties disagree, is testimony taken?

8. When are permanency hearings scheduled? Who attends?

--If parties disagree, is testimony taken?

9. Who hears TPR cases? How are they scheduled?

--Once there is a TPR, does the court or FCRB continue to review the case until the adoption?

10. How are surrenders handled?

11. How does the court work to ensure that court findings and orders are filed?

12. How does the court monitor compliance with court orders?

--DCS compliance (delivery of services)

--Parents’ compliance

--Child’s compliance, if applicable

For Del. cases:

1. When someone comes to court alleging a child has committed a delinquent offense, what happens?

2. When a delinquent petition is filed, what happens?

3. If a child is arrested, when is the detention hearing held?

--Is another hearing scheduled at the detention hearing (or closer to when it’s going to happen?)

4. What usually happens in the rest of the delinquency case?

Now let’s talk about the Foster Care Review Board.

13. How are FCRB hearings scheduled?

--Do you attend the FCRB on your cases?

--Does the FCRB schedule the next review (at the current review?)

--Does FCRB make direct referrals to the court? How does that get on the court’s docket?

14. What is your impression of FCRB—do they help or hinder?

--How could it be improved?

15. Does the Court review cases instead of the FCRB? Which cases? How often? Which referees?

--Is this effective? How could it be improved?

16. Can you explain what these findings are and when they have to be made?

a. Contrary to the welfare of the child

b. Reasonable efforts to prevent removal

c. Reasonable efforts to reunify the family

d. Reasonable efforts for another permanent placement

17. Can you describe the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and its requirements?

Quality of Proceedings: Sufficiency and Timeliness of Notice to Parties

1. What is the court procedure for notification of parties?

--Who does the court include (e.g., putative fathers when appropriate)?

2. Who does the court attempt to have present at hearings, including the earliest ones?

(Probe: Children at what age, non-custodial parents, foster and pre-adoptive parents, etc.)

3. Who usually participates in the hearings? How do they participate?

--Are there any groups you find difficult to have participate in the hearings?

--How often do children attend, and at what age? Do younger children testify?

--Does the judge talk to the children or ask them questions?

4. What is the court procedure for filing of required reports and permanency plans?

--Are there any internal rules about this?

--Are they distributed prior to hearings, and how?

--How does the court do this in a timely manner?

Quality of Proceedings: Legal Representation of Parties

1. In DCS cases, what is the court procedure for appointing legal representation for children, custodial parents and non-custodial parents?

b. What is the procedure for appointing CASA for children?

--How often and at what stages are CASA usually appointed?

c. How often and at what stages do children, custodial parents and non-custodial parents have legal counsel in the court cases you have been involved with? (Probe for percentage of parties represented and how practice may differ from policy.)

2. In cases filed by private parties, what is the court procedure for appointing legal representation for children, custodial parents and non-custodial parents?

b. What is the procedure for appointing CASA for children?

--How often and at what stages are CASA usually appointed?

3. How well does representation by guardians ad litem work in your cases?

--What has worked well, and what needs improvement?

Probes:

--How prepared are they?

--Are they actively involved? Do they present evidence?

--Do they stay on the case throughout the entire case?

--Is there separate legal representation of both parents when there’s a conflict of interest?

4. How well does representation by parents’ attorneys work in your cases?

--What has worked well, and what needs improvement?

Probes:

--How prepared are they?

--Are they actively involved? Do they present evidence?

--Do they stay on the case throughout the entire case?

--Is there separate legal representation of both parents when there’s a conflict of interest?

5. What is the relationship between GALs and CASA? How well do they work together?

Quality of Proceedings: Efficiency and Timeliness of Decision-making

1. How does your court work to handle required hearings and actions in cases in a timely manner?

2. What causes continuances or delays in foster care cases? Has the court been able to do anything about them to improve?

Quality and Treatment of Parties

1. What are the major agencies you work with and how do you coordinate with them?

--DCS (case manager and attorney)

--CASA

--Schools

--Law enforcement

--District Attorney

--Public defender

--Mental health

--Others?

2. Are courtroom facilities sufficient for children and families?

3. Are you familiar with the pamphlet and video on parents’ rights?

--Do you have a procedure for providing the pamphlet? When is it provided?

--Do you have a procedure for parents to view the video? What is it?

4. Is the Court using mediation in your cases? When?

--How’s it working compared to the current adversarial system?

Wrap-Up Questions

1. What are the greatest barriers you face in placing children in permanent settings within a reasonable amount of time?

2. What changes (in the law, resources, rules, or procedures) would help you address this issue more effectively?

3. Overall, how would you describe your working experience with DCS?

--What has been your BEST experience with DCS?

--What has been your WORST experience with DCS?

--How could DCS improve how it works with youth in foster care?

3. Do you have any other comments or suggestions about the handling of foster care cases that you would like to share?