National judicial leadership summits on child welfare
Background
The national judicial leadership summits, hosted annually by NCSC since 2019, bring together leaders from the legal, judicial, and child welfare communities to drive positive change in the child welfare system. These summits focus on five key themes to improve outcomes for children and families involved in child welfare cases:
- Incorporating the voice of families in the court process.
- Delivering high-quality legal representation to families in child welfare.
- Safely preventing the unnecessary entry of children into foster care through meaningful initial hearings.
- Ensuring procedural fairness and access to justice for all families.
- Leading child welfare reform from the supreme courts and administrative offices of the courts (AOCs).
These themes guide the discussions, strategies, and actions aimed at reforming child welfare courts and ensuring better outcomes for families and children in the legal system. The summits continue to serve as a platform for collaboration, education, and advocacy in the child welfare field.
2025 summit
On May 29, "The missing piece: Courts integrating lived expertise in child welfare system improvement" brought together dependency court leaders, child welfare professionals, attorneys, system partners, and lived-experience experts — including former foster youth, parents, and caregivers - for a half-day virtual summit. Participants shared insights and discussed actionable strategies for partnering with individuals who have firsthand experience with the child welfare system. Sessions focused on engaging lived-experience experts in court policy, exploring collaborative approaches to system reform, and shifting
the role of lived experts from token participants to valued teammates. The summit was co-designed with lived experts and presented in partnership with Casey Family Programs.
Resources
- Watch the summit recording.
- Review supplemental materials.
2023 summit
In partnership with the Conference of Chief Justices, Conference of State Court Administrators, and Casey Family Programs, we hosted a two-day virtual event that provided a platform to support state courts and their partners in improving child welfare outcomes. The event featured subject matter experts who highlighted innovative, court-led child welfare system practices and family-centered approaches.
Resources
- Equity analysis for dependency courts: This tool helps dependency court leaders identify areas where disproportionality and disparity exist in the court process.
- Five considerations for courts compensating lived experts: This brief offers strategies for compensating lived experts in a fair and flexible way.
- Summit action guide: This guide consolidates key takeaways from summit presentations, outlining immediate actions and suggesting ways to start meaningful conversations with stakeholders about improving child welfare practices.
Recordings
- Welcome and opening of the virtual event (day one)
- Reflecting on the past to move our system forward together
- Leveraging Title IV-E dollars for high-quality legal representation
- Inclusive and exclusive language
- Strengths of the Indian Child Welfare Act for Families
- Spotlight - National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts' Response to Mental Illness
- Opening remarks (day two)
- Ten ways to cultivate a culture of engagement in the courtroom
- Civil rights and child welfare
- The intersection of housing and child welfare: actionable solutions for court personnel and system partners
- Spotlight: advocating for pre-petition representation in Maine
- The Kentucky model for identifying and addressing racial, ethnic, and equity disparities
- Spotlight: Ohio legal help – online kinship care planning tools