Using the Court Improvement Program Data Reports

By Erin House, Court Analyst, Child Welfare Services

Data is power!  SCAO’s Child Welfare Services Division (CWS) recently updated the Court Improvement Program (CIP) data reports, which are designed to leverage your data, increase efficiency, and improve processes in neglect/abuse (NA) cases.  These reports are an effective way to analyze efforts to help children and families successfully achieve permanency.  The purpose of the CIP is to (1) promote the continuous quality improvement of child protective proceedings, and (2) enhance and expand collaboration between the judicial branch, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), attorneys, and tribes to improve child welfare outcomes.  CIP data reports are automatically generated through the Judicial Data Warehouse (JDW) using information from the court’s case management system and MDHHS.  Courts can easily use the data reports to evaluate hearing timeliness in child protective proceedings.

The court’s role in child protective cases involves balancing the parties’ right to due process; statutory requirements; and the child’s need for safety, well-being, and timely permanency.  With advancement in technology and data collection, there are more opportunities available for courts to use data to inform the way they manage adjudication and disposition of child protective cases.

The CIP Data Reports are the result of a data share agreement between CWS and MDHHS.  This collaboration has allowed the CIP to create 13 data reports that measure child protective cases and aid the courts in achieving timely permanency for youth under court jurisdiction.  In addition to the 13 CIP data reports, the JDW maintains a CIP Data Snapshot, which provides a high-level assessment of open NA cases for each county as well as a Child Well-Being Data Report that tracks frequency of parenting time, required caseworker contacts, and children’s medical and dental visits.  The CIP data reports are located within the JDW at http://nsa.courts.michigan.gov/.

Transition to CIP

Courts that use TCS or PCS for management support are no longer required to submit an annual Permanency Indicators Report (PIR) to SCAO, requiring less administrative burden for counties.  Remaining courts that would like to stop submitting PIR data may set their own timeline for transition.  When ready, remaining courts can contact Optum Government Solutions (JDW_helpdesk@courts.mi.gov) to discuss the data feed necessary to populate the CIP data reports. 

CIP reports are only available to family division judges, court staff, and agency staff who handle child protective cases.  The reports provide case-specific detail about children under court jurisdiction so the court can focus its post-dispositional efforts on achieving permanency.  Each authorized user will only have access to cases in his/her county.  SCAO monitors use of the JDW to ensure it is being used for stated purposes only.

Effective Use of CIP Data Reports

·         Review foster care case management information from MDHHS.

·         Assess whether hearings are held timely.  Courts are encouraged to review cases that do not meet established timeframes to determine why the hearings are delayed.

·         Use the information to develop policies or procedures to improve court practice and prevent delays.

·         Evaluate what permanency goals are used most frequently in a jurisdiction and how long on average it takes to achieve each goal.

·         Pinpoint outlier cases to address issues and concerns that impact that case and future cases.

·         Prioritize cases based on length of time a child has been in care.

·         Utilize the data snapshot to get a big picture idea of where the court may need to take a more in-depth look to improve outcomes for children and court procedures.

Next Steps

Using both case management data and CIP data will help the court monitor child protective cases from initiation until permanency.  Used in concert, these data tools supply valuable insight into court practice.  In order to establish a data-driven court, each local court is encouraged to form a court data team and make sure team members have access to the JDW and case management system.  Court teams should plan together to set specific goals to help measure performance in terms of timeliness of hearings and achieving meaningful permanency.  We also recommend that courts engage in active case monitoring using monthly case management reports and CIP reports.  Court staff can use the reports to prioritize hearings, schedule next hearing dates, close cases properly, and monitor data-entry practices.  Finally, courts are encouraged to engage staff in brainstorming and problem solving to create new efficiencies in court docket management.

Data that is reviewed on a regular basis will lead to improved court practices and outcomes for families.  Accurate reporting and analysis of child welfare systems data will open the door to improved services for children and families by our courts, and that is power!

Erin House is a court analyst in SCAO’s Child Welfare Services (CWS) division.  She earned her bachelor degree from Michigan State University in 1999 and law degree from the University of Toledo in 2002. 

Mrs. House worked in CWS from 2004-2008 and returned in 2017.  Prior to her time at CWS, she was in private practice and focused on child protection and juvenile delinquency cases.  She can be reached at HouseE@courts.mi.gov.