Judicial Issues in Child Maltreatment

Handbook of Child Maltreatment

This chapter outlines the expectations, legal constraints, and obligations of juvenile dependency courts. Both the expectations and constraints of the juvenile dependency court have been increasing over recent years. The role of the juvenile court judge has become clearer and more codified, as well as substantially more expansive – both on and off the bench. However, big questions remain about the direction of system change and the role of juvenile dependency courts. There is no national “standard” for juvenile court operation that has been adopted by all state and local courts. The knowledge and commitment of an individual judge coupled with the local mores and beliefs in a community all affect the operation of the juvenile courts across the U.S. Juvenile dependency judges are in a unique position to assume the mantle of leadership to effect system change and to bring dependency stakeholders to the table and to lead a change effort by nature of their positional power. Historically, there has been a dearth of rigorous research on juvenile dependency court practices, judicial decision-making, or the impact of the court on children and families. The future of research on juvenile dependency court practice is likely to continue with a greater focus on outcomes, further evaluation of established best practices, continued assessment of how courts react to new social issues, and an increased focus on objective performance measurement.