Child Protection Quality to be Tracked in County
McHenry County Courthouse
The following press release has been received from McHenry County government:
McHenry County Selected as Child Protection Data Courts Project Pilot Site
WOODSTOCK, IL – McHenry County has been selected by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC), as a pilot site for the launch of a Court Improvement Program initiative that will focus on developing and implementing a statewide, uniform data collection and case tracking structure, to capture specific information related to child abuse and neglect court cases.
McHenry County is one of five counties in Illinois that will collaborate with the AOIC and the National Center for State Courts in a three-year Child Protection Data Courts Project. The purpose of the AOIC Child Protection Data Courts Project is to establish a court-based mechanism to assess child protection court performance measures and enable local courts to improve efficiency and effectiveness in ensuring safety, permanency, due process, and timeliness in child protection cases, and improve outcomes for children and families.
The Federal Court Improvement Program (CIP) provides funding to the highest state courts to develop and/or enhance court data systems to improve the tracking of the safety, and timeliness of permanency decisions for children. CIP funds are awarded annually by the Children’s Bureau, the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Congratulations on not only taking effective action to stem child abuse, but raising the profile of these hidden crimes against children. Child abuse festers in secrecy and is made possible by society’s denial of childhood trauma. Your actions help in the effort to bring child abuse into the open.
Mary K. Armstrong
1