In 1980, Congress passed the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, Public Law 96-272. This important piece of federal child welfare legislation mandated all stated receiving federal funds for foster care services to establish a review process for foster care cases. It also required that permanency plans be developed for all children in foster care.

The Act encouraged family involvement in developing case plans and in the required reviews and emphasized a focus on the family rather than just the children. Permanency and continuity were stressed over the uncertainties of substitute care and an emphasis was given to in-home services. The first priority was preventing removal of the child from the home.

In order to receive matching federal funds for foster care payments, states were required to develop agency and judicial systems to regularly review the cases of children in foster care. Review teams were to include at least one member not responsible for providing any services to the children being reviewed. From this requirement, the use of citizen volunteers began to increase.

Several states established citizen review systems shortly after the passage of PL 96-272, and additional states were encouraged by local child advocates to establish citizen review systems, Kansas among them.

Purpose

A Citizen Review Board (CRB), sometimes called a Foster Care Review Board, is composed of trained citizen volunteers who serve as advisors to the judge on selected cases concerning children who are in out-of-home placements. The CRB assesses proposed case plans and progress toward the goals established by the case plan. Simply stated, the purpose of a CRB’s case review is to assure that children do not linger unnecessarily in foster care and to promote a permanent and safe home for each child reviewed.

Organization

CRBs in Kansas are administered by local district courts and are developed on a district-by-district basis.

Administration by a local court means that the local administrative judge or designee is responsible for appointing citizens to serve on each local review board, as well as being responsible for the referral of cases to the board. Support services for the board may come from court personnel.

Each local board consists of three to seven citizens. An effort is made to see that the board represents the various economic and ethnic groups in its community. Each volunteer is appointed for a two-year term. Members may be reappointed. Board members and their alternates receive a minimum of twelve hours training prior to assignment to review cases. Boards must meet at least quarterly, may meet monthly if the number of cases warrants it. In order to review a case, there must be at least three members of a board present.

Functions and Powers

Citizen Review Board are authorized by K.S.A. 38-1812, enacted in 1992. K.S.A. 38-1813, enacted the same time, outlines the duties and powers of CRBs.

Local CRBs have the duty, authority and power to review each case of a child who is the subject of a child in need of care petition or who has been adjudicated as such. Boards receive verbal information from all persons with knowledge of the case and also have access to the court’s files.

Boards must determine the progress made toward acquiring a permanent home for the child being reviewed. If progress has not been sufficient, the board has a duty to suggest an alternative case plan goal and to make recommendations to the judge.

The first review by a CRB can take place any time after a child in need of care petition is filed, but the first review must occur within six months of the disposition hearing. Each case must be reviewed at least once each year. The CRB’s recommendations will be considered by the court in making an authorized disposition. The CRB’s report may be incorporated into an order in place of a six-month review hearing.

Permanent Families Fund

In 1992, the Kansas Legislature created the permanent families account within the family and children investment fund, to be administered by the board of directors of the Corporation for Change (CFC).

The Permanent Families Fund, as it is called, will provide funding to Citizen Review Boards and Court Appointed Special Advocate programs across the state through revenues from increased birth certificate fees. Each year, up to 12% of the amount credited to the account during the fiscal year can be used to provide technical assistance to district courts or local groups wanting to establish a local citizen review board or CASA program. Assistance could be in the form of staff salaries, in training of staff, data collection, accounting, report writing, and grants administration. If requested by the administrative judge of a judicial district, the monies may also be used for a grant to establish and help operate CASA programs and CRBs within the district.

Once a judicial district has received CRB program funding through grants from the Corporation for Change, it is anticipated that funding will continue in subsequent years as long as the program operates efficiently and effectively.

HOW A CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD WORKS

Standard CRB hearings are in lieu of a child’s regularly scheduled six month court review. When a hearing or review is scheduled, all parties and interested persons are invited to be present and to speak to the board. The board listens and asks questions and reviews written reports. The CRB then gives its own written recommendations to the judge, who makes the final decision regarding action on the case.

Case Assignment and Review

Any child who has entered the foster care system is a candidate for CRB review. Regular and sensitive case review is vital to children who find themselves involved in the foster care system. Different states have differing requirements regarding the types of cases to be reviewed. In places where there is a statewide system in place, differences exist as to which cases are eligible for review. Most states review cases where children have entered foster care due to abuse and neglect, while other states also include those children who are adjudicated delinquent.

Ideally, reviews would be conducted for every child who enters the foster care system, although the reality is that there are not enough boards to accomplish this. Kansas’ authorizing statute states that a CRB shall have the power and authority to review each case of a child who is the subject of a child in need of care petition or who has been adjudicated a child in need of care. However, cases to be reviewed are selected and referred to the CRB by judges of the district court.

The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 mandates that in order to receive matching federal funds for foster care payments, review of cases of children in foster care should take place at least every six months. Most states do the first case review within four to six months after the child enters the foster care system. Kansas law mandates that the initial review must occur within six months after the initial disposition hearing, although it may take place any time after a petition is filed. A few courts time their initial reviews at 30 to 45 days after the child enters the system. (Early case review is more directed toward assessing the provision of reasonable efforts with a goal of strengthening family preservation services.) Subsequent reviews are generally held every six months, but can vary from three to twelve months.

The Review Process

The actual review brings together parents, grandparents, children (if old enough), social workers, foster parents, group home parents, treatment providers, attorneys, guardians ad litem, CASA volunteers and other parties who can contribute information regarding the child’s case.

Once the appropriate parties in a given case are determined, notice of the review is sent to those parties. Written notice is necessary to ensure that all interested parties have knowledge of the review process and to encourage their participation and attendance.

At the review hearing, the chair of the CRB or a designated presenter introduces the board to all parties present and explains the purpose of the review. Reviews are generally informal and non-adversarial. The informality of CRB review hearings encourages a more relaxed atmosphere, which is les intimidating to many individuals, thus encouraging their input. Notes or minutes of the hearing are usually taken by a staff person or one of the board members.

Board members receive packets prior to a review hearing, each packet containing material relevant to the review. In some systems, the presenter and a co-presenter receive detailed packets of information, including medical and psychological evaluations, school reports and other materials not contained in the packets distributed to other board members. The presenter then makes an oral report to those present, outlining the case.

Review board members may then question caseworkers or other interested parties in order to clarify issues or get more specific information. If confidential information is to be presented, a board has discretion to exclude from that portion of the review parties that do not have a need or a right to know such information. A board’s inquiries should focus on the progress toward the child’s permanent placement.

Following the presentation of information, the board members generally meet in executive session to carefully consider the information that has been presented and to formulate their recommendations. Even though reports may only be advisory, in Kansas the judge must consider the recommendations of the board in making an authorized disposition.

Roles and Responsibilities of Volunteer Board Members

Board members come from the community in which they serve. They serve as the eyes and ears of their community, of society, and of the court. As such, in a very broad sense, they serve as advocates for the best interests of children. An advocate attempts to influence an outcome, and CRBs use the case review process and the recommendations that come from that to promote the goal of a permanent home for each child that comes before them.

A reviewer is responsible for considering several issues with each case. Reviewers must weigh the necessity and appropriateness of the child’s current placement. They must ask if reasonable efforts were made to prevent foster care placement in the first place. Reviewers monitor how interested parties are cooperating and participating in the child’s case plan. They determine the degree of progress that is being made toward solving the problem that caused the foster placement. And finally, reviewers keep track of or help project a date for the child’s return home or placement in a permanent home.

In situations where progress toward a case plan goal has been insufficient, review board members should be able to suggest alternate goals or strategies which would be of benefit to the child or the family. Fresh perspectives and ideas may be one of the best things that citizen review boards have to offer.

Review board members have a responsibility to maintain confidentiality regarding the cases before them at all times, and Kansas requires CRB volunteers to sign an oath of confidentiality. Besides guarding the child and family’s privacy, volunteers should not become inappropriately involved in a case by providing direct service delivery to any of the parties. Action of that type could lead to a conflict of interest or liability problems, or cause a child or family to become dependent on the CRB volunteer. Participating on a CRB board offers volunteers a way to serve their community’s children but without having the one-on-one contact with children that a Big Brother/Big Sister or a CASA volunteer would have. Volunteers seeking more personal contact should be referred to those programs.

Finally, a volunteer needs to be able to make a commitment to the program. Regular attendance at review hearings and in-service training is vital.