The Program Services Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the state Guardian ad litem (GAL) program, the Office of Indigent Services (IDS) and the Child Welfare Section of the North Carolina Division of Social Services (NC-DSS) are working together to reduce the number of continuances in abuse, neglect and dependency (AND) and termination of parental rights (TPR) cases.
From data collected by the state Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program, it appears that in FY 2007-2008 there were 22 counties where AND and TPR hearings had a continuance rate higher than 40%.
As an effort to identify some of the barriers or practices that are causing continuances in these 22 counties, IDS developed a survey for district court judges, juvenile clerks, GAL attorneys and staff, DSS attorneys and staff, and parent attorneys.
We received 144 responses from 52 attorneys, 11 judges, 9 clerks, 57 DSS staff and 25 GAL staff. The average per county was 6-7 responses with a range of 1-14 responses.
Each county's survey results have been summarized and are now available. Our hope is that each county surveyed will convene a committee with representation by a district court judge, the juvenile clerk, the GAL attorney and staff, the DSS attorney and staff, and parent attorneys in order to discuss the continuance survey results.
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Beaufort |
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Bladen |
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Cherokee |
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Clay |
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Graham |
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Haywood |
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Hoke |
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Hyde |
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Jackson |
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Martin |
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Nash |
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Northampton |
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Person |
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Robeson |
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Rutherford |
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Scotland |
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Swain |
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Transylvania |
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Warren |
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Washington |
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Wilkes |