Juvenile Policy Board ND Supreme Court Front Conference Room Bismarck, ND July 9, 2010 8:30 a.m.
Members Present Judge William Herauf, Chair Justice Mary Muehlen Maring Judge Doug Mattson via phone Judge David Reich Karen Kringlie, Juvenile Court Director Unit 2 Dale Thompson, Referee Judge Dan Narum via phone
Staff Present Louie Hentzen, Asst. State Court Administrator LeeAnn Barnhardt, Director of Education and Communication Julie Bruns, Research Analyst Lana Zimmerman, scribe
Judge Herauf called the meeting to order. He asked for any changes in the minutes from the
April 23, 2010, meeting.
Karen Kringlie asked for a correction to the minutes under juvenile director's report. In regards
to the photo identification of parents coming for informal adjustments, (third paragraph from the
bottom) she asked if it was okay or whether there should be a policy change. Conversation stated
that it didn't require a policy change or a statute for the Board to inquire of a parent's photo
identification if they attended. Karen would request for it to not be mandatory for each case, but
optional due to some offices in the state who are expressing concern that they don't feel a need in
the rural area's, whereas some of the urban area's are having parents falsify their identification
and children bringing in aunts or uncles.
After discussion, it was stated to reword the paragraph to state, it was determined to allow for the
juvenile supervisor in each office to determine whether a photo identification by a parent could
be requested.
A motion was made by Karen Kringlie to approve the April 23, 2010, minutes. The motion
was seconded by Justice Maring, motion carried.
Status and/or Review Hearings
How to Name and Code into CMS & Odyssey (and UCIS) - Please refer to the
handout which came out of the Juvenile CMS committee. The CMS committee would
like to use the same code in the CMS that they would use in Odyssey for having hearings
between the disposition and the final permanency hearings. Karen Kringlie stated in
CMS there isn't a "status hearing" for staff to select, so they are selecting review hearing.
In Odyssey, there is an event code for a permanency hearing, but it is important to
distinguish from all types of hearings, to measure and make sure every child has a
permanency hearing within the guidelines.
After extensive discussion, it was suggested to use the codes provided in the handout.
Juvenile Directors Update
Karen Kringlie reported the staffing study is continuing. There will be a verbal report on August
3, 2010 and the written report on August 14, 2010. There have been a number of staff out for
medical reasons, so there has been short staff across the state. Vince Ament has retired in
Jamestown and Brian Washburn has been promoted as a supervisor. There has been some
challenges throughout the state being short staffed.
The Directors meet monthly and continue to discuss process and procedure and share about
Odyssey as it is impacting some of the business rules. Most importantly, stakeholder meetings
with Social Services and DJS explaining that we are working hard in Odyssey to track the actual
physical placement of children. It displays on the front summary screen for the judges on the
bench, to see exactly where the child is located and how many days they have been out of home
and in order for us to do that, we have to get the notice of physical placement change from the
agencies and to get from them notice when they have sent a child home. As this rolls across the
state, it requires for each Juvenile Director to meet with the different county social service
directors and explain the importance of the information. Odyssey is great on the Juvenile side
because it gives you a lot more information about the child.
Status of Juvenile Related Projects
1. Staffing Study - Louie stated the National Center for State Courts is going to be
conducting focus groups in Bismarck, Minot, Grand Forks and Fargo. At the conclusion,
findings will be submitted to the advisory committee, which will be meeting August 3,
2010. The final report to arrive by August 14, 2010. The purpose of the meeting with
the advisory committee is if there are any errors in their findings, we can make the
corrections.
Justice Maring asked if this staffing study will determine the lack of Juvenile Court
Officers and staff and can it be inserted into the budget this biennium.
Louie stated the information will be in the final report and will show the shortfalls. It will be distributed for consideration before the final budget is together. The final
consideration of the budget is going to be formalized at the Administrative Council for
their section on August 27, 2010. This report will also be distributed at that time. Louie
shared the preliminary verbal report was that they are making a finding that we need
approximately 6 more juvenile officers to handle the current caseload. The ratio on
support staff is 1 secretary for every 2 ½ juvenile officers. Currently, there are 16
secretarial staff and 40 juvenile officer's, not including the directors.
2. Court Improvement Project Committee - Louie reported there are three court
improvement grants. The Basic Grant is used for the Guardian ad Litem project and has
shifted from UND to Youthworks on July 1, 2010. The Data Collection and Analysis
Grant is money used for Julie Bruns, Research Analyst, who is a temporary full time
employee paid by the grant only.
Lee Ann Barnhardt reported the Children's Justice Symposium is scheduled in July. It
has been funded through this committee in its entirety and there is no registration fee.
There are 465 registered to date. The grants are due in August 2010.
Judge Reich sent out an email yesterday that an Asst. State's Attorney in Morton County had a
concern about Rule 707 with regards to notice of introduction of analytical report. Problem is
that there are hearings scheduled less than 30 days notice so there is no compliance with Rule
707 in juvenile court proceedings.
Louie discussed this with Jim Ganje, staff attorney, who stated that Rule 707 does not refer to
juvenile court proceedings; it refers to only criminal trials.
Justice Maring shared in Joint Procedure Committee, juvenile court system was not contemplated
with Rule 707. Justice Maring stated if there is a problem, to have a special specific rule in the
juvenile court rules that would address any confrontation issues.
Karen asked if Joint Procedure Committee would consider this.
Judge Herauf will address a letter to Justice Maring to have Joint Procedure Committee consider
whether there should be a juvenile court rule addressing the problem.
History of Juvenile Court Services
Karen reported at the last Juvenile Policy Board meeting Justice Maring suggested to have a
summary/history of the juvenile court system. Deb Carlson and Dave McGeary, Directors of
Juvenile Court Services complied this brief history of the juvenile courts.
Strategic Plan Status
Please refer to handout. The Strategic Plan draft was reviewed by this committee. Karen is
going to make some changes and report back at the next meeting in October.