Court Improvement Project Committee

MinutesRadisson Hotel, Bismarck December 12, 2005

Members Present Paul Ronningen Vince Ament Larry Bernhardt Bob Freed Jim Gion William Neumann Marilyn Poitra (for Ina Olson) Jim Schnabel Theresa Snyder Rita Weisz	Members Absent Judge Lee Christofferson Judge Sonja Clapp Connie Cleveland Robin Huseby Renee Mayer Sandra McDonald Lorrie Miner Pat Podoll Tracy Many Wounds
Guests Marilyn Kary Dixie Evans Lanny Serrano	Staff Lee Ann Barnhardt Louie Hentzen Tara Muhlhauser

The meeting opened with introductions of the new Court Improvement Project Advisory Committee.

Lee Ann Barnhardt advised the Committee of the history and overview of the project. She indicated she would email executive summaries of the reassessment to the members of the committee, as well as a link to the website with all the state's CIP summaries and plans. The grant application is due June 30, 2006. We will have to submit a detailed plan with benchmarks, timelines, and methods of measurement, as well as a progress report on our previous plan.

Subcommittees were discussed next. Each staff person gave a brief description of the type of work each subcommittee will perform (Attachment 1). Tara Muhlhauser indicated she would contact members not present to discuss subcommittee assignments.

Theresa Snyder reported on the ICWA Subcommittee work (Attachment 2).

Vince Ament reported on the GAL Subcommittee work (Attachment 3).

The Foster Parent Association member, Jim Schnabel, stated that the rural foster care parents are not satisfied with the GAL program and do not believe guardians ad litem are used in all cases or that they do not spend time with the children prior to court hearings. Dixie Evans indicated she would follow-up on his concerns.

The contract between UND and the Supreme Court Administrative Office was discussed regarding the GAL evaluation process. Louie Hentzen, Susan Sisk, and Sally Holewa will review the contract and contact UND about the requirements.

Susan Sisk gave the budget report. She furnished a handout with the CIP budget showing and budgeted and actual expenditures for court improvement projects (Attachment 4). She pointed out that funds had been budgeted for the ICWA Conference, other ICWA projects, training, and evaluation. She also presented the budget for paying the guardians ad litem (Attachment 5). She indicated that we are on track with projected expenditures.

The 2006 meeting schedule was discussed. It was agreed that the full Committee will meet three times a year, with subcommittees meeting between to work on projects and prepare reports. The meeting dates for 2006 are: April 5, August 2, and December 6. Locations will be announced later.