Present: Judge Sonja Clapp, Chair Judge Daniel Narum Dennis Herbeck David McGeary Dale Rivard Robin Huseby Tara Mulhauser Connie Portscheller
Absent: Lee Ann Barnhardt Judge David Reich Judge Douglas Mattson Scott Davis
Staff: Louie Hentzen Lana Zimmerman, scribe
Judge Clapp called the meeting to order. She asked for comments on the minutes from
March 6, 2009 meeting. Correction to add Connie Portscheller to the absent list of the minutes
was noted. Connie Portscheller moved to approve the minutes; Dale Rivard seconded. Minutes
approved.
Sub-Committee Reports
GAL Sub-Committee - Dave McGeary, Chair. Dave distributed the GAL Sub-Committee report to the CIP committee. All 9 recommendations were discussed with the
action plans for each recommendation. Please refer to hand out.
Education and Training Sub-Committee - Robin Huseby, Chair.
Three judicial officers and two defense attorneys attended the National Conference on
Juvenile Justice in Orlando in March. One judge and one defense attorney attended the 17th
National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Atlanta in April.
Two referees will attend the National Conference for Juvenile and Family Court Judges in
Chicago in July and one judge will attend the National Conference on Supervised visitation and
Safe Exchange in September.
Contact has been made with Paul Murphy, the director of the State's Attorneys
Association regarding future training opportunities for prosecuting attorneys. Paul will be the
primary contact and will distribute information to the attorneys.
Information regarding scholarships for Lay GALs to attend the Child and Family Services
Conference in July has been sent. Grant funds will cover the cost of registration for GALs.
Regional workshops are still being planned for Fall 2009. The workshops will address
issues included in the PIP - Program Improvement Plan - which is still being finalized. The
committee will work with DHS to develop the workshops and distribute information to the
appropriate stakeholders.
ICWA Sub-Committee - Dennis Herbeck, Chair. The last meeting of this committee
met on March 6, 2009. It was determined that Bob Parisien with the Indian Affairs Commission
is the Education Specialist and will be contacted for this committee future meetings. The next
meeting for the ICWA sub-committee is scheduled in Devils Lake.
Judge Clapp asked how the court benchguide was coming along and was noted that Karen
Kringlie and Brad Peterson was working on producing the new benchguide. It is not completed
as of this date.
Data Collection and Analysis Sub-Committee - Judge Daniel Narum, Chair. Judge
Narum is in the process of putting together sub-committee members and will schedule meetings
in the near future.
The ND Evaluation of Data Related to Child Deprivation Cases and Performance
Measures Project Final Report from Kate Harrison Consulting was distributed in color to all CIP
members.
Court Improvement Committee Annual Conference - The National Court
Improvement Annual Conference is scheduled for August 3-6, 2009 in Washington, D.C. at the
Crystal City, Marriott. Louie will be attending and stated that three people from this committee
are able to go to this conference.
Status of CIP on website - Justice Dale Sandstrom has created a web page under the
committee link on the Supreme Court website for the Court Improvement Project Committee.
All Committee members, Agenda's and Meeting Minutes are posted with a specific link. This is
available for your convenience.
CIP Grants Update- The three Court Improvement Grant strategic plans and proposed
budgets were approved by the Administrative Council. The grants are due in August. Final
versions of the grant applications will be distributed at the September Court Improvement
meeting.
Children's Justice Summit - This summit is held every other year. It will be held in
Austin, Texas on October 15-17, 2009. The team from North Dakota that will be attending are:
Tara Mulhauser, Judge Sonja Clapp, Lee Ann Barnhardt, Louie Hentzen and Department of
Public Instruction representative, Bob Rutten.
It was moved by Robin Huseby to adjourn, seconded by Dave McGeary, motion carried.
Next meeting is scheduled Friday, September 25, 2009 at the Doublewood Inn, Bismarck.