The Court Improvement Program will serve the courts of the USVI in the following areas:
· The Establishment of a Multidisciplinary Taskforce and host regularly (quarterly) meetings
· Conduct regular Self-Assessment activities to survey the needs of the court and stakeholders;
· Establish and oversee a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan focused on court hearings and orders;
· Creation of a data exchange/validation plan between stakeholders;
· Provide training and development opportunities for staff, stakeholders, appointed counsel and Guardian Ad Litems on federal and territorial abuse/neglect dependency laws and permanency planning, best practices, and social problems encountered in abuse and neglect cases.
· Provide targeted training on case management, ethics, evidence, and representation of parties and communication with judicial officers on the same for appointed counsel to improve attorney practice and increase interest in service in these areas.
· Review/study multi-generational cases and put in place a plan to target cases of generational abuse and neglect and devise a plan/program to break the cycle in those targeted cases.
· Review/study and put in place a plan to help ensure that wards ages 18 and over get the resources they will need when they age out of the foster care system.