There is a new 27 minute video online titled “In the Best Interests of Your Child” on the Minnesota State Court website that provides a pretty good introduction and overview of Juvenile Court and Child In Need of Protection or Services Court. Click here for a link to the video.
Here’s an overview of the video from the Minnesota State Court Children’s Justice Initiative page:
“In the Best Interests of Your Child” is an orientation to juvenile court and child protection proceedings. The purpose of the video is to:
•Identify the people who will be involved in the child protection case and who will be in the courtroom (e.g., judge, court reporter, court attendant, county attorney, social worker, guardian ad litem, attorneys, etc.);
•Explain the parent’s legal rights and responsibilities;
•Describe the juvenile court process, including the types of hearings (e.g., EPC, Admit/Deny, Disposition, Review, Permanency) that the parent may be required to attend and what happens at a typical hearing;
•Explain how the juvenile court process may affect the parent and the child and what will happen after court; and
•Emphasize that the child’s best interests are at stake and timely resolution of the problems causing risk of harm to the child is important to the healthy development of the child.
The video has been provided to all court administrators, county social services agencies, GAL Program Managers and Coordinators, and all attorneys representing parents in child protection cases. In addition to this English version of the video, the CJI is in the process of translating the video into Spanish, Hmong, Lao, and Somali, and those versions will be distributed later by early Summer 2010.
