Creation of permanent judicial commission on children, youth and families
It was my honor this past Tuesday to testify before the Texas Supreme Court in support of an initiative to create a permanent judicial commission on children, youth and families. A recent press release explaining this important initiative is repeated below, and if you wish to view some of the testimony, it may be found at http://stmarytxlaw.mediasite.com/stmarytx/Catalog/. Scroll down to the link described as "Public Hearing on the Children's Commission" and the entire four + hours of testimony is available. If you wish to view my testimony, use the mediaplayer slider bar to move forward to minute 276 (on some browsers it will be shown as 4:36:19) -- almost to the end -- (the minutes are shown to the right of the player area). For an audio excerpt, CLICK HERE.
The press release:
Judicial Commission for Children to be Created
District Judge Gil Jones testifies before the Texas Supreme Court
On September 25 the Texas Supreme Court held an historic public hearing on whether to establish a permanent judicial commission on children, youth, and families to strengthen court performance in child protection cases and foster collaboration to improve the child protection system (CPS). 33rd District Court Judge Gil Jones testified before the Court in strong support of creation of the commission.
Judge Jones has served for 10 years on the current Supreme Court Task Force on Foster Care – Court Improvement Program -- which will be replaed by the creation of a permanent judicial commission housed at the Supreme Court. Strengthening Texas courts to achieve safety, permanency, and well being for abused and neglected children is the work of the Court Improvement Program.
In his testimony Jones emphasized the benefits of the new commission and drew the justices’ attention to some areas of unique concerns to rural courts. He sees needs for the specialized training for the attorneys who represent children in the child protection system, to enhance collaboration among judges to share the best practices for the benefit of children, and to give strong support to the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) programs across the state.
Jones points out that about 32,000 Texas children live in foster care today, with 9% annual growth projected. No child enters or leaves foster care without state judicial action. Courts play a critical role, with the Department of Family & Protective Services, in protecting children who need state care due to abuse or neglect. Jones stated to the Supreme Court justices that “with the advent of this Commission, the citizens of Texas can be certain of the dedication of the judiciary to the protection of children.”
In the 33rd Judicial District which includes Blanco, Burnet, Llano and San Saba counties (also served by the 424th District Court, Hon. Dan Mills presiding), child protection cases are heard by an Associate Judge who specializes in the CPS cases, supervised by the district judge. Judge Jones is confident that this judicial commission will result in a better focus on solutions to protecting children and in particular should result in increased resources for the four counties.
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