Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard)

About This Program

Target Population: Judges in the dependency court system where there may be high placement rates into foster care and disparate treatment of children of color

Program Overview

Intended for use during initial juvenile dependency hearings, the Courts Catalyzing Change Preliminary Protective Hearing (PPH) Benchcard asks judges to reflect on the decision-making process to identify and attempt to minimize institutional bias and to consider some key inquiries, analyses, and decisions relating to removal, placement, and services. The PPH Benchcard is built around two types of inquiry: internal and external. The internal inquiry is set forth in a self-reflection section containing questions designed to help judges examine potential biases at play that may affect their decisions. The external inquiry considers due process related questions and considerations as well as the actual judicial inquiry of the hearing participants related to specific salient issues that should be determined at the preliminary protective hearing. Before they first use the PPH Benchcard, judges and other stakeholders participate in a training focused on implicit bias and structural and institutional racism.

Program Goals

The goals of Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard are:

  • Reduce racial disproportionality and disparate treatment.
  • Safely decrease foster care placement rates.
  • Increase relative placement rates.

Logic Model

The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard).

Essential Components

The essential components of Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard include:

  • Training for judges and stakeholders on implicit bias, structural and institutional racism
  • Training on PPHBenchcard implementation
  • Baseline data collection on racial disproportionality, placement rates, and types of initial hearings
  • Full implementation of the PPH Benchcard at initial hearings
  • Post-implementation data collection and reporting
  • Parents actively engaged in removal hearings; aim to have more children placed with parents

Program Delivery

Recommended Intensity:

PPH Benchcard should be used at each removal hearing. The recommended hearing length should be one hour for full implementation.

Recommended Duration:

Ongoing

Delivery Setting

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Adequate judicial resources, effective legal representation of parents and children, and adequate hearing time

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Juvenile court judges and judicial officers that are legally trained.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:
  • Melissa Bahmer, Director
    National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
    phone: (775) 784-7709
Training Type/Location:

On-site, regional, and statewide

Number of days/hours:

8 hours

Additional Resources:

There currently are additional qualified resources for training:

Khatib Waheed, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Consultant

Rita Cameron-Wedding, Sacramento State University

Shawn Marsh, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Nancy Miller, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Implementation Information

Pre-Implementation Materials

There are no pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard).

Formal Support for Implementation

There is no formal support available for implementation of Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard).

Fidelity Measures

There are fidelity measures for Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard) as listed below:

A court observation tool, modified from the standardized court observation tool typically used in court, is available. The PPH Benchcard was designed to increase discussion, judicial inquiry, and judicial engagement of parents. The tool captures the breadth and depth of discussion of a set of topic areas (from the PPH Benchcard), identifies whether the judge inquired specifically about each item, and includes a 5-item judicial engagement of parents section, with a series of yes/no questions. For example, "Did the judge ask if the parent had any questions?" (this item was one of the three direct questions to parents that judges should ask per the PPH Benchcard).

Implementation Guides or Manuals

There are implementation guides or manuals for Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard) as listed below:

There is a technical assistance bulletin that accompanies the PPH Benchcard that describes its importance and recommendations for implementation. It can be found at https://www.ncjfcj.org/publications/right-from-the-start-the-courts-catalyzing-change-preliminary-protective-hearing-benchcard/

Research on How to Implement the Program

Research has not been conducted on how to implement Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard).

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Child Welfare Outcome: Permanency

Russell, J., & Summers, A. (2013). An overview of the courts catalyzing change Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard study. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 64(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12003

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 555

Population:

  • Age — 3–18 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — Control Group: 35% White, 29% Hispanic, 22% African American, 7% Unable to determine, 4% Other, and 3% Asian/PI; Benchcard Group: 35% White, 29% Hispanic, 24% African American, 7% Unable to Determine, 4% Other, 2% Native American/Indian, and 1% Asian/PI
  • Gender — Control Group: 54% Female, 41% Male, and 5% Unable to Determine; Benchcard Group: 54% Female, 39% Male, and 7% Unable to Determine
  • Status — Participants were children in foster care or the Child Welfare System.

Location/Institution: Los Angeles, California; Omaha, Nebraska; & Portland, Oregon.

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the use of the Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard using a standardized hearing observation instrument. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Benchcard group or a control group. Measures utilized include court case records. Results indicate that Benchcard implementation appears to be associated with substantially higher quantities and quality of discussion of key dependency topics during preliminary protective hearings. Benchcard implementation also corresponds to increased judicial inquiry and parent engagement. Benchcard use was associated with more family placements—placement with a charged parent, a non-charged parent, or a relative—at the initial hearing and even more at adjudication when comparing the same judges before and after Benchcard implementation. Similarly, the percentage of children who were reunified with the charged parent at the initial hearing and the adjudication hearing increased after Benchcard implementation. Limitations include possible spill-over effect and observation bias.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Not specified.

Russell, J., & Summers, A. (2013). Reflective decision-making and foster care placements. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 19(2), 127–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031582

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 555

Population:

  • Age — Mean=6 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — BL: 40% Caucasian, 26% African American, 25% Hispanic/Latino, & 9% Other; Benchcard Follow-up: 36% Hispanic/Latino, 32% Caucasian, 18% African American, & 14% Other; Control Follow-up: 34% Hispanic/Latino, 21% African American, 20% Caucasian, & 25% Other
  • Gender — Baseline: 57% Female; Benchcard Follow-up: 59% Female; Control Follow-up: 58% Female
  • Status — Participants were children in foster care or the Child Welfare System.

Location/Institution: Los Angeles, California; Omaha, Nebraska; & Portland, Oregon

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Russel & Summers (2013). The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of two interventions on placement decisions. Participants were randomized to either Benchcard intervention [now called Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard)] or to a control group. All participants received the implicit bias and institutional racism training intervention. Measures utilized include court case files. Results indicate that the training intervention was associated with more parent placements and fewer non-relative foster care placements. However, this change appeared to diminish over time when it was not coupled with use of the Benchcard intervention. The training and Benchcard together were also associated with improvement in placement outcomes, and this effect did not appear to diminish over time. Limitations included small sample size, possible spillover effects, and lack of generalizability to other court locations.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Not specified.

Additional References

No reference materials are currently available for Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard (PPH Benchcard).

Contact Information

Melissa Gueller
Title: Program Director
Agency/Affiliation: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Website: www.ncjfcj.org/publications/right-from-the-start-the-courts-catalyzing-change-preliminary-protective-hearing-benchcard
Email:
Phone: (775) 507-4826

Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: October 2023

Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: October 2018

Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: April 2013