On December 14, 2007, teams of child welfare stakeholders gathered at the Indianapolis Convention Center for the Indiana Summit on Children. More than 300 court officials, judges, legislators, mental health professionals, foster parents, educators, service providers, and state caseworkers serving abused and neglected children attended the Summit. It was called “Partners Planning for Permanency.”
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan delivered the keynote speech. She is a noted national expert on child protection, foster care, and adoption. Justice Corrigan, who served as Chief Justice of Michigan from 2001 to 2004, was a member of the influential Pew Commission on Foster Care. That commission recommended broad improvements to foster care funding and courts’ handling of child protection cases. She has also been honored nationally for her work in improving child support enforcement and adoption opportunities. In May 2005, the Detroit News named Justice Corrigan a “Michiganian of the Year” for her work on behalf of foster children.
The Court Improvement Program of the Indiana Supreme Court sponsored the Summit. The federally funded program encourages courts to focus on the process used in child abuse/neglect cases. The Indiana Summit on Children brought together judges with jurisdiction over child abuse and neglect cases and their staff, officials and staff from the Indiana Department of Child Services, and other community stakeholders to collaborate and explore ways to improve outcomes for children and families in the child welfare system.
In addition to Justice Corrigan, speakers at the event included Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, Indiana Department of Child Services Director James Payne, and Bill Stanczykiewicz, President and CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute.
Of particular interest to those in attendance was a panel of youth who had been in foster care. They shared with the participants some of their firsthand observations, experiences and suggestions for improvement to the Indiana foster care system.
The Summit provided an opportunity to network and share ideas for child welfare stakeholders from across the state and from various disciplines. In addition, during the daylong Summit, county teams used this meeting time to collaborate and plan for ways to improve the child welfare process in their own counties.
Counties represented at the summit included: Allen, Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clark, Dearborn, Decatur, Delaware, Elkhart, Fayette, Floyd, Fountain, Fulton, Hamilton, Henry, Howard, Johnson, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Noble, Ohio, Owen, Perry, Porter, Posey, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, St. Joseph, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Warren, Warrick, and Wayne.