The court will have the plan in hand and will hear testimony on whether the plan has been complied with, and whether there has been progress in implementing its goals. In many ways the case plan is the most important element of successful intervention. Through the plan the court will understand the dynamic of service delivery in the individual case. The court will also learn what services may be unavailable in the local system to meet the needs of children and families. Unfortunately, when courts have overloaded dockets they are unable to perform the necessary review.
Attorneys shy from insisting on adequate case review.
The pressures of the system lead all of the participants to postpone the day of reckoning for yet another six months, when the case plan will once again be ignored. There are additional problems. Many jurisdictions lack local court rules that will ensure that P.L. 96-272 is obeyed. There are difficulties in coordinating the work of those courts that handle cases of children in foster care with those that handle adoptions. Judicial turnover is great, so there is a constant need for training new judges who hear these cases.