NCJ Number
176265
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: Summer 1998 Pages: 41-51
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This report reaffirms recommendations made in the 1996 Report of the Missouri Bar Commission on Children and the Law and presents new initiatives related to divorce, child custody, child support, domestic assault, juvenile mental health services, juvenile court programs, child abuse and neglect, family courts, and other topics.
Abstract
The 1996 report made recommendations regarding the State's laws relating to juvenile delinquency, child abuse and neglect, adoption, health and safety, and domestic relations litigation. The current report recommends law reform to protect stepchildren on the death of their natural custodial parent, make divorce mediation programs available throughout the State, provide parent education and counseling during marriage dissolution, and centralize the recording of school expulsions and suspensions. Other recommendations are to achieve greater uniformity in salaries, training, caseloads, and benefits for juvenile court employees and services throughout the State and to bring Missouri law into compliance with the National Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. The Commission also recommended that the prosecuting attorney, the family and juvenile courts, and the Division of Family Services clarify and refine their respective roles and responsibilities in child abuse and neglect cases and that the Supreme Court consider enactment of general rules in the interest of uniformity of performance and effectiveness of procedures in the family courts. Reference notes