Overview
The Children’s Justice Initiative (CJI) is Minnesota’s federally funded Court Improvement Program through the Children’s Bureau and is a collaboration between the Minnesota Judicial Branch, Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). As part of the CIP grant, CJI carries out three required projects focused on improving outcomes in child welfare cases: a quality hearings project, a quality legal representation project, and a joint project conducted in partnership with DCYF. The CJI has a network designed to work closely with and provide statewide support to child welfare partners in each of Minnesota’s 87 counties and 11 tribal nations.
The CJI’s Mission is to improve outcomes for children who have experienced abuse or neglect by collaborating with court partners to strengthen legal representation and hearing quality, enhance engagement of families in court proceedings, and effectively promote child safety and well-being.
To learn more about the Children’s Justice Initiative (CJI), please review the CJI Fact Sheet.
To receive monthly updates about the Children’s Justice Initiative, please sign-up here.