Frequently Asked Questions
The Court Improvement Program (CIP) is a federally funded program through the Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau. The purpose of the CIP is to promote the continuous quality improvement of: (1) child welfare court hearings and reviews; (2) legal representation for parents, children, youth and the state child welfare agency responsible for administering titles IV-B and IV-E of the Act; and (3) collaboration between the judicial branch of state government, the title IV-B/IV-E agency and tribes to improve child welfare outcomes.
For submissions or suggestions for conference sessions or other trainings specific to the juvenile courtroom, please email: OKCourtimprovement@oscn.net.
Judicial Officers, CIP staff, contract attorneys for deprived dockets, Assistant District Attorneys and CASA volunteers are currently eligible to receive travel reimbursement through CIP. If you have questions about an existing travel claim, contact: marianne.peeples@oscn.net.
In order to qualify for a room the night before the conference begins, you’ll need to travel at least 130 miles (google map miles) from your duty station or request an exception from the Director.
In order to request a copy of the Parent Guardian Handbook, contact Lacey.warren@oscn.net or Felice.hamilton@oscn.net. You can also download a PDF copy.
The juvenile bench book is not available to the public on OSCN. The materials are available to Judges via OCIS.
You can request the video recordings of the conference by contacting felice.hamilton@oscn.net for the link. You will be given an affidavit to sign verifying the sessions viewed and after it is received, MJCLE credit will be given
For information regarding the OK CIP Multidisciplinary Taskforce, contact OKCourtimprovement@oscn.net .
The ICWA Bench Book is located both on the OKCCIP website and through the OCIS Legal Research page.
Formal training is in the process of being developed by the Training Department. Until that training is available contact Tim Scott, Juvenile Court Project Specialist for assistance tim.scott@oscn.net.
There are three versions of Juvenile Deprived Uniform Orders found on OCSN. They are available in an Excel Workbook, Word and PDF versions. Contact Tim Scott, Juvenile Court Project Specialist at tim.scott@oscn.net for assistance.
If your new attorney is contracted with OFR, please have them contact their managing attorney directly. If they are not, contact Oklahoma Lawyers for Children (405) 232-4453, Tulsa Lawyers for Children (918) 425-5858, or the Oklahoma Bar Association. The CIP keeps recordings of prior conferences or trainings that may also be accessed upon request. Contact OKCourtimprovement@oscn.net for more information.
If you are looking for information regarding the Children’s Court Improvement Program, CIP Conference, CIP Taskforce, or have general questions about any topic on this website, contact lacey.warren@oscn.net.
If you need specific information regarding the Child Permanency Mediation program or juvenile court forms, contact tim.scott@oscn.net.
If you need information specific to judicial education, contact felice.hamilton@oscn.net.