REPORT
Child Abuse and Neglect Proceedings in Illinois Jurisdictions Outside Cook County
Clark Peters, Sheila Merry
1997
This paper examines Illinois judicial circuits outside Cook County. Researchers identified a number of factors worthy of additional attention, including: difficulty of implementing in small, rural jurisdictions statutes and policies developed primarily to respond to conditions in Cook County; problems of coordination among counties; a wide disparity in the likelihood of legal representation among jurisdictions; a perception of excessive emphasis on family reunification; lack of clear commitment to permanency hearings as envisioned by statute; limited access among court professionals to current information regarding juvenile law; and lack of management information systems to monitor and report on active cases.