The State Court Improvement Program (CIP) was created as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1993, Public Law 103-66, which among other things, provided Federal funds to State child welfare agencies and Tribes for preventive services and services to families at risk or in crisis.

In October of 2016, the USVI Department of Human Services became an eligible Title IV-E Agency.  This newly acquired designation facilitated the ability of the USVI Courts to apply for IV-E funding for the first time.  Annual Court Improvement Program grants are generally utilized for activities which include development of mediation programs, joint agency-court training, automated docketing and case tracking, linked agency-court data systems, one judge/one family models, time-specific docketing, formalized relationships with the child welfare agency, improvement of representation for children and families, CSFR program improvement plan (PIP) development and implementation, and legislative changes.

 

The Judiciary of the U.S. Virgin Islands received its first Federal CIP grant funding in 2017. With the receipt of this funding, the Judiciary of the Virgin Islands and its administrative offices have been working to facilitate various collaborative efforts among the key stakeholders to identify and address barriers to permanency, child safety, and child and family well-being within the judicial, legal and child welfare system, to ensure that achievement of these goals occurs in a reasonable and timely manner in the Territory of the Virgin Islands.