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.