Tribal Court Improvement Program

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The Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau announces the availability of awards to provide tribes and tribal consortia the opportunity to compete for grants to enable tribal courts to design and implement projects and/or activities to assess, expand, or enhance the effectiveness of tribal courts and/or legal representation in cases related to child welfare, family preservation, family reunification, guardianship, and adoption. In doing this work, grantees are required to engage in and demonstrate "meaningful, ongoing collaboration" with the tribal social service agencies. Tribal Court Improvement Project (TCIP) funds may be used to: (1) Conduct assessments of how tribal courts (including courts for tribal consortia) handle child welfare proceedings; (2) Implement changes to address the results of court assessments; (3) Ensure that the safety, permanence, and well-being needs of children are met in a timely and complete manner; and (4) Continuously improve the quality of court hearings and legal representation, including engagement of parties, through training and efforts to increase substantive and procedural justice.

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