Presented by Margaret Robbins Program Director, TMCEC

1. CASEFLOW MANAGEMENT Presented by Margaret Robbins Program Director, TMCEC

3. Caseflow Management • Includes: • Moving through a process • Active oversight • Continuous changes • Not a steady movement • Series of events • Multiple tracks for case processing and time frames

4. Caseflow Management • Requires: • Philosophical commitment • Resource commitment • New procedures • Retraining personnel • New forms

5. Successful Organizations • Clear sense of direction • Unity of purpose • Map • Plan of Action • Includes strategic planning • Strategies to achieve vision, mission, goals, and objectives

6. Create an Impetus for Change Form a Guiding Coalition Create and Communicate a Vision and Mission Select Standards Relevant to Vision & Mission Conduct Short-Term Measures Conduct Long-Term Measures Make Improvements Communicate Progress

7. Caseflow Management • Elements • Judicial commitment and leadership • Includes city commitment and leadership • Court supervision of case progress • Standards and goals • Monitoring and information system

8. Steps • Vision • Mission • Goals and Objectives • Identify resources • Develop plan to analyze current caseload inventory • Developing Standards • Monitoring

9. Vision • Preferred future • Focus of action • What court should be • Simple, inspirational, focusing • Shared values of employees • Establishes framework • Clarifies direction

10. Mission • Court’s mission • Describes court’s fundamental purpose • Mission of caseflow management • Describes fundamental purpose • Identifies desired results of caseflow management • Identifies accountability

11. Mission Statement • Performance areas • Access to Justice • Expedition and Timeliness • Quality • Fairness and Integrity • Independence and Accountability • Public Trust and Confidence

12. Mission Statement • Write mission statement

13. Caseflow Management • Goal • Selected area of primary interest • Activity to be completed within a certain time • May diminish in importance • May be replaced by a new goal

14. Goals of Caseflow Management • Goals define the direction of caseflow management • Sequence of time events more predictable and more timely • Equal treatment of defendants • Timely disposition • Enhance quality of court process • Enhance public confidence

15. Objectives • Key result that can be obtained within a specified time period • The specific steps to achieve goals • Focus on specific results to be achieved (within a specified time) • Fully communicated • Written in quantifiable statements • Permits verification of achievement

16. Goals • Develop goal statement

17. Objectives • Write specific results to be achieved and make sure results can be measured

18. Strategic Plan • Statements that describes • Vision • Mission • Goals • Objectives • Strategies for achieving them

19. Establish reason or motivation for change Form guiding coalition Create vision Define mission Set goals Communicate vision, mission, & goals Establish objectives Formulate strategies Identify resources Analyze current case load Formulate strategies for developing standards and monitoringprocedures Monitor, evaluate & modify steps Steps of Strategic Planning

20. Resources • Financial • People • Equipment • Forms • Other city departments • Other courts • State agencies • National agencies • Outside consultants

22. Inventory Categories One year’s filing Average filings per month Current case processing standards Current pending caseload Current FTA warrants Current community service Current trials scheduled Inventory Categories Current time payments Current laying out in jail Current Capias Pro fines Current appeals Backlog in all categories Appearance rate Determine desired pending case load Flowchart current processes Analyzing Current Case Load

23. Standards (Performance Measures) • Define direction of caseflow management • Relevant to vision and mission • Use flowchart to analyze current procedures and processes and where you want to go • Provide basis of measuring effectiveness • Provide basis for case progress decisions • Should be incorporated in routine • Results in improvement

24. Performance Measures • Should include short and long term measures • Help identify operational strengths and weaknesses • Assess the effectiveness of steps taken to correct deficiencies

25. Performance Measures • Not intended for gauging the performance of individual judges • Involve processes and tasks that are linked together and affect one another • Emphasize activities of the court as an organization, not actions of particular individual

26. Workload Efficiency Effectiveness Productivity Service quality Procedures Event time lines Outside time lines Overall disposition Number of pending cases Age of pending cases Median time of case disposition Individual case progress Public Trust Things that you might want to measure

27. Data Collection Methods • Case and administrative record reviews and searches • Group techniques • Interviews • Observations and simulations • Surveys of general public, court employees, attorneys, other city departments

28. Performance Measures • Develop manageable number • Develop measurement system • Build around standards and data collection methods by which measures can be taken • Include requirements for data • Include performance evaluation scheme by which measurement system can be applied • Test • Communicate and train employees

29. Performance Standards • Performance areas • Access to Justice • Expedition and Timeliness • Quality • Fairness and Integrity • Independence and Accountability • Public Trust and Confidence

30. Access to Justice • Public Proceedings • Safety, Accessibility, & Convenience • Effective Participation • Courtesy, Responsiveness, & Respect • Affordable Costs of Access

31. Expedition and Timeliness • Case Processing • Compliance with Schedules and Standards • Prompt Implementation of Law and Procedure

32. Equality, Fairness, and Integrity • Fair and Reliable Judicial Process • Juries • Court Decisions and Actions • Clarity • Responsibility for Enforcement • Production and Preservation of Records

33. Independence and Accountability • Independence and Courtesy • Accountability for Public Resources • Personnel Practices and Decisions • Public Education • Response to Change

34. Public Trust and Confidence • Accessibility • Expeditious, Fair, and Reliable Court Functions • Judicial Independence and Accountability

35. Performance Measurement System • What standards should guide the evaluation of performance? • What measures & Indicators should be applied to gauge performance on standards? • What data collection methods and techniques should be used to measure performance? • How should you use measurement system?

36. Measurement • Focuses on results • Linked to: • Standard areas (mission) • Goals (standards)

37. Measurement • Questions • Where are we now • Where do we want to go • Are we making progress

38. Key Elements of Measurement

39. Suitability Validity Feasibility Consistency Vulnerability Timing Adaptability Usability Strategy Evaluation Criteria

40. Key Evaluation Questions • Technical level • Are strategies being implemented? • Are strategies achieving goals and objectives? • Are there unintended consequences?

41. Key Evaluation Questions • Management level • What should be continued? • What should be started? • What should be stopped?

42. Caseflow Management • It is a service improvement process • City will benefit • Court will be more efficient • Citizens will have equal and fair justice

43. No changes everything is perfect Ignore Problems Caseflow Management

45. World Wide Web Addresses • Bureau of Justice Assistance • http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA • Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse • http://www.ncjrs.org • National Center for State Courts • http://www.ncsc.dni.us

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