The guidelines are a result of a three year effort in the improvement of court practices in child abuse and neglect cases. The guidelines set forth the essential elements of best practice for the court processes that lead to a permanent home for children who cannot be reunified with their families. In most instances, recommendations of best practice are drawn from the collective experiences of judges and other professionals who have spent many years managing numerous cases involving abused and neglected children. This collective experience comes together in the guidelines for the purpose of defining the role of the court and to ensure that everything possible is done to achieve timely permanence for every abused or neglected child who cannot be reunified with their family. They define the court’s role in holding parties accountable to fulfill their responsibilities to the child. It describes the court’s responsibility to identify system barriers to successful adoption and to actively advocate for needed system improvements. The guidelines describe each step between the point at which the court determines reunification is not an option and the point at which the juvenile and family court is no longer involved in the case because the child has achieved permanence in a new home. The step include: (1) permanency planning; (2) the permanency hearing; (3) termination of parental rights hearing; (4) the appeals process; (5) adoption related issues judges must understand prior to conducting review hearings that follow termination of parental rights; (6) review hearings that follow permanency hearings or parental rights termination; and (7) hearings to formalize case closure and finalize adoption. Glossary, appendices, and checklists