Key Considerations for Virtual Hearings

This brief from Casey Family Programs summarizes key considerations — potential benefits and potential concerns — for courts moving to virtual hearings. During COVID-19, virtual hearings have emerged as a viable strategy to ensure that due process rights of children and families are protected, safety and permanency remains a priority, and dockets do not become backlogged. 

“The length of this pandemic is a lifetime for a child.”       

  – Chief Justice Debra Stephens, WA Supreme Court

The pandemic has provided a rare opportunity to rapidly redesign the court process, and virtual hearings will likely continue, in some fashion, post-COVID-19. The authors admit that more research and evaluation is needed, but it appears that virtual court hearings have the potential to ensure that cases are moving toward permanency. Building on the lessons from COVID-19, courts should consider when virtual hearings should continue once courthouses begin to reopen, while also addressing the issues and challenges that have emerged during this time.

Casey offers additional resources for courts conducting virtual hearings here.