The Children's Commission regularly offers scholarships to judges to attend state and national conferences. Scholarships typically reimburse judges for conference registration fees, and occasionally, for travel-related expenses.

For all scholarships, the Children's Commission determines scholarship criteria and deploys an application process that includes pre- and post-conference evaluations to identify or confirm the knowledge gained from the training, new practices which awardees plan to implement, and/or a current practice which they plan to change. Surveys also inquire about additional topics of interest to help inform planning for future training.

Please visit the sections below for more information on state and national conferences in child welfare. Please note, the Children’s Commission may not offer scholarships to every training listed. If you have questions about scholarships to this year’s events, please email CCscholarships@txcourts.gov.

Information on scholarships will be available on this webpage and also through announcements via the Children’s Commission’s Resource Letters for Judges and Attorneys. To receive notice about scholarships to future conferences and trainings, please sign up to receive Resource Letters from the Children’s Commission.

TexasBarCLE and the Child Protection Law Section of the State Bar of Texas host the Annual Advanced Child Protection Law Course each year. The 5th Annual Advanced Child Protection Law Course will be held on March 23-24, 2023 in Houston, Texas. TexasBarCLE will also offer a 3-hour Child Protection Law 101 Course as a pre-conference training, on the morning of March 23rd. Both the 101 Course and the Advanced Course will also be offered via webcast replay. For more information on both courses, please see the current brochure.

Please note, the registration fees for the courses are waived for Texas judges by TexasBarCLE. Judges wishing to attend the 101 Course or Advanced Course should contact TexasBarCLE directly.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) will host the 2023 National Conference on Juvenile Justice on March 19-22, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. The conference features plenary and breakout sessions on juvenile justice, trafficking, child welfare, highlighting court best practices, innovative solutions, and self-care. More information is available on the NCJFCJ website.

The Children’s Commission is offering reimbursement scholarships to qualifying Texas judges to attend in Dallas. Since this conference will take place in Texas and will include tracks dedicated to topics impacting both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, the Children’s Commission will offer more scholarships to the National Conference on Juvenile Justice this spring. Accordingly, please note that the Commission will offer fewer scholarships for the NCJFCJ Annual Conference this summer.

Two types of scholarships are available:

  • Registration + travel assistance scholarships up to $1,200 total, or
  • Registration-only scholarships for local Dallas-area judges and those who do not require travel assistance to attend.

Please note, this is a reimbursement scholarship and confirmed awardees will be required to cover their expenses up front and submit for reimbursement upon return. Please read below for more information and a link to apply.

Scholarship Criteria:

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must hear juvenile justice or child welfare cases. To encourage geographic diversity, preference may be given to judges who have larger percentages of their docket dedicated to child welfare cases and may also be determined by the applicant’s jurisdiction location. Additionally, all applicants must agree to complete a post-event survey from the Children’s Commission. 

Applicants have two choices for the type of scholarship best suited for them:

  • Registration + Travel Assistance Scholarship:

The registration + travel assistance scholarship will take the form of reimbursed registration fees and eligible conference-related expenses, such as travel or lodging, up to $1,200 total. Any additional expenses must be covered by the scholarship recipient. This scholarship is available to judges traveling outside of their designated headquarters to attend the training.

  •  Registration-only Scholarship:

The registration-only scholarship will take the form of reimbursed registration fees only. This scholarship type is available for local judges in the Dallas area or those who do not require any travel assistance in order to attend.

Both types of scholarships are reimbursement-based. Please refer to the Children’s Commission’s travel reimbursement guidelines regarding travel reimbursement eligibility and allowable travel expenses, or email CCscholarships@txcourts.gov if you have any questions.

Please also note, registration rates are determined by your NCJFCJ membership status. The NCJFCJ is providing a pathway to membership for those who are not currently members, included with their registration for the conference. More information about membership is available on the NCJFCJ website.

Scholarship Notification and Logistics:

The Children’s Commission notified applicants of their scholarship status by Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Please note, if you applied for this scholarship in December, you should have received notice of your scholarship status and do not need to submit another application.

All awardees will need to register themselves for the conference and those who need to make travel arrangements will also need to do so themselves. Confirmed scholarship awardees may submit for reimbursement of eligible expenses upon return. It is recommended to review the Commission’s travel reimbursement guidelines before booking travel for more information about eligible travel expenses.

Please also note the following important dates:

  • The early bird registration rate ends on February 8, 2023, and
  • NCJFCJ’s final date to cancel registration is March 1, 2023, and cancellations thereafter may incur an administrative fee.

Scholarship awardees will be responsible for monitoring the NCJFCJ’s cancellation policies and cancelling their own registration and travel plans in a timely manner, should they become unable to attend. The Children’s Commission cannot offer reimbursement for those who incur costs and do not attend. More information on NCJFCJ’s cancellation policies is available under their Registration webpage.

All scholarship awardees are responsible for monitoring notices and emails from the event organizer. The Children’s Commission is not affiliated with the event and may not be aware of notices issued by the event organizer regarding cancellation policies, CLE notices and reporting rules, notices or policies regarding COVID-19, etc.

For questions regarding this scholarship, please contact the Children's Commission at CCscholarships@txcourts.gov.

Application Link and Deadline to Apply:

The application period is now closed.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) will host the 86th Annual Conference on July 16-19, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. This conference generally features plenary sessions on family law, juvenile justice, child welfare, and family violence. More information about this conference will be made available on the NCJFCJ website.

Scholarship information for this conference will be posted on this webpage in mid-April 2023. Please check back at that time for details and a link to apply.

Each year, the TexasBarCLE hosts the Advanced Family Law Course, which includes the Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) one-day Workshop. The 2023 CAN Workshop will be held on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. For more information and updates, please visit the TexasBarCLE website.

Please note, the registration fee for the CAN Workshop is waived for Texas judges by TexasBarCLE. Judges wishing to attend the Workshop should contact TexasBarCLE directly.

The National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) will host the 46th National Child Welfare Law Conference on August 10-12, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NACC will also offer an online-only conference with a different agenda on September 20-22, 2023. More information about the past conference and the upcoming conference is available on the NACC website.

Scholarship information for this conference will be posted on this webpage the first week of May 2023. Please check back at that time for details and a link to apply.

State Certification Reimbursement

For more information, please visit the Commission's Texas Board of Specialization webpage.