20 Innovative ideas Best Practices, initiatives, and model courts

1. 20 Innovative ideasBest Practices, initiatives, and model courts

2. Model courts Ideas 1 - 4

3. Family dependency treatment courts • “a court that deals with cases involving parental rights…which come before the court through either the criminal or civil process, which arise out of the substance abuse of a parent.” - Juvenile and Family Drug Courts: An Overview (Drug Court Clearinghouse and Technical Assistance Project at the American University, 1998)

4. FAMILY DEPENDENCY TREATMENT COURTS • San Diego, CA • Access to Treatment • Participants of FDTC get priority slots with a network of drug and alcohol treatment providers • County contracts with third party providers for priority placements

5. Omaha, Nebraska Zero to three drug treatment court • Family drug treatment court that focuses on families with children age three and younger • Treatment program completed in phases • Completion of phases  coincides with increased visitation • Parents prove sobriety through frequent testing • Leads to more frequent visits / unsupervised visits • Parenting skills assessed by judge at each hearing • Specific questions about the parent-child relationship

6. Court teams for maltreated infants and toddlers • Based out of Miami-Dade County Juvenile Court • 2nd and 3rd generation families involved in child protection • Partnered with Dr. & Prof. of Pediatrics and Psychiatry • Focus on healing parent and child relationships

7. Court teams, Cont’d • Phase 1: Develop partnership between the judge and a local community coordinator to establish a court-community team • Build awareness of needs of children under 3 in foster care • Complete a community needs assessment that identifies available services and gaps in services

8. Court teams, cont’d • Phase 2: Provide additional services for infants and toddlers • Court ordered: • Referrals for health and dental care • Quality child care • Behavioral & development assessments • Frequent visits with parents • Evidence based services • Review hearings every 30 days • Utilizes visitation to promote permanent placement with parents

9. Butte County, CaliforniaH.O.P.E COURTS • H.O.P.E. = Helping Organize Parents Effectively • Families with multiple cases before the court • Cases grouped together and heard together • Create a whole family plan • Whole team discusses modifications to the family plan • At each hearing assess where the family is at in all areas

10. Supporting the case plan Ideas 5 - 9

11. Place based family strengthening • Oregon: Fostering Hope Initiative • The issue: A family in stress is a family more likely to end up in child welfare • The initiative: • 1) Build up the internal resources of the parents; and • 2) Reinforce the external resources in the community to support families in need.

12. Place based family strengthening • Weekly community dinners at neighborhood churches & community centers • Classes • Socialization • Supporting connections between neighbors • In-home services • Mentoring • Parenting skills • Health & wellness

13. New jerseyfamily reunity houses • Therapeutic supervised visitation program • Operates out of 3 converted houses • Full apartments • visiting rooms • kitchens • Program phases for increased visitation • Overnight visits in the final phase

14. Washington stateParent to parent mentoring • Pair parent with a seasoned foster care provider • Program is voluntary – not part of mandatory case plan • Mentor parents in parenting skills but also in building a healthy support network • Outcomes: • Families more frequently reunify • Children’s length of stay in foster care is reduced • Fewer children return to care after reunification

15. Washington stateParent partners program • Participants matched with a parent mentor with previous child welfare involvement • Added a class component called “Here’s the Deal” • Goals: • Parents become more informed consumers of the child welfare system and the services available; • Parents move more quickly through their anger; • Develop a good working relationship with their social worker; • More quickly engage in services.

16. New Haven, Connecticutchild development-community policing • Collaboration between the Police Department and the Yale Child Study Center • Minimize the trauma to children at the time of the arrest of a parent: • Trains police in child development • Provides clinicians to work with children at the scene of an arrest • Provides treatment and follow up counseling for children • Provides ongoing consultation for police and child welfare staff

17. Supporting foster parents and resource families Ideas 10 - 12

18. Washington state’schildren’s administration foster parent support & recruitment “a supported, happy foster parent is a walking billboard for other potential foster parents” • Support groups • Training opportunities • Monthly newsletter • Including foster parents input in legislative efforts and policy efforts

19. Oklahomabridge to the future project • Customer Service Training for Child Welfare Staff • Data Driven Recruitment • Retention • Quarterly reports • Data on children in care vs. resource families • Rapid Improvement Events • Marketing– Communications– PSAs– Support Center • Online Training Curriculum • Tribal Recruitment Subcommittee

20. New MexicoIcebreaker meetings • Meeting between birth parents and foster parents within 2 days of an out-of-home placement • Discussions are child-focused • Opportunity to share information • Establish relationship of mutual respect • Similar program in Virginia – meeting within 7 days of an out-of-home placement

21. Post permanency Idea 13

22. Saint Louis, Missouriextreme recruitment • Idea: Coordinate a large team of professionals and volunteers in a highly effective way • Prior to Extreme Recruitment: • Social workers checked in once a month • Other stakeholders were rarely in the same room • Under Extreme Recruitment: • Stakeholders are in constant contact • Weekly 30 minute meetings per child/case • Checklists and action items

23. Extreme recruitment • Agency hired full time private investigators • Sole job is to track down members of child’s biological family • Goal for each child is to identify 40-60 family members • Find two key individuals in every family: • The informant • The family gem

24. Crossover youth Ideas 14 & 15

25. Crossover youth • “Youth who have experienced maltreatment and engaged in delinquency” • Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, • Crossover Youth Practice Model

26. crossover youth – as compared to youth in only delinquency orcp • More likely to exit care from a group home rather than with relatives or a foster family • More than twice as likely to be heavy users of public systems • Three times as likely to experience a jail stay • 50 percent less likely to be consistently employed • Will earn less than half in first four years after exit • The average per-person cost of crossover youth who access public services was more than double D. Culhane, Young Adult Outcomes of Youth Exiting Dependent or Delinquent Care in LA County (LA, CA: Univ. of PA, 2011)

27. Californiafoster youth services • School based intervention program: school districts ↔ child welfare ↔ probation • Determine gaps in services • Support timely transfers of records when placements and/or schools change • Provide direct service and referrals • Advocacy and collaboration

28. California Foster care youth services • Overall objectives and outcomes: • Improved academic achievement • Reduced truancy • Reduced expulsion rates

29. Pima County, Arizona • Collaboration project between child dependency and delinquency courts • Cross-over training between child welfare & probation staff • Whole family assessments – regardless of which avenue the family enters into court • One judge  one family • Hold review hearings for delinquency and child welfare matters at the same time • Engage in joint case planning across cases

30. Engaging and supporting kids in foster care Ideas 16 & 17

31. New york cityyouth justice board • Youth ages 15-19 did a year long study of NYC’s permanency planning process • Goals: • Youth to have a sense of responsibility and influence in their own case • More youth attend their hearings • The best decisions made for youth and their family • Turn going to court into a positive experience for youth • Improve chances of success for youth who age out of foster care

32. Youth justice board • Created a report with 14 recommendations to improve court experiences and outcomes for kids in foster care in 3 major areas: • To prepare youth to take a more active role in their cases • To create stronger partnerships between, guardians, case workers, and youth • To create a court environment that facilitates meaningful youth involvement

33. New yorkrepresent • Quarterly print and online publication • Contributors all current or former foster care youth • Editors on staff who work one-on-one with youth in care

34. represent

35. rise

36. Courthouse environment Ideas 18 - 20

37. Children’s waiting rooms • Provides a space for children to be engaged in activities • Court hearings/meetings with social workers or attorneys may be more efficient without kids • Utilize staff and/or volunteers to supervise the room

38. Los Angeles county, Ca • Free Arts for Abused Children • Partnered to operate at 2 sites in LA County • Courthouse provides space • Free Arts provides volunteers and art supplies during blocked dependency calendar time

40. Courthouse dogs • King County, Washington: • Ellie, assigned to the Special Assault Unit in 2005 • Nation’s first service dog matched full time with a county attorney’s office • Can be utilized at the interview and investigation stage of child abuse cases • Can be used to reduce stress during for children while waiting for a court hearing or while testifying

42. Thanks!

43. WEBSITES AND RESOURCES: Oklahoma Bridge to the Future http://www.okbridgefamilies.com/ Courthouse Dogs www.courthousedogs.org Place-Based Family Strengthening www.ctfalliance.org Washington Parent Partners/Mentoring Program http://pocweb.cac.washington.edu/publications/parent-engagementmentoring-models-washington-state Fostering Hope Initiative http://fosteringhopeinitiative.org/ Extreme Recruitment www.adoptuskids.org Represent www.representmag.org Youth Justice Board – New York 2007 Report http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/YJBreport%20final_2007.pdf Free Arts for Abused Children www.freearts.org Zero to Three Initiatives http://www.zerotothree.org/ Crossover Youth https://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/youth/collaboration/dualsystem.cfm National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges http://www.ncjfcj.org/ Reunity Houses – New Jersey http://familyconnectionsnj.org/reunity.html Rise http://www.risemagazine.org/