Family Drug Court,Targeted Parent Training and Family Reunification: Did this Enhanced Service Strategy Make A Difference?

This article reports findings from an evaluation of reunification outcomes for children and families who participated in a family drug court (FDC) that incorporated the use of two innovative evidence‐based parenting programs. In addition to comprehensive FDC services, families participated in the Strengthening Families Program and Celebrating Families!^TM programs in a sequential format. Data analyses were conducted on a sample of 214 children whose child welfare cases were adjudicated through the FDC and 418 matched comparison cases. Entry‐cohort survival analysis results indicated that families receiving FDC services were more than twice as likely to reunify in a 45 month observation window.     

The Impact of Child‐Parent Psychotherapy on Child Dependency Court Outcomes

Although parental compliance with court orders in child welfare cases is key to achieving physical parent‐child reunification and successful case closure, little research has examined how parent‐child relationship‐focused rehabilitative services uniquely influence case outcomes. This project fills this gap by investigating links between court ordering of and parental participation in Child‐Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) with court outcomes. Data were obtained from court records of 448 court‐involved parents. Hierarchical regressions revealed that greater participation in CPP led to reunification and successful case closure but not faster case closure. Courtroom professionals should consider parent‐child relationship‐based therapies as tools for achieving child welfare goals.     

Increasing Family Reunification for Substance‐Abusing Mothers and Their Children: Comparing Two Drug Court Interventions in Miami

This study provides a quasi‐experimental test of 80 consecutive enrollments in the Miami‐Dade (Florida) Dependency Drug Court in order to examine the impact of a family‐based and gender specific intervention, Engaging Moms Program (EMP), on drug court graduation and family reunification. We compared EMP with case management services (CMS). Results indicated that 72% of mothers in the EMP graduated from drug court, and 70% were reunified with their children. In contrast, 38% of mothers receiving CMS graduated from drug court, and 40% were reunited with their children. EMP, then, appears to be a promising family drug court intervention.     

Implementing Equal Justice for Parents in Washington: A Dual Approach

In many states, legal representation for parents of dependent children is inadequate and can be a source of delays in securing permanency for children and unnecessarily protracted court proceedings. Often, such parents also face barriers to accessing services and independent evaluators. These issues are being addressed in the state of Washington through two approaches. The first is a successful enhanced legal representation program that has substantially improved case outcomes. The second is a statewide committee using innovative means to examine systemic responses to the challenges of the Adoption and Safe Families Act.     

Factors related to recidivism for youthful offenders

Little is known about youth who were previously placed in a detention facility and what factors predict a subsequent recidivism to placement. This study of a two-county juvenile offender population (one urban and one rural) investigates what demographic, educational, mental health, substance dependence, and court-related variables predict recidivism to detention placement. Findings from logistic regression analysis indicate that seven variables significantly predict juvenile offenders’ recidivism placement, some expected and some unexpected. Predictors that made recidivism more likely include youth with a previous conduct disorder diagnosis, a self-reported previous suicide attempt, age, and number of court offenses. Conversely, predictors that made recidivism less likely include race (Caucasian), a previous attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis, and a misdemeanor conviction. These findings indicate that the use of a community-based suicide and mental health screening and referral approach may help to identify and assist these high-risk youth in receiving needed services prior to juvenile court involvement or during delinquency adjudication.     

Reunification in Intrafamilial Child Abuse Cases: A Model for Intervention

In response to a growing number of requests to help reunify parents and children separated by allegations of child abuse, we developed a model for intervention informed by clinical experience, feedback from clients and professionals, and insights from a growing body of interdisciplinary literature. This article presents a retrospective analysis of 29 intrafamilial cases describing the intervention, outcomes, and problems presented by these challenging situations. The safety and protection of the child was the paramount consideration in determining success, whether or not reunification was achieved. Using informal follow‐up data, 24 of the 29 cases were categorized as successful, 21 resulted in full or partial reunification, and 3 cases resulted in the voluntary or court‐ordered withdrawal of an accused father believed to pose a risk to the child. In 5 cases, the nonaccused parent thwarted efforts at reunification, and the case returned to the court of relevant jurisdiction.     

Changing How the System Responds to Status Offenders: Connecticut's Families with Service Needs Initiative

Concerned by the number of status offenders in secure detention and the processing of noncriminal behavior through the juvenile and family courts, Connecticut began efforts to reform their approach to troubled and troublesome youth in 2005 (Weithorn, 2005). Between 2005 and 2007, Connecticut enacted a series of legislative changes to both improve services for troubled youth and Families with Service Needs (FWSN), and achieve systematic reforms for processing status offenses. At a systems level, the reforms sought to divert non‐criminal behaviors from formal court processing and prevent secure confinement for status offenders who violated court orders related to their behavior. Connecticut's attempt at second‐order, or system change, is the focus of this outcome evaluation.     

Tribal child welfare. Interim final rule

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is issuing this interim final rule to implement statutory provisions related to the Tribal title IV-E program. Effective October 1, 2009, section 479B(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act) authorizes direct Federal funding of Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Tribal consortia that choose to operate a foster care, adoption assistance and, at Tribal option, a kinship guardianship assistance program under title IV-E of the Act. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 requires that ACF issue interim final regulations which address procedures to ensure that a transfer of responsibility for the placement and care of a child under a State title IV-E plan to a Tribal title IV-E plan occurs in a manner that does not affect the child's eligibility for title IV-E benefits or medical assistance under title XIX of the Act (Medicaid) and such services or payments; in-kind expenditures from third-party sources for the Tribal share of administration and training expenditures under title IV-E; and other provisions to carry out the Tribal-related amendments to title IV-E. This interim final rule includes these provisions and technical amendments necessary to implement a Tribal title IV-E program.     

PARENTS IN DISTRESS

State legislatures and courts continue to struggle with the issue of providing reunification services to mentally ill parents. Recent case law highlights the lack of uniformity among the states and the courts in establishing a standard for a state's duty to provide reunification services to mentally ill parents. This article examines how inconsistencies among the courts work against mentally ill parents in their pursuit of family reunification. Furthermore, the article discusses the inadequacies of servcies offered to mentally ill parents. The author argues that society and mentally ill parents benefit from imposing a duty on provide reunification services to mentally ill parents.     

Exploring Factors Which Lead to Successful Reunification in Domestic Violence Cases: Interviews with Caseworkers

This exploratory study investigated factors that Child Protective Service caseworkers believe lead to change for the domestic violence abuser and victim, and ultimately lead to success in terms of reunifying children who have been removed from their parents due to domestic violence. In-depth interviews with six caseworkers examined both successful reunification cases and unsuccessful reunification cases. The interview was structured around three areas of interest: services, the caseworker’s relationship with the parents, and social supports, in order to identify variables that may influence the family’s ability (or inability) to make the necessary changes for reunification with their children. Results revealed that successful reunifications took place within the families who fully engaged in services, admitted the issues within the family home, set clear boundaries with each other, and sought and maintained an appropriate support system. Implications for caseworkers involved with families experiencing domestic violence, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

Expressed‐Interest Legal Representation for Children in Substitute Care: Evaluation of the Impact of Representation on Children's Permanency Outcomes

Based on a combination of administrative data; juvenile court record review; and informed‐participant interviews of juvenile court judges, attorneys, and service providers, the current study examines the impact of the Foster Children's Project (FCP). FCP is a program that provides professional legal representation to children in substitute care. Legal representation by FCP attorneys is found to increase the rate of children's exit to adoption, leading to a higher overall rate of exit to permanence. The rate of exit to reunification is not, however, found to be affected by FCP representation. Implications for juvenile court policy and practice are discussed.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• The study is the first of its kind to examine the impact of client‐directed representation in cases of children in foster care through examination of Palm Beach County's Foster Children's Project (FCP), which provides professional legal representation to those in state care.
• FCP representation was found to increase the rate of children's exit to adoption, leading to a higher overall rate of exit to permanence. The rate of exit to reunification, however, remained stable.
• Research findings are based on administrative data; juvenile court record review; and interviews of juvenile court judges, attorneys, and service providers.

     

Practice tips for managing challenges in parenting capacity assessments in child protection court

Courts frequently rely on parenting capacity assessments to make decisions about visitation and case progress in child protection court. Although these evaluations can provide valuable information to courts, they often involve assessing areas of human behavior that are not clearly defined in the literature. For example, mental health professionals are often tasked with identifying risk and protective factors for child maltreatment while identifying factors that can impede progress towards reunification. Although some of these factors may be easy to identify and assess (e.g., symptoms of mental illness or substance abuse), others may be more challenging. For example, factors such as denial and minimization about risk factors and maltreatment, a parent(s)’ ability to protect their child(ren) from future incidents of maltreatment, the parent(s)’ potential for change, and the consideration of what is in the best interest of the child are hard to assess. This article will provide a summary of the research in these areas, provide tips for managing these areas, and highlight directions for future investigation that will help inform parenting capacity assessments in child protection court.     

Using the level of service inventory-revised to improve assessment and treatment in drug court

More than 2,000 drug courts in the United States provide supervision and substance-abuse treatment to thousands of offenders. Yet the treatment continuum from assessment to aftercare is underexplored. The effectiveness of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) as a risk assessment tool is well established. However, fewer studies have considered its use in guiding treatment strategies. In using the LSI-R, the drug court program relied on the structured interview protocol (not the risk classification scores) to identify criminogenic needs that then helped determine placement in a high- or low-needs treatment track. To evaluate the effectiveness of these treatment placement decisions, this research used the LSI-R scores to examine individual and group differences (N = 182). Significant and substantive differences at the individual and group levels were found thus providing empirical support for using the LSI-R as a link between assessment and treatment. Implications for developing standards and practice protocols for drug courts are discussed.     

Using Reasonable Efforts Determinations to Improve Systems and Case Practice in Cases Involving Family Violence and Child Maltreatment

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 reinforced that the safety, permanency, and well‐being of the child should be the primary concerns when making decisions about child protection interventions, child placement, and efforts at reunification. The court's role in oversight of agency practice in individual cases through the requirement of specific judicial findings as a condition of receipt of certain funding was also maintained and strengthened by ASFA. Based on the recognition of the number of cases where there is a co‐occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment, there is a need for communities and agencies to set reasonable expectations of good practice for responding to the issues raised. As the community sets the expectations of good practice through agency policy, training, and service delivery, the judiciary, through the findings regarding “continuation in the home” or “reasonable efforts” in each individual case, provides the oversight of practice required by ASFA. This article will explore the current applications of reasonable efforts, discuss ways that courts and communities are defining the concept, and examine the need for the development of a reasonable efforts protocol.     

Significant Gender Differences in Factors Related to the Detention of Youthful Offenders

An important priority of the U.S. juvenile justice system is to reduce the number of youthful offenders who are placed into secure detention placement. Though significant research examining these predictors exists, there is limited analysis of gender-specific predictors. Using existing juvenile court and mental health assessment case records of 433 youthful offenders from two Midwestern U.S. counties, this study sought to identify separately for males and females the legal (including number of delinquency adjudications, age at first delinquency adjudication, number of court offenses, and type of offense) and extralegal (including demographic, maltreatment, mental health, and school-related disabilities) factors that impact recidivism to detention placement. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that the predictors of recidivism leading to repeat secure detention placement were indeed different for males and females, although there were some shared predictors. For both genders, the number of court offenses and having a previous suicide attempt were significant predictors. In addition, for females, having a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a misdemeanor offense were protective against recidivism. For males, three other variables significantly predicted recidivism: age, race, and a conduct disorder diagnosis.     

SUPERVISED VISITATION

Reviews of case files for 676 families who received supervised visitation services at one of four programs and interviews with 201 participating parents provide a portrait of the families receiving services, their experiences, and the outcomes. Programs successfully serve a wide variety of families and garner high ratings of user satisfaction, but half of the families exit without formal closure. Families that drop out receive fewer court hearings and evaluations for the problems that brought them into the programs in the first place, suggesting that they may feel neglected. In most cases that formally exit the program, the visitation situation improves over time, although interviewed parents give mixed reports about their visitation situations after they leave the programs.     

Psychiatric expert testimony on aggressive offenders in juvenile court proceedings

The empirical study presented concerns juvenile court cases (aggressive offences) in West Berlin during which the offenders (N = 94) were subject to psychiatric expert testimony (1975-1982). The conditional factors determining forensic-psychiatric testimony are examined and the investigation shows, with the aid of discriminant analysis, that differences in the form of the expertise given are best explained by the variable 'convention-orientation'. Ratings on the quality of psychiatric letters (N = 49) were based on the semantic differential technique. Employing factor analysis, three independent aspects determining the quality of expert opinion are revealed, namely the factors 'cogency of message', role-conception', and 'recipient-orientation'.     

TRICARE; certain survivors of deceased active duty members; and adoption intermediaries. Final rule

This rule confirms as final a January 2007 interim final rule which implements two provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (NDAA FY06). First, Section 715 of the NDAA FY06 extends the time frame certain dependents of active duty service members (ADSM) who die while on active duty for more than 30 days shall receive TRICARE medical benefits at active duty dependent payment rates. Second, Section 592 of the NDAA FY06 modifies the requirement for those intermediaries who provide adoption placements. Additionally, this final rule makes an administrative clarification to the following two eligibility provisions: those placed in the legal custody of a member or former member; and those placed in the home of a member or former member in anticipation of adoption. This clarification makes a distinction between the two groups and specifies that for placement into legal custody by court order, the court order must be for a period of 12 consecutive months.     

Medicare program; payment for physician outpatient maintenance dialysis services and other physician services for ESRD patients--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule reinstates a modified version of the initial method of payment for physician dialysis services and clarifies and modifies some of the principles of the monthly capitation payment method. Under both the initial method and the monthly capitation payment method, we specify that, to be payable, physician services must meet certain requirements that distinguish services furnished to individual patients from services furnished to facilities that benefit the facilities' patients generally. The reinstatement of a modified version of the initial method is necessitated by a court order.     

Reducing Domestic Violence and Improving Outcomes for Children: Funding Civil Legal Aid to Maximize Impact

Domestic violence survivors and children in foster care often experience significant unmet civil legal needs. Legal aid services, when adequately funded, can help close the justice gap for these two populations while improving safety, stability, and court efficiencies. However, despite ample literature demonstrating how legal aid can improve outcomes, almost half of those seeking legal aid services are turned away due to lack of resources. This article reviews the research and data about how legal aid can improve outcomes for people in the domestic violence and child welfare contexts. It also discusses how several state‐administered federal funding opportunities—including the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Victim Assistance Formula Grant Program, Title IV‐D child support funds, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) basic block grants—can fund the needed civil legal help.