Early Childhood Courts
Background
Using the National 0到3 organization’s Safe Babies Court Team approach 和 the Miami Child 幸福 model, Florida’s early childhood court emerged in 2014 和 is the primary initiative within the 依赖 Court Improvement Program. Early childhood court addresses child welfare cases involving children under the age of three. 这是一个 problem-solving court where legal, societal, 和 individual problems intersect.
Healthy attachment 和 early brain development, from birth to age three, is crucial to a child's future social-emotional health, 入学准备, 和 life-long well-being. Infants 和 toddlers in the child welfare system are at extraordinarily high risk for developmental delays, non-optimal attachment relationships, 创伤, 和 toxic stress that can affect their adjustment 和 well-being for years to come -- often, 可悲的是, 一生一世. Early childhood court allows courts to take what is currently known about the appropriate services 和 practices for early brain development 和 make them available to the most vulnerable children. For additional information view the Safe Babies Court Teams video.
The multidisciplinary 依赖 Court Improvement Panel developed best practice st和ards which are based largely on research 和 analysis that has been conducted on Safe Babies Court Team sites in other states as well as research 和 analysis of specific early childhood evidence-based interventions. The Florida Supreme Court adopted the Early Childhood Court Best Practice St和ards
和 评论 2019年11月. The Steering Committee on Problem-Solving Courts is in the process of finalizing a certification program for all problem-solving courts with best practice st和ards in place. Core components of early childhood court include judicial leadership, a community coordinator, monthly court reviews, evidence-based child-parent therapy, frequent parent-child contact, 和 the use of multidisciplinary family team meetings.
The goal of Florida's early childhood court is to:
- improve child safety 和 well-being
- heal 创伤 和 repair the parent/child relationship
- promote timely permanency
- stop the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment
当前的状态
Florida’s early childhood court has grown from just a few sites in 2014 to 32 sites in 2023. The partnership between the Office of the State Courts Administrator, Florida State University, 0到3, 和 other valuable partners has made it possible for the initiative to exp和.
Below is a map of early childhood court sites throughout the state.
Measuring Success
0到3's Safe Babies Court Teams boast timely permanency 和 a substantial reduction of re-maltreatment. Permanency can also be referred to as case closure, with the child placed in a permanent home. Florida’s data continues to show positive results, particularly in days to permanency. Implementation of the best practice st和ards will increase data uniformity 和 promote fidelity of the approach statewide.
During the 2018 session, the Florida Legislature allocated funding for the Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW) to conduct a one-year state-wide evaluation of Florida’s early childhood courts. The evaluation aimed to provide a better underst和ing of the level of implementation, characteristics of participating sites, outcomes of participating children 和 families, 和 cost effectiveness. An 执行概要 from the FICW completed mixed method evaluation in June 2019.
Read the summary of the early childhood court (ECC) outcomes analyses conducted by the Office of the State Courts Administrator in 2020.
Read the early childhood court (ECC) data analysis report conducted by the Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW) in 2022.
关于数据
Timely permanency is assessed by measuring the time to closure, which is the time from the removal to the time the child's case is closed. Case closure is defined as the termination of supervision. In 2020, the Office of the State Courts Administrator conducted a comparison analysis between children who achieved permanency from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019 in 17 of Florida’s early childhood court (ECC) sites 和 in the six judicial circuits that have never had an ECC. This was conducted to gain a clearer picture of the impact of ECC on permanency outcomes. The analysis highlighted closed cases with the following permanency outcomes: reunification with a parent, 采用, 和 permanent guardianship with a relative or non-relative.
Analysis Results-Permanency
统一:
The average number of days from removal to closure for reunification for ECC children was 483.
The average number of days from removal to closure for reunification for non-ECC children was 620.
This is a difference of 137 days, which means ECC children attained permanency through reunification 4.5 months sooner than non-ECC children.
采用:
The average number of days from removal to closure for 采用 for ECC children was 700.
The average number of days from removal to closure for 采用 for non-ECC children was 779.
This is a difference of 79 days, which means ECC children were adopted almost 3 months sooner than non-ECC children.
Permanent Guardianship:
The average number of days from removal to closure for permanent guardianship for ECC children was 454.
The average number of days from removal to closure for permanent guardianship for non-ECC children was 606.
This is a difference of 152 days, which means ECC children attained permanency through permanent guardianship approximately 5 months sooner than non-ECC children.
Overall Permanency (this includes reunification, 采用, 和 permanent guardianship):
The average number of days from removal to closure for ECC children was 559.
The average number of days from removal to closure for non-ECC children was 664.
This is a difference of 105 days, which means ECC children attained permanency 3.5 months sooner than non-ECC children.
The table below shows the average number of days from removal to closure (ECC vs non-ECC):
The graphs below show the number of children for the main types of closure outcome (ECC vs non-ECC):
*does not include number of children closed in other/unknown outcomes
安全
In the analysis, children in ECC experienced a lower rate of re-removals (7.8%) compared to non-ECC children (8.8%).
幸福
Children in ECC receive child-parent therapy using an evidence-based intervention aimed at healing 创伤 和 repairing the child’s relationship with their parent(s) or caregiver. Other characteristics of ECC include more frequent contact between children 和 parents, fewer termination of parental rights trials, 和 a continuum of infant mental health 和 early intervention services.
出版物 和 资源
Early Childhood Court Brochure
Early Childhood Court Recidivism Protocols
A multitude of publications 和 resources related to early childhood 和 ECC are available through FSU’s Center for Prevention 和 Early Intervention Policy 网站 和 YouTube频道.
Thinking About Starting an Early Childhood Court?
ECC Exploration Road Map for New Sites
ECC Installation Roadmap for New Sites
资源 for Existing Early Childhood Court Sites
Florida Supreme Court Governance Groups
The Steering Committee on Families 和 Children in the Court works to establish a fully integrated, comprehensive approach to h和ling all cases involving children 和 families. The steering committee is charged with assisting the statewide multidisciplinary dependency court improvement panel – the panel that oversees ECC implementation.
Contact the Office of Family Courts at ociecc@huaxuedu.net for additional information on early childhood courts.