How Does It Work?
Early Childhood Courts include 15 core components.
In 2019, the Florida Supreme Court approved nine best practice standards for these courts. Currently, the 27 court sites are working to implement these nine standards.
“After working in dependency for over 25 years, I now preside over baby court. The three things that are exceptional about baby court is that we provide Child-Parent Psychotherapy, which heals the family like no services we’ve offered before. Also, I’ve found that the team approach is the best approach in order to provide the necessary services that the family and the children may need. And, we have lowered the rate of recidivism because we’ve offered the services they need to make them whole.”
– Judge Alicia Latimore, 9th Judicial Circuit
Judicial Leadership
These courts have strong judicial leadership from trauma-informed judges who carve out time for special dockets, hold monthly judicial reviews, and lead the court team in applying a therapeutic approach.
Trauma Lens
A trauma lens shifts the focus from "what's wrong with this child or adult" to "what has happened to this child or adult." These court teams recognize the signs of trauma (in both the children and the parents) and make linkages to appropriate treatment so that healing can begin and re-traumatization can be prevented.
Child-Parent Psychotherapy
Child-Parent Psychotherapy is the predominant evidence-based intervention used in Early Childhood Court. It is a two generational mental health intervention that addresses the parent-child attachment and underlying issues related to trauma.
Behavioral Health Services
The court teams work with the community to ensure a continuum of evidence-based behavioral health services to address the array of trauma, mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence issues facing families in child welfare.
Collaborative Team
The court teams represent the wide array of agencies that commit to make system changes on behalf of young children in the court and work with the judge to put the Early Childhood Court Team model in place.
Community Coordinator
Local community coordinators provide child development expertise to the judge and the court team and take the lead in finding needed services, qualified providers, and commensurate funding. These professionals ensure court reviews are held as needed, and facilitate family team meetings on a regular basis.
Cross Agency Training
The agencies and players involved in the court teams are trained in the Early Childhood Court team model, trauma-informed care, the social-emotional needs of young children, the science of adversity, and the impact of trauma upon development and mental health.
Developmental Support
The court teams ensure that each child receives a developmental screening in a timely fashion and provide linkages with early intervention as needed. The teams understand that high quality childcare can significantly help address the needs of children in child welfare by enhancing development and providing nurturing and emotional support.
Parent Education
Parenting education provides instruction about child development and positive approaches to nurturing and caring for children.
Placement Stability & Concurrent Planning
Monthly Family Team Meetings
Changes in placement are minimized by reaching out to extended family members prior to removal from the parents' care and by quickly identifying caregivers (kin and non-related foster parents) who would be willing to become the child's permanent family if reunification becomes impossible. All members of the court teams understand concurrent planning and make sure: 1) case managers follow concurrent planning best practices; and 2) parents and foster parents understand it is the legal way to ensure that their child reaches a permanent home as quickly as possible.
The monthly team meetings include the community coordinator, the biological and foster parents, and the team of service providers, guardians ad litem, child welfare staff and attorneys, and extended family members. Monthly case meetings build communication among those invested in the child's case, speed access to services, support the parents, and track the family's progress (referrals made, services received, and barriers encountered).
Family Time Visitation
The court teams strive for daily contact between parent and child, which can include face-to-face contact, telephone, or Skype/Zoom interactions. The court teams focus attention on increasing the time children and parents spend together by expanding the opportunities for visits (e.g., doctor's appointments, screenings, and other health services) and their locations (e.g., the foster home, the birth parents' home).
Co-parenting
The court teams work with all of the co-parents involved in the child's life. Children in court can be co-parented by multiple significant adults—mothers, fathers, step-parents, relatives, neighbors, godparents, childcare providers, and teachers. For children in foster care, foster parents fill the key role as parent to the child.
Evaluation
Community coordinators use the Early Childhood Court Tracking System, a specialized module housed within the Florida Dependency Court Information System to collect data elements related directly to the core components.
Funding & Sustainability
The teams explore all opportunities for steady funding streams, including Children’s Services Councils, local and statewide government funding sources, Medicaid, private foundations, and federal grants.
15 Core Components
9 Best Practice Standards
Target Population
Eligibility & exclusion criteria
Risk & need
Criminal history disqualifications
Clinical disqualifications
Disadvantaged Groups
Equivalent access
Equivalent treatment
Roles & Responsibilites of the Judge/Magistrate
Professional training
Length of term
Consistent docket
Frequency of status hearings
Judicial demeanor
Judicial decision-making
Permanency planning
Child-Parent Therapy
Assessment
Evidence-based treatment
Provider training & credentials
Treatment intensity & duration
Additional Treatment & Social Services
Assessment
Substance use/mental health treatment
Additional supports & services
Case management
Post reunification services
Family Time
Adherence to family time protocols
Multidisciplinary Team
Team composition
Community coordinator
Family team meetings
Team communication & decision-making
Status hearings
Team training
Caseloads
Caseload Size
Monitoring & Evaluation
Adherence to best practices
Program monitoring
Independent evaluations
Disadvantaged groups
Comparison groups