what is family treatment court

Family Treatment Court (FTC

) is a special program designed to help respondents and their children get back together and stay together. This program is designed to service individuals who have a neglect case against them with alcohol or substance abuse allegations.

Full Answer

What is Family Treatment Court (FTC)?

Family Treatment Court (FTC) was created to address the poor outcomes of traditional reunification with caregivers who struggle with substance use issues and have had their child (ren) placed in custody of Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services (DHS). The mission of Family Treatment Court is to increase reunification and treatment completion.

What is a family drug court?

Family drug courts, also known as dependency drug courts, utilize a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to serve parents and families that enter child welfare due to parental substance use disorders. Resources on this page present research on the benefits of family drug courts. State and local examples.

What is family treatment court in Oklahoma?

What is Family Treatment Court? Family Treatment Court (FTC) was created to address the poor outcomes of traditional reunification with caregivers who struggle with substance use issues and have had their child (ren) placed in custody of Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services (DHS).

What is a well-functioning family treatment court?

Well-functioning family treatment courts bring together leaders from child welfare, substance use treatment, mental health agencies, dependency courts, and other community partners in a non-adversarial approach. When FTCs intervene effectively, children spend less time in out-of-home placement and find permanency more quickly.

How many family treatment courts are there in the US?

In 2019, approximately 500 FTCs were operating in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. FTCs are one element of a full spectrum of services for families in the child welfare system, including proactive pre-petition and multidisciplinary post-petition quality legal representation, and parent partner programs.

Where was the first drug court in the US?

The first jurisdiction to implement a drug court was New York City; it created the court in 1974 in response to the enforcement of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, which overwhelmed the state's criminal justice system with an unrelenting spate of drug cases throughout the 1970s (Belenko & Dumanovsky, 1993).

What are the three types of drug courts?

Drug Courts. Specialized court docket programs that help criminal defendants and offenders, juvenile offenders, and parents with pending child welfare cases who have alcohol and other drug dependency problems.Adult Drug Courts and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Dependence. ... Family Treatment Drug Courts.

What is an example of a drug court?

3,800 Drug Courts and Counting Since their inception in 1989, drug courts programs have expanded from serving just adults, to include juvenile drug treatment courts, DUI/DWI courts, family treatment courts, mental health courts, veterans treatment courts, tribal healing to wellness courts, and others.

What is a family treatment court?

A family treatment court (FTC), considered a problem-solving court by leading judicial and legal organizations, 1 is a family court docket for cases of child maltreatment in which parental substance use is a contributing factor. FTCs offer a promising model for all courts, providing insight into better ways of engaging families both before ...

What are the three main groups that support family court?

1 The Conference of Chief Justices, Conference of State Court Administrators, and the National Center for State Courts all support family treatment courts as problem-solving courts that seek to understand the underlying problem (s) contributing to involvement. 2 Partner organizations are represented on each level.

What is the FTC model?

FTCs may exhibit one of two common structural designs: the integrated model (one docket), or the parallel model (two dockets). One model is not inherently superior to another — the choice typically is dictated by the community environment (for example, urban vs. rural) and the total number of children the FTC intends to serve. In both models, case plans receive more frequent hearings and reviews than the parent would receive in a traditional dependency docket.

What is the role of FTCs in child welfare?

All stakeholders within the child welfare system — including agency and judicial leaders, and community and substance use disorder treatment providers — play a crucial role in promoting proactive approaches to engaging families. FTCs are well-tested interventions that support positive outcomes, including improved recovery for adults, ...

What is child protective services?

Child protective services, treatment professionals, court personnel, and community partners coordinate services with the goals of ensuring that children have safe, nurturing, and permanent homes; parents achieve stable recovery; and each family member receives the services and supports needed.

Can FTCs serve before children are removed?

Although some FTCs are able to serve families before children are removed or a petition is filed , the number of preventive or early intervention FTCs is still relatively small. Limited studies suggest that children of FTC participants experience fewer removals and fewer placement changes while in foster care.

What is Family Treatment Court?

Family Treatment Court (FTC) is a special program designed to help respondents and their children get back together and stay together. This program is designed to service individuals who have a neglect case against them with alcohol or substance abuse allegations.

How does a Family Treatment Court Case Begin?

Once a person is accused of child neglect and a neglect petition is filed with the Family Court by ACS, a FTC screening clerk determines if substance abuse has been alleged and if the case meets other specific screening criteria for the Treatment Court. Eligible cases are sent immediately to Treatment Court for intake, arraignment and orientation.

What cases are eligible for Family Treatment Court?

Child neglect cases where alcohol or substance abuse has been alleged in the petition by the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) meeting the following specific screening criteria: open /pending cases are reviewed on a case by case basis; respondent is over 18 years old, At least one respondent named in the petition must be independently eligible for FTC participation, and respondent's whereabouts must be known.

What happens at a Fact-Finding Hearing?

When a respondent agrees to participate in the Family Treatment Court Program they make an admission of neglect due to substance abuse and sign the Treatment Court contract, in which they formally agree to the treatment plan and agree to abide by all Treatment Court Rules and Regulations. This appearance constitutes a fact-finding.

What happens at a Case Conference?

Upon admission into the treatment court program, a case conference is held. The respondent's attorney, the child's law guardian, and ACS lawyer and court liaison meet with the clinical staff to implement a treatment plan.

What happens at Court Appearances?

Court appearances in Family Treatment Court are very detailed sessions. Each respondent is tested for alcohol and illicit substances on-site at the treatment court at every court appearance. At each appearance, respondents compliance with treatment and permanency planning for the children will be addressed.

What happens at a Disposition?

Family Treatment Court dispositional orders can vary widely. Child may be placed in foster care until completion of the first permanency hearing which will be stated in the dispositional order.

National Strategic Plan for Family Drug Courts

This publication outlines a coordinated national strategy to enhance and expand the use of Family Drug Courts (FDC) to reach more children and families.

National Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards

The eight Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards provide clear practice mandates to improve outcomes for children, parents, and families.

Family Treatment Court Planning Guide

Developed through a contract with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, this document includes over 100 articles and peer-reviewed studies on the following topics: Treatment Court Overview and Approaches/Models, Outcomes Studies, Treatment and Child Welfare Outcomes, and Judicial Perspectives.

Welcome

Families involved in the child welfare system and affected by parental substance use disorders face a difficult journey towards achieving their recovery and reunification goals.

Contact Info

For further information on Problem-Solving Courts or if you would like to schedule a court visit, please contact the Division of Policy and Planning at: [email protected].

Who report separately to the court?

In the traditional deprived court system, professionals from child welfare, treatment providers, and public health systems often report separately to the court.

What is the mission of the FTC?

The FTC’s mission is to ensure the safety and well-being of children and to offer caregivers a viable option to reunify in a timely manner. FTCs provide children and caregivers with the skills and services necessary to live productively and establish a safe environment for their families.

What is the FTC in Oklahoma?

FTCs serve families struggling with substance use issues whose children have been placed in the custody of Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and where the State of Oklahoma has filed a deprived action against the parents .

Is family court more effective than regular court?

Family treatment court is more effective than “regular” deprived case processing at: Getting people into treatment faster. Retaining people in treatment. Supporting completion of treatment. Reunifying families. Reducing children’s time out of home.