NCJ Number
216094
Journal
Drug Court Practitioner Fact Sheet Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 1-8
Date Published
June 2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This report describes the operation of Family Dependency Treatment Courts (FDTC).
Abstract
FDTCs are family courts that apply a drug court model to cases entering the child welfare system that involve allegations of child abuse or neglect and parental substance abuse. FDTCs strive to ensure the best interests of the child while providing support, treatment, and access to numerous services to parents. Preliminary data from an evaluation of an FDTC indicated that the court intervention model had positive outcomes for child welfare and parent treatment. FDTCs bring together a multidisciplinary team of professionals, such as child protective workers and drug treatment practitioners, who work in concert to address the needs of the family, with reunification being the ultimate goal. FDTC team members work together to develop service and treatment plans that address the needs of the entire family, the team members determine the pace and order that family members must meet. Teams regularly meet to review progress and to continuously facilitate access to services for parents and children. The expertise of the FDTC team members is identified as crucial to the success of the FDTC model. References, endnotes