NCJ Number
192597
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 52 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 2001 Pages: 33-38
Date Published
2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This reports suggests that juvenile court judges serve as a catalyst to lead the multidisciplinary effort to meet the needs of maltreated infants and toddlers and to encourage the development of early childhood initiatives to intervene earlier so that children in the child welfare system can be diverted from delinquent behavior.
Abstract
To help vulnerable children who have not received the nurturing needed for healthy social development, juvenile courts must begin to make infant mental health a priority. Like most adults, judges and juvenile court personnel are unaware that early trauma and other developmental risk factors to which babies and toddlers in the child welfare system are disproportionately exposed can result in long-term harm. Courts must intervene to learn how babies and toddlers have been affected by the unhealthy parent-child relationship and the environmental factors that influence the child's development. Courts must be able to put in place therapeutic interventions to counteract and ameliorate the maladaptive influences on the life of the baby. An example of such an effort is to be found in the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Court (Florida) and its early-intervention partners. The PREVENT (Prevention and Evaluation of Early Neglect and Trauma) initiative of the Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence, a national demonstration project in the Miami-Dade Juvenile Court, has developed a program to evaluate all infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who are adjudicated dependent by the court. A second major initiative has expanded infant mental health services and capacity. Further, efforts are underway to expand general community resources for identifying and treating young children who are the victims of or have been exposed to violence in their homes and/or communities. 22 notes