school readiness for babies in foster care: at the community level november 4, 2011

School Readiness for Babies in Foster Care: at the community

level

November 4, 2011

Copyright © 2010 by ZERO TO THREE

Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers

Help maltreated infants and toddlers reach safe, loving, permanent homes quickly.

Photo: Debbie Rappaport


Leadership provided by:

• Juvenile/Family Court

Judge

• ZERO TO THREE Community Coordinator

• Child Protective Services

Members include:• Court Appointed Special

Advocates• Health care providers• Mental health clinicians• Substance abuse treatment• County attorneys• Private attorneys• Early interventionists• Foster parents• Faith community• Community foundations• Early childhood community• Parenting education programs• Private foster care agencies

Court Team Community Partners


Court Teams active in 10 jurisdictions across US

• Des Moines, Iowa*• Hattiesburg, Mississippi*• New Orleans, Louisiana*• San Francisco, California• Honolulu, Hawaii*• Omaha, Nebraska*• Douglasville, Georgia• New Haven, Connecticut• Little Rock, Arkansas• Cherokee, North Carolina*NCJFCJ Model Court


Judicial leadership + Community partners =

Enhanced and better coordinated services

Court Teams Strategy


Orleans Parish Court Team Roster

Honorable Ernestine S. Gray, Chief Judge

Orleans Parish Juvenile Court

Dawn R. Bentley, Community Coordinator

ZERO TO THREE

Saidah Munir, Court Team/DCFS Liaison

Department of Children and Family Services

Nzinga Hill, Supervisin g Attorney

Orleans Public Defenders

Romona Jordan, Children’s Attorney

Mental Health Advocacy Services

Cherrilynne Thomas, Assistant District Attorney

Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office

Elijah Feibelman, President

S.A.R.A.’s House Board of Directors

(Visitation Center)

John Longoria, Program Manager

Family Resource Center

Volunteers of America of Greater New Orleans

Dr. Amy Dickson, Director

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

Infant Team

Joyce Ridgeway, Regional Director

Early Steps

Louisiana Early Intervention System

Dr. Suzanne LeFevre, Pediatrician, Director

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

Tiger Care Clinic

Jonathan Sumter, Advocate Supervisor

CASA New Orleans

Deanne Bowman, Supervisor

Crescent House Domestic Violence Program

Archdiocese of Greater New Orleans


Core Components

• Leadership from the child welfare and judicial agencies

• Child development expertise• Cross-disciplinary collaboration• Understanding infant and toddler development• Importance of stable caregiving relationships • Making the first placement the last placement• Focus on concurrent planning• Frequent parent-child contact• Building on parental strengths, supporting areas of

need


Babies can bounce back but they need our help

Babies can bounce back from abuse. The longer they are abused and the more extensively they are abused, the more impaired they are. The earlier they are abused, the more permanent brain changes. The more stimulation and appropriate care, the more we can remediate those changes/deficits.

Dr. Amy Dickson, Psy.D

Louisiana State University

Health Sciences Center


Developmental Screening

Early Steps:•Part C provider in New Orleans•Represented on the Court Team•All children receive screening


New Orleans Court Team & The Infant Team

• Families qualify if they meet the following criteria:• The child is 5 years of age or younger.• The child has experienced some form of trauma. Types

of trauma may include: – Being a victim of abuse or neglect– Witnessing domestic or community violence– Losing an important caregiver– Experiencing a frightening medical procedure– Witnessing or experiencing a frightening event such as

an accident or natural disaster.


New Orleans Court Team & The Infant Team

• Because of our collaboration:• Infant Team accepts all of our children.• Infant Team will assess children with their relative

caregiver or foster parent (if their parents are MIA).• Infant Team will go to prisons to work with parents if

the facility allows them to.• Infant Team assists in making transition plans for

children when they have to move (to their parents or another placement)

• Infant Team does not charge fees to families referred through DCFS.


Court Teams Project Outcomes

• Increase in services tochildren and their parents• Reductions in the number ofout-of-home placements. • Fewer moves for those in out-of-home care.• Increase in parent-child visits.• Increase in relative/kinshipplacements. • Fewer contested terminationsof parental rights.• Almost no furthermaltreatment.


Court Teams Project Outcomes

Fostering a Permanent Home: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the ZERO TO THREE Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers Initiative Effect on Time

to Permanency (2011):When compared with a nationally representative comparison group (n=511) drawn from the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being, the children served by Court Teams (n=298) reached permanency two to three times faster. This differential was true when the two samples were compared by types of exit (e.g. reunification, adoption, kinship custodianship). Children served by the Court Teams exited the foster care system approximately one year earlier than children in the comparison group.

Doctoral research conducted by Dr. Kim McCombs,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


It’s all about relationships

Respectful relationships are the key to helping families

What guides our work?• Respect for individuals,

culture and context• High professional standards• Continual learning and

growth• Mutual and reciprocal

relationships among adults• Open communication


Orleans Parish Safe Babies Court Team

The Honorable Ernestine Gray

Orleans Parish Juvenile Court

421 Loyola Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70112

(504) 658-9508

[email protected]

school readiness for babies in foster care: at the community level november 4, 2011

Documents

ncjfcj model court slide

court teams active

community level

juvenilefamily court

areas of need slide

debbie rappaport slide

appropriate care

child welfare