The Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers Project is a systems change initiative, focused on improving how the courts, child welfare agencies, and related child-serving organizations work together, share information, and expedite services for young children. The Court Teams Project has two major goals:
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Increase awareness among all those who work with maltreated infants and toddlers about the negative impact of abuse and neglect on very young children
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Change local systems to improve outcomes and prevent future court involvement in the lives of very young children.
ZERO TO THREE sponsored the annual National Training Institute in December 2008. Many sessions addressed issues of importance to children in foster care. Handouts from three of them are provided here.
Substance Abuse: Issues for Professionals Working with Infants, Toddlers,
and Their Families
Parents who abuse alcohol and/or drugs threaten the integrity of their families and the healthy development of their young children, before and after birth. Like every aspect of family life, substance abuse is intensely personal. It is experienced by the user, the children, and extended family members as an often unrecognized feature of their relationships to one another. Its influence is mitigated by cultural factors and complicated by poverty, domestic violence, mental illness, and early traumatic events in the parents’ lives. For professionals working with families it is often difficult to correctly interpret signs of trouble. Once an addiction is recognized it is difficult to know how to address it. This session discussed the psychological, physiological and medical impact of substance abuse on young children with special emphasis on strategies for diagnosing and treating children in the context of their families and communities. [ 5.25 MB  ]
Drinking in Pregnancy Damages Two Generations: Preventing the Common Trajectory of Undiagnosed Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
This session explored diagnostic and treatment strategies for very young children and their FASD-affected parents. [ 2.90 MB ]
Collaborating Across Systems to Serve Babies in Foster Care
Members of three Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers discussed this cross-systems collaborative effort to improve outcomes for the youngest children who enter foster care. By breaking down the silos within which most agencies operate, the Court Teams are contributing to enhanced services and better outcomes for these vulnerable families. [ 2.83 MB ]
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Helping Babies from the Bench: Using the Science of Early Childhood Development in Court was developed to raise awareness of the impact maltreatment has on developmental outcomes for infants and toddlers. Through the example of the Miami-Dade County, Florida juvenile court, the DVD highlights how judges can intervene on behalf of the child. To request a copy of this DVD, click here for a PDF order form. Fill out the form and fax to (202) 638-0851. |
Fact Sheet
Summarizes the goals and accomplishments of the Court Teams project as each community works to improve outcomes for maltreated infants, toddlers, and their families.
[ 306 KB ]
Court Teams Project Core Components
In order to effectively work toward improved outcomes for infants and toddlers in foster care, the Court Teams Project staff has developed a series of guiding principles for the work. Each of the operational Court Team sites is making strides towards operationalizing all 11 core components.
[ 1.73 MB ]
Healing the Youngest Children: Model Court-Community Partnerships is the first in a series of collaborative publications put forth by the ZERO TO THREE Policy Center and the ABA Center on Children and the Law. The brief describes the crucial role a judge plays in addressing the needs of maltreated infants and toddlers who come before their Court. Four model court-community partnerships are outlined, samples cases are discussed, and practice tips are featured for attorneys and judges interested in implementing similar projects.
The second brief in this series of publications, Visitation with Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care, explains why meaningful visits between a child in out-of-home care and his or her parents and siblings are so important for the child's subsequent development. Attachment theory is discussed, key elements of successful visitation plans are described, and suggestions for overcoming barriers are offered. In addition, the publication stresses the judge's unique role in supporting and facilitating parent-child visits.
The Safe Babies Act (S627 and HR 1082) is proposed federal legislation to support the development of a national resource center and more Court Teams around the country.
Ensuring the Healthy Development of Infants in Foster Care: A Guide for Judges, Advocates and Child Welfare Professionals
Offers guidelines for child advocates on ensuring healthy infant development and addressing the developmental and emotional needs of infants and their caregivers.
[ 6.69 MB ]
National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being
Reports a wide range of health data on children who were the subjects of child maltreatment investigations.
The Judges' Page Newsletter
Offers a variety of resources and articles on children and families in the judicial system.
Research Support for Concurrent Planning
Evaluates the evidence surrounding concurrent planning.
[ 155 KB ]
Effects of Foster Care on Infant Attachment
Re-examines attachment theory and research on infant-caregiver separation in order to promote informed permanency decisions for children in foster care.
[ 155 KB ]
Parenting In Dependency Drug Court
Describes the development of an evidence-based parenting program designed to address the specific needs of families with substance abuse issues.
[ 119 KB ]
Mental Health Assessments for Infants and Toddlers
Inspects the concept of infant mental health and describes the process of infant mental health assessment as well as the challenges associated with it.
[ 85.6 KB ]
The Expressway to Permanency: Facilitating Family Visitation
Outlines the basic elements of a family interaction plan and its role in facilitating successful family visitation.
[ 2.96 MB  ]
Healing the Child in Juvenile Court: The Infant Mental Health Approach
Discusses research done on the effects of child maltreatment while stressing steps that the Juvenile Court can take to increase positive outcomes for maltreated infants and toddlers and their families.
[ 7.04 MB ]
New York Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children
Early Head Start Child Welfare Initiative
National Association of Drug Court Professionals
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law |
