National Infant-Toddler Court Program

The ITCP is operated by ZERO TO THREE in partnership with The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law; The Center for the Study of Social Policy; The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges; and an independent evaluation team at RTI International.

What’s New

• NEW funding opportunity for local communities seeking to implement the Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) approach
  The ZERO TO THREE National Resource Center for the ITCP released the Request for Applications on January 18, 2022. Visit this page to view the RFA, register for an informational webinar, and access supporting materials.
• Reasonable and Active Efforts: A Tool to Prevent Removal and Reunify Families
  Legal professionals serving infants and toddlers in the child welfare system need to know how to leverage reasonable and active efforts findings in their cases. This new resource highlights reasonable/active efforts and special considerations for cases involving infants and toddlers.
• The National ITCP Advisory Group for Parents’ Voices
  Learn more about the work of the Advisory Group for Parents’ Voices, made up of parent leaders from across the country, each with lived experience in child welfare, who are currently serving as peer mentors, supporting systems change efforts, and advocating for parents across the country.
• High-Quality Legal Representation in Safe Babies Court Teams: Considerations for Attorneys
  Developed by the ABA Center on Children and the Law in collaboration with ZERO TO THREE, this new resource highlights how Safe Babies Court Teams promote high-quality legal representation for young children and their parents in the child welfare system.
• Supporting Sustainability For Infant-Toddler Court Teams: A Federal Funding Guide
  This new guide is intended as a starting point for Infant-Toddler Court Teams and their partners, at both the community and the state level, to identify potential federal funding sources that might be accessible for supporting components of the SBCT approach, as well as services for infants, toddlers, and their families.

• ITCP Connect
  We are delighted to invite you on behalf of the Infant-Toddler Court Program to ITCP Connect – a free peer-to-peer networking and resource site. Click here to join!

• Introducing new research on the SBCT approach
  A new evaluation study from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) provides further evidence that the Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) improves outcomes for very young children in the child welfare system. For an accompanying FAQ for judges, please click here.

• New Resources on Meaningful Family Time
  The Irving Harris Foundation Professional Development Network has launched a suite of resources to help adults who serve very young children in the child welfare system create meaningful family time visits.

• ITCP Announces State and Local Program Development Grants to Expand Infant-Toddler Court Teams Across the U.S.
  The ITCP announced 16 organizations from across the country who will receive grants to either implement new infant-toddler court programs in their communities or to increase their alignment with the Safe Babies Court Team approach.

• VIRTUAL Cross Sites Meeting 2020: Collaborating to Advance Health and Well-Being for Children and Families
  View the recordings from the three plenary sessions from ZERO TO THREE’s 14th Annual Cross Sites Meeting as part of the National Infant-Toddler Court Program. View the agenda here.

• The 2-4-2 Book Program
  Learn about our 2-4-2 Book Program, offering parents a way to feel close to and connected with their baby or toddler even if they cannot be physically together. The handout provides guidance on incorporating the simple but powerful strategy into infant-toddler court teams.

• The Safe Babies Court Team™ Approach: Core Components and Key Activities
  Learn how the SBCT approach meets the urgent needs of infants and toddlers and their families.

• Safe Babies Court Team™ Logic Model
  Explore the Safe Babies Court Team™ Logic Model, which provides a visual depiction of the SBCT approach.

• Safe Babies Court Team™ Approach Infographic
  This infographic depicts the key elements of the SBCT approach.

The National Infant-Toddler Court Program is supporting wide-scale dissemination of the Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) approach, a specialized support for children birth to three years of age in foster care, or at risk of removal, and their families. This evidence-based approach connects babies and their families with the support and services they need to ensure healthy development and lasting permanency.

Court Teams build a foundation using the SBCT Core Components as a framework for implementation, and we encourage communities to take the approach and fit it to their community. The SBCT goal of advancing the health and well-being of very young children and their families, so they flourish is be accomplished through interdisciplinary, collaborative and proactive team work. Careful, empathic, and intentional planning coupled with timely access to quality services are at the core of this work. The Infant-Toddler Court Program has grown from a place of providing information and training on the SBCT approach to a national resource center that assists communities in building capacity to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families.

For inquiries about the ITCP, please contact Aidan Bohlander, Senior Outreach Specialist abohlander@zerotothree.org, or Janie Huddleston, Director, National Infant-Toddler Court Program jhuddleston@zerotothree.org.

This program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2,986,820 with 0 percent financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.