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Groundbreaking DCYF program 'Baby Court' helps reunify families

Providence Journal - 11/27/2020

It’s a stubborn and troubling reality of child welfare: Generations of families often end up involved with state care in a cycle passed down from one parent to the next.

Rhode Island Family Court Chief Judge Michael Forte decided four years ago that he wanted to try to interrupt that cycle. In 2017, he launched the Safe and Secure Baby Court, a specialty calendar geared toward serving young, first-time parents of infants, from newborn to a year old, who may have a family history of involvement with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Known colloquially as Baby Court, it’s aimed at providing crucial nurturing and bonding to the little ones and, ultimately, to safely reunifying them with their biological parents.

The court draws on evidence that key mental and emotional development takes place in those beginning months and years and that a firm foundation of bonding and nurturing leads to more stability later in life. Research has shown that separating children from their families leads to trauma that can be long-lasting, even lifelong. National studies, too, have found that infants and toddlers are most vulnerable to abuse and neglect, with 29% of maltreatment cases involving children younger than 3, according to the Casey Family Programs.

“After over 30 years on the bench seeing generations of broken families, I was anxious to create a new court-involved model that would break the cycle of family dissolution,” Forte said in an email.

A conference on toxic stress in children and the lifelong psychological trauma caused by separating babies and their parents held soon after Forte became chief judge in 2016 opened the court’s eyes that a focus needed to be placed on infants and young parents, Forte said.

The Baby Court model relies on an immediate referral to the Brown Center for an infant/parent assessment, generally completed within two weeks by Dr. Cynthia Loncar – a service that court officials consider the “jewel in the crown” of the initiative.

A case plan is developed that details service needs; identifies risk factors, such as a trauma history or exposure to domestic violence; and makes specific recommendations for the frequency and level of supervision for visits and the pace of reunification. The plan pinpoints family needs, whether it be parenting support, mental health treatment, domestic violence intervention, or a push to secure housing.

Participants must sign a contract as well as releases allowing court staff to contact their service providers and make referrals on their behalf.

Social workers provided by the court – Christine Monroe, Julie Connolly and Jessica Karten – help families navigate the services and the system. They provide updates to the court on progress based on communication with providers, DCYF and lawyers.

Karten, a social worker, describes participants as “that group of motivated parents who need extra help.”

“It’s our job to provide them with guidance and support. We meet them where they’re at,” she said.

Court reviews of the case can be as frequent as every week, in instances in which the parents need more guidance and oversight, said Family Court Judge Lia Stuhlsatz, who has handled the court since its inception.

“The target audience are parents raised in the system themselves. It almost makes you feel like you’re marked for life because you are a child of DCYF,” said Stuhlsatz, who represented parents at Rhode Island Legal Services before being nominated to the bench in 2016.

Often their children are flagged at birth as being at risk and removed from the parents.

“That’s someone who never had a shot and is never going to get one,” Stuhlsatz said.

A critical component of the court, perhaps the most critical in the court’s view, is that parents must visit with their children at least three times a week – a marked increase from the single visit every other week that parents get with their children in the regular DCYF calendar. The hope is that the increased time together will provide an opportunity for the parents and their baby to build a healthy attachment.

The fear of sending a child home with someone who has work to do has always eclipsed the opportunity for the child and parent to bond, Stuhlsatz said.

“The idea that seeing your child an hour every two weeks … is ever going to achieve [true bonding] makes no sense,” she said.

Initially geared toward first-time parents, the court has expanded its mission to include parents who previously had children, but whose cases are not open with the state. It eased age restrictions to include children who are older than 12 months.

Since its creation, the court has seen parents referred by Family Court judges and magistrates, Women & Infants Hospital, the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office, Rhode Island Legal Services, DCYF workers, and court advocates. Parents can also self-refer – an increasing trend being seen by the court.

A dedicated DCYF lawyer, court-appointed special advocate, and guardian ad litem work with the court to monitor progress and advocate for the children’s interests. Diapers, books and baby supplies are distributed as donations allow. Several companies have stepped up to provide pajamas and other items.

The state Department of Health puts parents in touch with services such as Healthy Families America and Nurse Family Partnership – federal programs aimed at improving the lives and outcomes of vulnerable and at-risk families that continue even after a case is closed by the court.

It’s the wraparound approach with all the stakeholders collaborating to support the parents that makes the difference, according to Stuhlsatz.

Forte would agree.

“Early intervention with a collaboration of intensive community resources, in addition to the traditionally available DCYF services, has been incredibly successful in keeping families together. I don’t exaggerate when I say Judge Stuhlsatz and her team are working miracles in saving families and breaking the cycle of family stress and separation,” Forte said.

DCYF Acting Director Kevin Aucoin plans to continue the agency’s partnership with the court. He expressed appreciation for Forte's and Stuhlsatz’s leadership.

“This unique court, which supports first-time parents, has been lauded by both the Department and the families it serves. … Having operated now for three years, this effort has bolstered the State’s commitment to supporting safe and healthy families,” he said in an email.

The program is modeled, in part, on so-called 0-3 courts, an approach emphasized nationally that is focused on minimizing the trauma that babies endure by improving how child welfare workers, the court and advocates come together to support struggling families.

One hundred such courts were operating in 30 states as of January, with some states looking to expand such programs statewide, according to the National Center for State Court. Florida, for example, had 19 baby courts in 2019 and Tennessee is looking to implement them across the state.

Baby Court in Rhode Island has watched the number of families enrolled grow from 19 parents the first year, to 80 in 2020, with the average age of the parents hovering in the mid-20s and the children 4 to 5 months old. The average length of time from the opening of a case to its closing is 4.5 months, according to the most recent court report.

A total of 153 parents have been enrolled over the course of three years, with 69 reaching successful completion and being reunified with their children.

Twenty cases failed to reunify within the one-year period allowed by Baby Court, meaning they returned to the regular DCYF calendar, according to Stuhlsatz. Another five were reassigned to the Family Treatment Drug Court calendar, dedicated to parents struggling with a substance-abuse disorder.

Of the 25 cases that failed to complete Baby Court, six have since been reunified and 11 others resulted in guardianships or open adoptions, Stulsatz said.

“You know what? I just want people to be able to raise their own kids if they can do so safely,” Stuhlsatz said. “It may not be perfect. It may not be like my house. It may not be like the foster home you were in, but this parent is raising their child and that is what is supposed to happen unless there’s a safety risk. I feel that is what the law says.”

The families often continue with services through the state Health Department, allowing for monitoring after a case closes, Stuhlsatz said. Only two cases had reopened and neither are due to maltreatment, she said.

“I think it dramatically reduces termination [of parental rights],” she said.

Asked at what point the court decides that perhaps a family isn’t a good fit, Stuhlsatz said: “You’re either in it to win or you’re not.” For some parents, the level of engagement is too demanding.

“I am not waiting a year. Why would I do that when I have a line at the door?” the judge said of the 90 some parents on the waiting list.

Still, some foster parents, while supporting Baby Court in concept, expressed concerns that the pace of reunification was too fast and that three visits a week proved jarring to children and disrupted family routines, particularly in cases where the parents failed to show.

Others felt that the case dragged on too long before being returned to the regular DCYF calendar – to the detriment of the child. Most of the foster parents declined to be named because they had forged strong relationships with the biological mother and didn’t want to compromise that connection.

One foster mother, Meaghan Sloane, said she hoped the court would find a way to ensure good outcomes for the parents and kids who can be reunified as well as for the kids who cannot.

“For kids where it has been determined that reunification is no longer an option, Baby Court is not moving in a timely fashion, taking seriously the stress that three-times-a-week visits puts on toddlers into account, or taking foster parent concerns seriously,” Sloane said.

One of the program’s goals is to incorporate foster parents and extended family members as resources to host and supervise visits. In some instances, mother and child have moved in with a foster parent to provide mentoring, Stuhlsatz said.

“Please attend the hearings,” Stuhlsatz implored foster parents. “You’re very important to this process. You’re providing care to this child. You’ve fallen in love with this child.”

“Everyone is part of this child’s life. It’s not good guy, bad guy,” she said.

Baby Court has won praise from Child Advocate Jennifer Griffith for returning babies to their homes 30% more quickly.

“In this particular court, we’re breaking the cycle. You’re trying something new. The visitation is really where it’s at,” Griffith said.

The enhanced services and teamwork are also vital, she said.

“Lots of times, we’re looking at two young kids with not a person to turn to,” Griffith said.

Both Griffith and Stuhlsatz emphasize that finding affordable housing remains a huge obstacle for young families.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Groundbreaking DCYF program 'Baby Court' helps reunify families

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