Family treatment courts are special dockets that handle cases of child abuse and neglect where substance use is a factor.
The program is a voluntary option for parents facing these cases. Instead of a regular court case, FTCs focus on building a plan for treatment that is designed to help parents recover and gain parenting skills.
In March, the Saint Joseph County Juvenile Court got the green light to start operating their FTC.
Juvenile court director Emily Mowry says unlike a regular court, the FTC offers case management and regular check-ins with parents.
“It also holds the families more accountable for what they’ve been doing and the effort they’ve been making, because they have to come in for a hearing every two weeks and report to us," Mowry said.
Standard family courts handle custody cases with more infrequent check-ins and little follow-up on whether parents have been making the changes required by the court. Mowry said the model requiring check-ins every two weeks allows families to have more support and oversight during the process.
In addition to the regular check-ins, each case brings in substance use treatment professionals, child advocates, case managers and other professionals that are focused on supporting parents' recovery and improving parenting skills.
"We have treatment providers in there, and we all meet together and go over what's happened in the previous two weeks and what barriers there are in place that we can address for the family in a more rapid turnaround time," Mowry said.
Mowry said the idea is to give parents with substance use disorder a tangible framework to make the changes needed to regain and maintain custody of their children.
“Our goal is to address these barriers for parents and reunify in a way that is supportive. And this program allows us to do that because while parents are achieving these milestones, those are focused on how they are going to have contact with their child," Mowry said.
According to a report from the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, children of parents with substance use disorder spend more time in the foster care system on average.
In St. Joseph county, Mowry said a similar pattern was emerging with child abuse and neglect cases where parents faced loss of custody.
“And some of them are repeat cases where the parents have had prior involvement and then relapsed and are back again with the same issues. And so we’re just not seeing much success with how traditional cases are providing services," Mowry said.
She said county judge Kevin Kane championed the program with the hopes of seeing more families reunified.
"In most circumstances, reunification with parents is always going to be in the best interest of the children," Mowry said.
In Michigan, the FTC model is growing — the dockets are created with the oversight of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Supreme Court, and St. Joseph county has one of ten total FTCs in the state.
Mowry said several cases have already been referred to St. Joseph county's FTC, and the court hopes to take up to ten cases in its first year.
