Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders, Second Edition

The University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) announces the availability for purchase of its Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders, Second Edition, (Benchbook). The Benchbook is a valuable resource to improve decision-making and outcomes in family law cases that involve substance…

The Creative Disruption of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Courts

By Guest Author Matthew J. Sullivan Unified Family Courts Connection | Fall 2020 The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic—which engulfed the entire world like a brushfire out of control—has changed the practices of fam- ily courts and all the judges, attorneys and practitioners who help families traverse the court system. I work with parents in high-conflict, shared-parenting…

A Team Based Approach to Tackling Family Conflict

How The University of Baltimore’s Truancy Court Program Integrates Unified Family Court Principles Into Its Problem-Solving Team Strategy for Students and Families in Need  By Amanda Bentley, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 This week marks the beginning of many of my classmates’ placements in CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP). Unlike several of my colleagues, I’m new…

Maryland’s Juvenile Justice System: Year in Review

CFCC’s 2012 Urban Child Symposium (UCS), entitled “The Urban Child in the Juvenile Justice System: The Beginning or the End?,” focused on the  juvenile justice system. Symposium panelists identified several priorities for juvenile justice system reform (more information is in the Unified Family Court Connection Winter 2013 Issue, which featured articles from several UCS presenters):…

Addressing Truancy in High Schools: Modifying Early Intervention Models

By Nicole Harris-Crest, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 The Center for Children, Families, and the Courts (CFCC) Truancy Court Program (TCP) uses early intervention to address the problems that underlie truancy. Each week, TCP staff meet with students who are “soft” truants, having between five to twenty unexcused absences in a semester. The goal of the…

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Problem-Solving Courts: From a Maryland Perspective

By Rexanah Wyse, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 Through the CFCC Student Fellows Program, I was afforded the opportunity to learn how the integration of therapeutic jurisprudence, the ecology of human development, and problem-solving courts work together to impact children and their families. Problem-solving courts attempt to address the underlying problem that is responsible for the…