By Andrew Wong, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 Last year, I volunteered as a tutor with CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP) and it was a wonderful experience. I believe this is a great opportunity for all law students. Many of us come to law school with some vision to serve the public interest. Because law students are limited…
By Catherine Villareale, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 Courts struggle with effective ways to deal with individuals whose mental health issues lead to criminal behavior. This is especially true for courts responsible for adjudicating juvenile delinquency. Childhood exposure to violence can impact children’s social and emotional development. It has been linked to poor social functioning and…
By Samantha Richmond, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 Every Wednesday afternoon, mentors, professors, and Student Fellows from the Center for Families, Children, and the Courts at the University of Baltimore School of Law meet to speak about our weekly Truancy Court Program (TCP) sessions. We discuss ways in which we can prevent truancy. Over the past…
By Carly Reisman, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 Last week during my Truancy Court Program (TCP) session at Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School I met a third grader who had recently been bullied. She said that a boy in her class had been teasing her lately and had even spit on her. She said that she…
By Navneet Pal, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 The Truancy Court Program run by the Center for Families, Children, and the Courts uses therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive law to address the issue of truancy. Through this approach, teachers (and/or other school officials), judges, volunteers, mentors, and parents work together to help students overcome obstacles that lead…
By Spencer Hall, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 A few days ago NPR profiled a young woman named Tierra Jackson, now a junior in college, who had struggled in high school as her family experienced homelessness. She recalled being frequently punished by school administrators for her tardiness, but being too embarrassed to tell them that her…
By Amin Berrah, CFCC Student Fellow 2012-2013 The Center for Families, Children and the Courts’ focus on promoting court reform is based on the belief that families would benefit most from a legal system which addresses underlying issues (such as substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness etc.) as part of an effective and therapeutic judicial…
The Center for Families, Children and the Courts Student Fellows Program I (SFP) is now underway. The course provides students with a unique perspective on the law, instructing them on policies and theories that underlie family justice system reform. The SFP includes classroom discussion, lectures, and guest speakers about cutting edge issues in family law,…
By Jason Szanyi One recurring theme during the CFCC’s fourth annual Urban Child Symposium was that youth in the juvenile justice system are best served by community- and family-based treatment options, not incarceration. My colleague, Dana Shoenberg, helped explain why in her presentation on the needs of youth who get in trouble with the law.…