Engaging Parents: Growing and Sustaining Parent Engagement

By Janee Thames, CFCC Student Fellow (2015-2016) Overview This semester I had the opportunity to plan and facilitate the Parent Workshops on Financial Literacy at Reginald F. Lewis High School of Business and Law, which participates in CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP). The workshops are supported by a grant from the State Farm Insurance Good…

What is the Truancy Court anyway?

By Juliette Spencer, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 As a Student Fellow at the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (“CFCC”), I have had the privilege of conducting research to assist the parents and students involved with CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP), people who are directly affected by the public school…

A Therapeutic Path Through Drug Court

By Sonya Sadjadi, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 As a Student Fellow at the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (“CFCC”),1 I have explored many components of problem-solving courts. Problem-solving courts operate through something called “therapeutic jurisprudence.”2 Therapeutic jurisprudence is “the belief that families and children deserve an effective and efficient…

Trauma-Informed Judicial Practice

By Angela Snyder, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 On June 1, 2015, the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) and the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts’ Department of Family Administration convened Maryland’s Family Justice System: A Symposium. The keynote speaker at the event…

CFCC and the National Family Resiliency Center Convene “Family Transitions: Issues, Solutions, and Policies Conference”

On October 23, 2015, the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children, and the Courts (CFCC) and the National Family Resiliency Center (NFRC) convened the “Family Transitions: Issues Solutions, and Policies Conference” at the University of Baltimore School of Law. The conference was well attended by approximately 300…

Youth-Involved Reform Programs: An Effective Way to Help Youth

By Kelsie Potts, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 Youth involvement in combating socioeconomic issues is crucial in improving the well-being of those in need. As a Student Fellow in the Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) Student Fellows Program, I have learned that factors such as poverty, homelessness, lack of transportation, being a young…

Legal Alternatives Are a Success, Yet Face Many Challenges

By Jordan Posner, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 Our journey in the CFCC Student Fellows Program class last week addressed the importance of problem-solving courts that can be holistic approaches for individuals in the judicial system.  They can also serve as a type of intervention before a person becomes involved with the justice system (e.g., Teen…

Vigilance without Vigilantism: Duty in Truancy Courts

By Kayla Faria, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 Founded on a bedrock of therapeutic jurisprudence, some truancy courts are aimed to solve problems and address truant behavior, but – like so much of our justice system – this underlying theoretical foundation crumbles without practical vigilance. These courts can facilitate a transformative space that transcends the school-to-prison pipeline…

The School-to-Prison Pipeline

By Amanda Odorimah, CFCC Student Fellow 2015-2016 At the beginning of this semester, I enrolled in the CFCC Student Fellows Program hoping to have an opportunity to help children and families involved with the court system. Having spent the past few years working in the classroom, I saw students who fell victim to problems such…