By Lauren Kitzmiller, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 This semester our CFCC Student Fellows Program class has learned a lot about different problem-solving courts, how they work, and what methods they use. Gray Barton, Executive Director for the Maryland Office of Problem-Solving Courts, spoke to us about different problem-solving courts that the state has implemented. He…
By Corinne Kirkland-Mercedes, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 The United States has the highest incarceration rates of any country in the world. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”), 1 in every 31 adults or 3.2 percent of the population is under some form of correctional control. To me these numbers…
By Gauri Khanna, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 Only two sessions into the Truancy Court Program (“TCP”), I have already noticed a dramatic change in students’ attendance. While it is still early in the year, the students seem as though they want to make a genuine effort to attend school, be on time, and do well…
By Julianne Kelly, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 How can we expect a child to succeed when the parent or caregiver is unequipped to assist the child? Children not only need assistance with homework and school projects, but also with social and emotional development. Parents or caregivers who struggle with their own emotional, financial and/or mental…
By Niki Holmes, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 Last Wednesday, the Student Fellows with the University of Baltimore Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children, and the Courts (“CFCC”) took a “field trip” to the Baltimore City Circuit Court Family Division. The Division’s coordinator, T.Sue German gave the Student Fellows a tour of the center…
By Daniel Gordon, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 As someone who has interned at a Family Law firm, it came as quite a shock to hear about the concept of a unified family court for the first time this semester. It seemed with all the benefits a unified family court could provide, one would think this…
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…
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):…
CFCC will soon release its e-newsletter, Full Court Press, which reports on family justice system reform around the country. Here is a sneak preview from an article about a national task force on childhood trauma: National Task Force Calls Childhood Exposure to Violence a National Crisis Calling for a massive overhaul of the nation’s approach…