POLK COUNTY COURT TEAM

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POLK COUNTY COURT TEAM

• ZERO TO THREE NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFANTS,
  TODDLERS, AND FAMILIES

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PIG POP QUIZ

• What is the proper way to pick up a piglet?
• What is the gestational period for pigs?
• When and why are needle teeth removed?
• When and why are tails docked?
• Can pigs be potty trained?
• What are the farrowing crates and why are they
  necessary?

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Portrait of Young Children in Foster Care in
U.S.

• Infants are largest single group of children
  entering care
• More likely to be abused and neglected
• Remain in placement longer
• 33 return to placement
• 81 of child fatalities occur under age 4

• Lower rate of reunification
• Developmental delay is 4 to 5 times greater than
  children in general population
• Almost 80 have prenatal exposure to maternal
  drugs
• More than half suffer from serious physical
  health problems

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What We Know

• Abused and Neglected infants are at very high
  risk for poor outcomes
• Children who spend their early years in foster
  care are more likely to drop out of school,
  become parents at a young age, enter the
  juvenile justice system, become homeless,
  incarcerated as an adult and addicted to drugs.

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Polk County Child Abuse Reports1/1/06-12/31/06

• 5,497 Number of Abuse Referrals
• 1,993 Confirmed Reports
• 3,504 Reports Registered
• 1,040 African American Children
• 2,857 Caucasion Children
• 379 Hispanic Children
• 13 Native American
• 66 Pac. Isl./Asian
• 1,142 Unknown

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Age Range Abuse Type

• 0-4 yr. old 1,807
• 5-12 yr. old 2,488
• 13-17 yr. old 1,124

• Child Prostitution 1
• Den. Critical Care 1,349
• Mental Injury 3
• Multiple 3
• Physical Abuse 292
• Presence of Ill. Drugs 72
• Sexual Abuse 116

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Court Team Fast Facts

• Reports from 4/06 indicate there were roughly 450
  children under court ordered supervision (CHINA).
  During 2006, there was a monthly average of 7
  children under the age of four removed and
  petitions filed.
• From 10/05-3/06, The Iowa DHS Digital Dashboard
  reports that only 46.7 of total children in
  foster care are reunified in a timely manner.
  However, 91.7 have not re-entered foster care.
  Sixty-two percent of the TPRs were adopted in a
  timely manner.

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COURT TEAMS FOR MALTREATED INFANTS AND TODDLERS

• Based on Miami-Dade Model begun in 1997
• Pilot programs in
• Polk County, IA
• Fort Bend County, TX
• Forrest County, MS
• New Orleans Parish, LA
• Omaha, Nebraska
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• San Francisco, California
• Douglasville,Georgia
• Cherokee, North Carolina
• New Haven, Connecticut

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Court Teams Core Components

• Judicial Leadership
• Local Community Coordinator
• Court Team
• Monthly Reviews

• Child-focused services
• Mental Health Intervention
• National activities
• Training
• Resource Materials
• Evaluation

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CORE COMPONENTS EXT.

• Family interactions
• Parent interventions
• Placement and concurrent planning
• Targeting Infants in Out of Home Care
• Monthly team meetings
• Child focused services
• Training and Assistance

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Six Universal Family Factors of All Court Team
Sites
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Role of the Court Team

• Identify what a community has and what a
  community needs.
• Making systems more responsive to the needs of
  babies.
• Opportunity to understand procedural mandates
  from all professional disciplines
• Three Hs

• An open forum for recognizing the need and having
  the authority to make change.
• Accountability
• Diverse problem solving in all infant and toddler
  needs.
• Learning about resources and training
  opportunities.

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Role of the Coordinator

• Act as a liaison between Zero To Three,
  judiciary, system, and direct care stakeholders.
• Facilitate expert-level trainings in areas
  effecting infants and toddlers.
• Raise awareness of needs to the broader community
  and share research.
• Become the resource contact for professionals and
  families.
• Ensuring the focus of 3 Hs

• Ensure all children, families, and professionals
  are valued for the role they play.
• Keep track of the lessons learned and navigate
  change.
• Have a passionate belief in change and a vision
  for the journey.
• Fuse all services for family empowerment

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POLK CO. ZTT RAPID RESPONSE PROCESS
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Court Team Development Top 10
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Related Initiatives in Polk County

• Collaborative Outcomes
• Polk County Family Interaction Project
• Pre/Post Removal Conferences
• Parents Partners
• Fatherhood Initiative
• Family Team Meetings
• Visiting Nurse Services
• Early Head Start
• Model Court
• Expanded Preliminary Protective Hearings

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Related initiatives cont.

• Domestic violence advocates
• Universities
• Parent educators/direct care agencies
• Foster care/kinship group
• Community businesses
• Medical and Dental Interventions
• Adult treatment
• CASA

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How Model Court and Zero to Three Join Efforts

• Family Interactions
• Kinship Placement
• Cultural Disp.
• Dental Care
• CFSR Outcomes
• Preliminary Protective Hearings
• New removal practices

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How important is the family caseworker?

• They are the gate keeper for family empowerment
• Imperative that they are well trained and
  personally gifted
• What does it take?
• Believing that every family has strengths to
  build on, even when reunification doesnt occur.

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Zero To Three Data Base

• The big three
• Timely permanency11.7 months
• Family Interactions3-4 per week
• Educate The Community
• Dental, fatherhood, mental health, all-sites,
  interactions and placements, parent and family
  resources, evidenced based parent education

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Goals Reduce recurrence of maltreatment and
improve outcomes by providing training,
clearinghouse info., serve families

• Increase referrals to early intervention services
  (Part C)
• Improve developmental outcomes
• Comprehensive health and dental care
• Frequent family interactions
• Stable placements and involved custodial care
• Monthly reviews or FTMs
• Develop new materials for legal and judicial
  process and family service delivery

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Court Teams Database Adult
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Court Teams Database Provider Log
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Court Teams Database Child Child Services
Tracked

• Part C Screening
• Part C Full evaluation
• IFSP developed
• Part C services - Speech therapy
• Part C services Occupational therapy
• Part C services Physical therapy
• Part C services Other
• Parent-child relationship evaluation
• Parent-child psychotherapy
• Infant MH - other services

• Psychological evaluation
• Family counseling
• Early Head Start/Head Start
• Other early child care/education
• Primary health care visit
• Immunizations
• EPSDT services
• Specialist health care visit
• Vision services
• Dental care
• Other

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Court Teams Database AdultAdult Services
Tracked

• Parent education
• Psychological evaluation
• Psychiatric evaluation
• Mental health screening other
• MH counseling
• MH meds management
• Parent-child relationship evaluation
• Parental psycho education
• Parent-child psychotherapy
• Family counseling
• Substance abuse screening
• SA-inpatient treatment (with children)

• SA-inpatient treatment (without children)
• SA outpatient treatment
• Employment services
• Educational services
• Health care visit
• Housing
• Transportation
• Child care
• Sustaining community support
• Other

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Value the Little Things and Magic Moments!

• Could you court order our foster parent to
  continue to be a part of our lives?
• The hospital removal
• Territorial breakdowns
• Your honor, I look forward to working with
  Sarah.
• This place lets me learn to give my kids a real
  home, instead of just a place to live.
• When I left the room, he didnt panic, scream,
  or misbehave. You dont know what that does to
  my guilt!

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Little things cont.

• Read To Me
• If not for ZTT and Dyadic Therapy, this case
  would not have closed successfully. It saved the
  case
• Pampered ParentFamily Frames
• Toothbrush Kits
• Hair care

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A FINAL THOUGHT

• When ones nature was rarely nurtured, there is
  never a greater need for those of us blessed with
  compassion to contaminate their darkest moments
  with a community of benevolent courage as they
  journey towards their own light of hope.

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For More Information

• ZERO TO THREE
• http//www.zerotothree.org/policy/ or
  jnorris_at_zerotothree.org
• Scroll down the right hand navigation bar until
  you come to Court Teams. Here you will find links
  to all the organizational resources noted here.
• ABA Center on Children and the Law
• http//www.abanet.org/child/home2.html
• National Council of Juvenile and Family Court
  Judges
• http//www.ncjfcj.org/content/view/82/146/
• The New York Permanent Judicial Commission on
  Justice for Children has published questions
  judges, advocates and child welfare professionals
  should ask about infants in foster care.
• http//www.courts.state.ny.us/ip/justiceforchildr
  en/PDF/Infant20Booklet.pdf

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The end!