NCJ Number
188897
Journal
Journal of the Center for Families, Children and the Courts Volume: 2 Dated: 2000 Pages: 5-21
Date Published
2000
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article tells the story of the Manhattan Family Treatment Court from its planning through its first 2 years of operation in the words of the people who operate and participate in it; this profile is intended to provide lessons for communities struggling with some of the seemingly intractable problems that arise when drug addiction and families collide.
Abstract
The Manhattan Family Treatment Court was launched in March 1993 in response to long-standing problems that many urban family courts face, i.e., parents who do not follow through on court orders to participate in drug treatment and children who languish in foster care for years on end. The court -- using a combination of rigorous judicial monitoring, sanctions and rewards, and enhanced links to supportive services -- has been remarkably successful. It has sent hundreds of parents into long-term drug treatment, helped build their parental skills, and reunited drug-free parents with their children in record time. In New York City's child welfare system, the average foster-care stay is approximately 4 years. The Family Treatment Court has reduced the average stay to approximately 1 year for children whose parents have successfully completed the court's program. In cases in which parents have not been successful in treatment, the court has taken an average of 13 months to bring termination of parental rights or permanently place the children in the home of a relative. 8 notes