May 2021
Full Court Press is the newsletter of the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC).
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What Supports Do Families and Children Need? |
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By Barbara A. Babb
According to Monmouth University Polling Institute, these initiatives have significant support from Americans. About two in three Americans currently support the concepts in both the jobs/infrastructure plan and the families plan. A majority (54%) of Americans say these two plans are equally important for the country.
An Urgent Need
At CFCC, we are keenly interested in how these plans will benefit families and children. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, too many families were struggling to meet basic needs.
To illustrate, we note that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 12 million children lived in poverty in 2019, and 4.4 million were without health insurance.
In the policy report, Kids, Families, and Covid-19, The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) provides an excellent briefing on how the pandemic has increased the vulnerability of American families and the urgent need for rescue efforts. AECF also has adapted its Kids Count Data Center to track family well-being during the pandemic.
Helping Families Thrive
The American Families Plan features many elements of a comprehensive national family policy that acknowledges our moral obligation to protect children and reduce poverty. CFCC has long advocated for:
- Family-friendly workplace policies and protections, including flexible work schedules; extending family leave to more workers; increasing paid family leave; increasing the minimum wage; increasing the provision and regulation of childcare providers; providing childcare subsidies; providing universal access to pre-school and after-school programs
- Including child and family impact statements in all relevant proposed legislation that might affect families and children
- Expressing a policy commitment to support and enhance the well-being of children and families, including ensuring that no child is homeless or hungry; promoting family stability; supporting parents to balance work and family life; supporting children who have experienced crisis or trauma; supporting families caring for ill or disabled family members
- Developing and implementing family justice system reforms, such as unified family courts and other problem-solving approaches that promote a holistic and therapeutic approach to the resolution of legal issues involving children and families
Measures proposed in The American Families Plan represent a historic movement toward a national family policy. The announcement of the proposed plan itself has raised the public discourse on the well-being of children and families, asking the nation to consider the supports families and children need. There are signs the nation is ready to seriously debate this question.
Ten states, for example, already have mandated paid family leave, ranging from four to twelve weeks and with a wide variety of qualifications and other provisions. Is it better to allow states to develop these policies or to implement them nationally?
Some claim that expanded federal supports for childcare centers are unfair to caregivers who choose to stay home with their children. Perhaps we need to consider giving stipends to families who make this choice. Let’s put all of this and more on the table!
I am hopeful that now is the time for significant progress toward a national family policy that can help all families and children thrive. Forty years ago, when I was a law student in Professor Nancy Erickson’s Sex-Based Discrimination course at Cornell Law School, I wrote a paper advocating that the United States create supportive family leave policies. At that time, most modern, Western, industrialized nations were very far ahead of the U.S. in that regard. In the past forty years since I wrote that paper, not much has changed in this country. I know we can be better, and we must do better for the sake of our families and children.
Barbara A. Babb is the Founder and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts.
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Anniversary Recap: Chief Judge Robert M. Bell (Retired)
The Hon. Robert M. Bell (Retired), who served as Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1996 to 2013, was the opening commentator at CFCC's 20th Anniversary Virtual Celebration on April 8, 2021. In his remarks featured below, Chief Judge Bell recognized the important role attorneys and organizations such as CFCC play in the continuance of the Rule of Law.
I am pleased, no honored, to be given the opportunity to congratulate the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts on the attainment of two significant and hugely impactful milestones in its development: the 20th anniversary of its founding and the 15th anniversary of its offspring, the Truancy Court Program. The brainchild of its visionary, committed, persistent and consistent founder, Professor Barbara Babb, the Center has been a major player and influencer in advancing holistic and therapeutic family law, not just here in Baltimore and Maryland, but nationally and internationally as well.
As a lawyer for more than 50 years and the former chief judge of this state's highest court, I have long been cognizant of, and a cheerleader touting, the indispensability of lawyers, the court’s officers. Usually, my praise is focused on the historic role they play with regard to the foundation stone of our democracy, The Rule of Law, by ensuring its existence and, more important, its continuance. I also refer to them as the last line of defense against incursions into our civil liberties and our constitutional rights.
Occasions such as the ones we celebrate tonight, remind us that that important work need not be dramatic or extraordinary. The undergirding and promotion of the Rule of Law are served just as well when judicial administration is made more efficient and its approach better serves those for which the judiciary exists. Professor Babb and the Center, through their service and commitment, remind us that this is so and, in so doing, keep the focus where it always should be. For that, they are owed a debt of gratitude. Great, great work, indeed and I thank you!
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New Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders Now Available |
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The University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts has released a completely revised and updated edition of its Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders (Benchbook) – Second Edition. The Benchbook is a valuable resource to improve decision-making and outcomes in family law cases that involve substance use.
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are some of the most critical and pervasive public health problems of our time. Data is emerging from various studies that the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to increased opioid overdoes.
According to Trends in US Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health, Overdose, and Violence Outcomes, in JAMA Psychiatry, the study's authors found that the rate (per 100,000 ED visits) of all drug overdoses has increased 23% in 2020 over 2019 and opioid overdoses have increased 31% for the same period. The study also includes data comparisons for intimate partner violence, suicide attempts, mental health conditions, and suspected child abuse and neglect.
The Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders provides valuable insight into the science of addiction, the treatment of SUDs, how SUDs affect children and families in many family law cases, and how family courts can intervene in ways that lead to better outcomes. The good news is that with a recognized neurobiological basis for substance use disorders, there is potential for recovery. Evidence-based interventions can prevent harmful substance use and related problems, and the courts have considerable power to influence individuals suffering from these disorders.
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Visit CFCC's 20th Anniversary Wall |
Did you miss CFCC's 20th Anniversary celebration on April 8th?
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Authors Barbara A. Babb and Judith D. Moran envision the family court as a "care center" and make a compelling case that reforms to the family justice system are necessary to achieve positive, long-lasting outcomes for families and children.
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CFCC's Truancy Court Program Toolkit, Second Edition provides a step-by-step guide on how to start and maintain an effective truancy reduction program. The Toolkit can be adapted to suit individual schools or entire jurisdictions.
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About CFCC
The Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) promotes policies and practices that unite families, communities and the justice system to improve the lives of children and families and the health of communities. CFCC advocates the use of therapeutic jurisprudence, the understanding that the legal system has an effect on behavior, emotions and mental health.
CFCC is led by Barbara A. Babb, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law; Founder and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts; Director of the Post-J.D. Certificate in Family Law program at the University of Baltimore School of Law; and Editor-in-Chief of Family Court Review, published by Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
CFCC Staff and Contributors
Rebecca Stahl, CFCC Deputy Director; Michele Hong, CFCC Program Manager; Arion Alston, Truancy Court Program Mentor; Spencer Hall, Truancy Court Program Coordinator; Katrice Williams, CFCC Program Administrative Specialist.
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