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May 2023
CFCC Connections 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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Highlights from the 2023 Maryland State Legislative Session | |
Progress and Missed Opportunities for Families | |
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By Shanta Trivedi, CFCC Faculty Director
When the Maryland State Legislature met for its 445th session this spring, there were a flurry of important pieces of proposed legislation in the areas of family law, domestic violence, juvenile law, and child welfare that would positively impact Baltimore’s families. While many important bills passed, too many crucial bills failed to advance. In this article, we highlight a few key bills from this session:
Successes:
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SB36/HB14, “Family Law - Grounds for Divorce,” which will allow divorces to proceed on the no-fault grounds of “irreconcilable differences.”
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SB653/HB232, “Child in Need of Assistance - Neglect - Cannabis Use,” will make clear that marijuana use alone, without proof of harm to the child, will not be considered neglect.
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HB630, “Utility Account Holders - Victims of Abuse - Protections,” will allow survivors of violence to move forward with their lives in a new residence.
Disappointments:
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SB93/HB96, the “Youth Equity and Safety (YES) Act” failed to advance for the 13th year in a row. The Yes ACT would end the practice of charging children under 18 as adults.
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HB 1020, “Child Custody - Legal Decision Making and Parenting Time,” would have codified case law regarding custody decisions so as to “take away the mystery of how and why a judge makes a particular decision.”
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SB75/HB523, “Prevention of Forced Infant Separation Act,” which did not advance for the second year in a row, would allow infants to stay with their incarcerated mothers for the first year of their lives and have liberal visitation with their other parent.
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If it had passed, HB324, “Child Abuse and Neglect - Domestic Violence,” would have made Maryland the first state in the country to protect survivors of violence from being charged with neglect simply because they were in an abusive relationship.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
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SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2023, CFCC SYMPOSIUM -
The Harm of Removal to Children, Parents, and Communities
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We’ve set the date and are assembling panels for our next annual symposium. Please plan to join us on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
When children are separated from their parents by legal systems, they suffer permanent trauma. The anguish is no less for parents who find themselves without their children due to state intervention. Both parents and children experience detrimental effects on their mental, emotional, and physical health. Further, the larger community suffers when there is a systemic pattern of continually breaking up families. Join us to discuss the impact of family separation and to collectively brainstorm about how we keep families intact and support their health and well-being.
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February 14: CFCC Faculty Director Shanta Trivedi was quoted in the article “Maryland Eyes Law to Protect Domestic Violence Survivors from ‘Failure to Protect’ Charges” in the Youth Services Insider newsletter published by The Imprint: Youth and Family News. | |
March 29 – April 4: Thanks to the generous support of CFCC friends, the Truancy Court Program (TCP) team was able to distribute 27 spring break food baskets to 23 families, including one family of 11 people who received 3 baskets and another multi-generational household that received 2 baskets. Each basket included approximately $40 of groceries and an assortment of age-appropriate games for the student(s) to help support families during spring break. The groceries consisted of easy-to-make meals, non-perishable goods, fresh fruit, and plenty of snacks. Age-appropriate activities ranged from playing cards to board games and activity books. | |
March: Shanta was quoted in the article “Advocates for foster children sue state over psychotropic drug prescriptions,” in The Daily Record’s Maryland Family Law Update, March 2023 issue. | |
Month of April: CFCC collected approximately 100 books from the community to donate to TCP students who were interested in improving their reading skills. Per the request of the students, the majority of the donations were for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Goosebumps series. | |
April 24: TCP partnered with Global Gardens to present a workshop led by four Baltimore City Public School high school students for 20 Park Heights Academy students (grades 3 through 5) on the effects of global warming and how kids can help. Students were given a pot, soil, and herb seeds to plant as part of the workshop. This event was a collaboration with My Box, which provides educational gifts to hospitalized children, children home with Covid, and chronically absent children. | |
May 2, 4, 8 and 12: TCP is holding pizza and donut parties for spring graduates at our five schools this term. Graduates either (1) decreased their absences/tardies by at least 65% or (2) improved their grades to at least passing in two or more core classes. TCP’s graduation rate for the spring session was 79%. | |
June 2: Shanta will participate in a roundtable entitled Focusing on Families: Centering Lived Experience in Teaching Family Policing, with Joyce McMillan of JMac for Families and Professors Sarah Katz (Temple University) and Sarah Lorr (Brooklyn Law School). | |  |
June 14–15: Shanta will present her paper, “Am I Still a Parent? The Harms to Parents when their Children Are Removed,” at the 2023 Family Law Scholars & Teachers Conference at Boston College Law School. Shanta is currently co-chairing the FLSTC with Professor Meghan Boone (Wake Forest University). | |
ICYMI
In Case You Missed It
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Links to Past CFCC Events & Webinars | |
Injustice, Inc.: How America’s Justice System Commodifies Children and the Poor (University of California Press), on March 7, 2023, CFCC Faculty Director Shanta Trivedi participated in a discussion of Daniel L. Hatcher’s book, at Red Emma’s in Baltimore. The C-Span video of that event is available here. | |
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Is the Indian Child Welfare Act Unconstitutional? a UB Law in Focus webinar moderated by Shanta Trivedi on February 7, 2023. You can access the video here. | |
Childhood Poverty is Not Just a Moral Failure; it’s a Policy Choice, an event hosted by CFCC with the Maryland Child Alliance on November 15, 2022, featured presentations by Nate Golden and Windy Davis. You can access the video here. | |
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CFCC Symposium on Protecting Family Integrity, Thursday September 29, 2022 – Recordings are now available on the University of Baltimore School of Law’s YouTube Channel:
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Keynote conversation with University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Dorothy Roberts and Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and Founder of Families for Justice as Healing, moderated by CFCC Faculty Director Shanta Trivedi
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Incarceration and Its Devastating Impact on Families with the panelists Yanet Amanuel, Director of Public Policy at the ACLU of Maryland; Kristin Henning, Blume Professor of Law at Georgetown Law; Shari Ostrow Scher, Founder and Executive Director of Children of Incarcerated Parents; Nicole Hanson-Mundell, Executive Director of Out for Justice; and moderator Odeana Neal, Professor at University of Baltimore School of Law.
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Promoting Family Integrity while Ensuring Children’s Welfare with the panelists Jamar Barnes, advocate, scholar, and former foster youth; Marty Guggenheim, formerly Fiorello LaGuardia Professor of Clinical Law at NYU School of Law; Stephanie Franklin, President and CEO of the Franklin Law Group; Nate Golden, Baltimore City Public School teacher and President of Maryland Child Alliance; Joyce McMillan, Founder and Executive Director for JMAC for Families; and moderator Shereen A. White, Director of Advocacy and Policy at Children’s Rights
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For Families: CFCC's Community Resource Guides
Recognizing that families living in poverty are at greatest risk of involvement with the child welfare system and/or criminal legal system, CFCC publishes comprehensive guides to community-based resources offering help with issues that often lead to family separation through the foster care system or parental incarceration. We will publish new issue-targeted guides on a regular basis.
Access and download our Community Resource Guides here.
Does your organization provide services for low-income or other marginalized members of our community? Email us with information on your organization at cfcc@ubalt.edu.
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CFCC’s Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders – Second Edition provides valuable insight into the science of addiction, the treatment of substance use disorders (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.
The Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders is available for $29 as an e-book or PDF. Download your order form here.
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CFCC Founding Director Barbara Babb's 2019 book, Caring for Families in Court: An Essential Approach to Family Justice, co-authored with Judy Moran, is available in paperback. The authors propose an approach to family justice system reform that envisions the family court as a "care center," by blending existing theories surrounding court reform in family law with an ethic of care and narrative practice. | |
About CFCC
The Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) supports families, communities and the justice system to improve the lives of children and families and to strengthen communities.
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