February 2022
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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Primary Prevention Can Help Children
in At-Risk Families
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CFCC’s February Webinar Explored the Concept of Primary Prevention |
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There are more than 400,000 children in our foster care system each year. Being removed from their parents is one of the most traumatic experiences children can endure in their lifetimes. The impact of these separations can be severe and permanent. CFCC’s February Webinar explored how a primary prevention approach could keep families together, and help children develop and thrive within their own families.
Notably, most children in foster care are there because of allegations of neglect, not abuse. A large percentage of those parents are struggling with poverty that is conflated with neglect or that has led to circumstances that create neglect—such as food or housing insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, mental health, or substance use services. Thus, the most common indicator that a family will be subject to child welfare involvement is poverty.
The child welfare system typically approaches both abuse and neglect by intervening after a family is already in crisis rather than trying to address the core reasons that can lead to child welfare intervention. For families to experience meaningful change, and for children to be healthy and safe, our system needs to shift its focus from belated, crisis-driven responses to a focus on primary prevention.
On February 1st, CFCC Faculty Director Shanta Trivedi hosted a webinar focused on primary prevention with panelists Prof. Matthew Fraidin, of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law; Nena Villamar, Chief of the Parental Defense Division at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender; and Christopher Church, Senior Director for Strategic Consulting at Casey Family Programs and academic affiliate and pro bono attorney with the CHAMPS Clinic at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
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Please Contribute to TCP Family Food Baskets
CFCC operates the Truancy Court Program (TCP) in some of Baltimore’s most underserved neighborhoods. Working to re-engage students and families with their schools, the TCP identifies and addresses the reasons why students are missing school, including violence, poverty, poor health, substance use, grief, homelessness and unemployment, to name a few. Many of our families rely on school meals that are not available when students are not in school. As the spring break approaches, your donation will help us provide food baskets to as many of our TCP students and families as possible. Each basket costs about $40 and will include enough food to share with the student's household. Thank you for helping to support Baltimore City students and their families during this difficult time!
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"What is a Family?" - CFCC Art Contest Submission Deadline is March 18 |
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Baltimore City Public School students and members of the University of Baltimore Law School community are invited to submit original artwork for CFCC’s inaugural Community Art Contest. All submitted artwork will be featured in a virtual gallery on CFCC’s website and displayed at CFCC’s Fall Symposium. Prizes will be awarded to one winner in each category – BCPS students and UBalt law students. Check out our CFCC blog for details.
Contest Guidelines:
- Artwork should respond to the question: "What is a family?"
- Due date: March 18, 2022.
- Submissions can be in any medium but should be no larger than 8.5” x 11”.
- Questions and entries can be emailed to cfcc@ubalt.edu.
- All submissions must include the artist’s name, contact information (email address and phone number), school affiliation and grade/year.
- Student artists or teachers who would like to arrange an in-person drop-off should contact Spencer Hall at shall2@ubalt.edu.
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CFCC TCP "Know Your Rights" Webinar - New Date
Know Your Rights: School Discipline, Suspensions and Expulsions, Special Education
The second CFCC webinar this spring will be offered by the TCP team for families in our community. It will explain the rights of parents/caregivers and students related to school discipline, including:
- The rights of students when they are suspended or expelled from school, such as the right to appeal the decision and to ensure their educational needs continue to be met.
- The protocols that schools must follow prior to suspending or expelling a student, particularly for students who receive special education services.
- Other rights specific to students receiving special education services through Individual Education Programs (IEP) or 504 plans.
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Other Upcoming Presentations and Events |
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CFCC Presents at the California Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) 2022 Conference
February 25, 2022
Rebecca Stahl, CFCC Executive Director, will present with Dr. Philip Stahl on “A High Conflict Case-Trauma Impact on Memory, Children, Parents & the Courts.” This interactive zoom workshop will use film clips to highlight and discuss ways in which a family’s conflict results in trauma for their child, look at the parents’ behaviors through a trauma-focused lens, and provide guidance for navigating bias and the trauma behaviors that arise in high conflict cases.
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Court Improvement Project's Training for Attorneys on Trauma-Informed Advocacy
February 25, 2022 - Virtual Training
Rebecca Stahl, CFCC Executive Director, will present on Trauma-Sensitive Interviewing for Children’s Attorneys.
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"Unequal Tradeoffs: State Paternalism and the War Against the Poor" - University of Baltimore School of Law Panel
March 16, 2022, 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm, in the UBalt School of Law Byron L. Warnken Moot Courtroom
Government assistance programs exist to provide people with access to food, housing, healthcare, and other necessities of life. Yet, in order to meet these basic needs, millions of Americans are forced to submit to state intrusion into their privacy and autonomy. This panel, moderated by Clinical Teaching Fellow Emily Poor and featuring University of Baltimore law professors Shanta Trivedi, CFCC Faculty Director, Daniel Hatcher, Jaime Lee and Michele Gilman, will explore the ways in which the state surveils and controls those who rely on government assistance in ways that many are unaware of and would not tolerate – from dictating what’s in your fridge, to taking inventory of your belongings, tracking your bank accounts, and monitoring who you can date. Faculty will discuss examples of state paternalism and critique the unequal regime of state intrusion into the private lives of the poor. Registration information will be available soon on the University of Baltimore School of Law events calendar.
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Enoch Pratt Free Library Brown Lecture Series
March 22, 2022
Shanta Trivedi, CFCC Faculty Director, will moderate a conversation with Brittney Cooker, Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University and author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower. This event is free and in-person as well as virtual at 7 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt Baltimore main branch. Registration ends at noon on Tuesday, March 22. Visit the event page for information on registration, streaming and parking.
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CFCC's Community Resource Guide for Families
Recognizing that families living in poverty are at greatest risk of involvement with the child welfare system and/or criminal legal system, CFCC offers a comprehensive guide to community-based resources that families can access for help with issues that often lead to family separation through the foster care system or parental incarceration. We will publish new focused guides on a regular basis.
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The Community Resource Guide is a work in progress ... Does your organization provide services? If your organization provides 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 (Benchbook) – 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.
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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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