FULL COURT PRESS
March 2020
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).
Celebrating CFCC’s 2020 Anniversaries
By Barbara Babb

In 2020, the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) will celebrate two important milestones: the 20th anniversary of the founding of CFCC and the 15th anniversary of our largest community-based program, the Truancy Court Program (TCP).

These past 20 years have been a journey full of passion, innovation and impact. I am extremely proud of all that CFCC has accomplished and am deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to CFCC’s work.

We launch our celebratory year with a focus on the Truancy Court Program. Over the years, many people have asked me why the law school is involved with truancy prevention. They do not immediately understand the connection. Here is the answer. 

When CFCC began operating the TCP in 2005, there was an emerging awareness within family and juvenile courts that truancy was an early predictor of youth court involvement. That awareness evolved into a national consensus that punitive approaches to truancy were ineffective and that school attendance issues must be addressed early. CFCC responded to these pressing concerns by developing a program that adopted a holistic, therapeutic approach to identify and tackle the root causes of each child ’ s truant behavior. Our work with truancy prevention is a perfect fit with CFCC’s commitment to advance the application of therapeutic jurisprudence and the use of an ecological approach .

Further, every year, 10 to 15 University of Baltimore law students enroll in the CFCC Student Fellows Program, an experiential law school course. Many Student Fellows participate in the TCP as law clerks to the Maryland judges and magistrates who volunteer with the program and as mentors to children from elementary school through high school. The law students’ experiences with the TCP are life changing — increasing their understanding of youths’ and families’ problems, broadening their perspective of what it is like to be a truly vulnerable child, seeing the power of therapeutic jurisprudence and an ecological perspective in action, and forever altering the way these law students will practice law.

Finally, civic engagement is one of the University of Baltimore ’ s core values , and the TCP is an excellent demonstration of that commitment. I am proud that CFCC is a leader in developing effective, data-driven truancy prevention strategies that serve as a national model and that also make a valuable contribution to Maryland schools and communities. As 2020 unfolds, I invite you to celebrate with us as we share in-depth insights into our work.

Barbara A. Babb is an Associate Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law, and the Founder and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts.
CFCC’s Truancy Court Program:
15 Years of Challenges, Growth
and Accomplishment
Insight: Tackling the Big Challenges
Re-Engaging At-Risk Teens in School
By Michele Hong and
Arion Alston

CFCC launched the Truancy Court Program (TCP) in 2005 to address pervasive truancy in Baltimore City. Recognizing that truant behavior stems from underlying issues that require a variety of resources to resolve, CFCC designed a program that embodies a court-school-CFCC partnership to leverage the stature, authority and expertise of each of these three entities to tackle the truancy crisis.

Since 2005, CFCC has implemented the TCP in 49 schools, 39 of them in Baltimore City, and has reached more than 2,500 students. The program operates in the Fall and in the Spring for 10 to 14 weeks per session.

The TCP uses a school-based, non-punitive, therapeutic, holistic, and team-based approach to identify and address the root causes underlying why children are not attending school. Typically, 75% of our students “graduate” from the program by demonstrating a 65% improvement in attendance. TCP team members consist of a coordinator, an attorney, a social worker, a mentor, and a volunteer Maryland District or Circuit Court judge or magistrate, together with school personnel. Hallmarks of the TCP include extensive and persistent outreach to chronically absent students and their families and weekly restorative practice circles at each of our TCP schools.
  
In its inception, the TCP focused on elementary and middle schools, basing this selection on well-established research about the effectiveness of early intervention. Recognizing that the need for truancy intervention is even greater with older students — with some high schools experiencing chronic absenteeism exceeding 75% — the TCP expanded its work to include high school students. The TCP has operated in Reginald F. Lewis School of Business and Law, REACH! Partnership School, Frederick Douglass High School, and the Academy of College and Career Exploration — schools where many students are justice-involved.

Older Students, Bigger Problems
The problems that older TCP students face are complex and often overwhelming. Our students experience significant exposure to violence and trauma. This was made clear in early 2019 when a staff member at Frederick Douglass High School was shot in the school during the school day. Addressing the trauma experienced by students, families and staff at Frederick Douglass required extraordinary skill and care from the TCP team. At all of our schools, we have seen increasing numbers of homeless families, as well as higher rates of incarcerated parents, increased violence, substance use on the part of caregivers and students, and mental health concerns among students and family members.

Researchers who have conducted studies of the causes and correlates of delinquency have identified truancy as a key step in the school-to-prison pipeline. Truancy is an indicator of preexisting issues, and itself causes more problems, sending young people on a downward spiral of school failure and juvenile justice involvement. The TCP is a preventive program that intervenes in the lives of children who otherwise might enter the child welfare system or the juvenile justice system. The program focuses on the importance of education and provides the information, support, resources and connections necessary to support truant students and their caregivers.

The TCP capitalizes on protective factors, such as positive social interaction and school attendance, that serve as a buffer to moderate the effects of risk factors and their ability to bring about delinquent behavior. The restorative practices component of the TCP also serves as an effective tool. Many of our TCP students have reported they use the skills learned in the restorative circles to address conflict when it arises in their schools and personal lives. During the course of the TCP session, the TCP team addresses a range of topics closely associated with delinquency, such as drug and alcohol use, bullying and gang involvement. Studies indicate that this “positive youth development” approach creates a safe environment, enables connections with caring adults and builds on the strengths and assets of each participant. 

The Rewards of Our Work
We know that the TCP is effective in diverting youth from the juvenile justice system and reducing recidivism. Over the past three years, the TCP has been tracking juvenile arrest data for approximately 439 current and former TCP students. Many of these students had
six, eight or ten arrests prior to participating in the TCP. From these data, CFCC has observed the following:

  • Forty-seven TCP students had some Department of Juvenile Services involvement in their lives, totaling 108 arrests.

  • Only three of the 439 students were arrested while participating in the TCP. For two of these students, this was their only arrest, with no subsequent arrests.

  • Thirty-four students were arrested before participating in the TCP, with a total of 72 arrests, including students with six, eight, and ten prior arrests each. Only seven of the 34 students were re-arrested after participating in the TCP, and one of the 34 students was re-arrested while participating in the TCP.

  • Just 18 (under 5%) of the 439 students tracked were arrested or re-arrested after participating in the TCP.

The TCP is an effective prevention and early-invention program that breaks the school-to-prison pipeline and re-engages students and families with their schools. As a grant-funded program, we reach approximately 80 students each session. We are very proud of the work we have accomplished over the past fifteen years.
Michele Hong, Esq., is CFCC Program Manager. She specializes in data evaluation, grant and report writing and supervising CFCC Student Fellows. 
Arion Alston is the Truancy Court Program Mentor. He plans and conducts the
TCP ’ s mentor program, focusing on integrating restorative practices into the program.
Did You Know?

Maryland judges and magistrates are the superheroes in CFCC’s Truancy Court Program sessions. Every week for 10 to 14 weeks, these dedicated volunteers head toward local schools generally around 8 a.m. to spend up to two hours meeting one-on-one and in small groups with students who are striving to improve their attendance.

The judges preside over the TCP sessions firmly, but with kindness and compassion, to hold students accountable for their attendance and studies. The judges’ presence and accessibility are powerful and inspiring to children and families who may never have met a judge in such a warm and supportive setting.

To date, over 20 judges and magistrates have committed their valuable time to the TCP. We are deeply grateful to them!
Magistrate Lynae Polk and UB CFCC Student Fellow Carlisa Bydume welcomed 16 students and three parents to the Spring 2020 orientation session of CFCC ’ s Truancy Court Program at Mt. Royal Elementary/Middle School.
CFCC ’ s Truancy Court Program: 2005 and Now
In chronicling the start of CFCC’s Truancy Court Program, The Baltimore Sun noted unique characteristics of the TCP that are still in place today:

  • Collaboration among the school system, courts, city leadership, and social service providers

  • Emphasis on addressing the root causes of truancy and then steering families to community resources for help

  • Powerful influence of a sitting judge

  • Involvement of UB law students as mentors.
The Charles Crane Family Foundation was CFCC’s first private foundation funder (in 2004) and has supported us every year since then. In addition to its annual support, the foundation provided a substantial seed grant to launch the TCP in 2005.
Updates on CFCC’s Work
Douglas County, Nebraska, Continues Evaluations
of CFCC’s Court Reform Recommendations
Omaha judges, lawyers, court personnel, and services providers — all of whom deal with family law matters — have formed a Unified Family Court Committee to study the comprehensive recommendations CFCC made in its report, Douglas County Pilot Unified Family Court: Findings and Recommendations, and to move the UFC pilot project forward. Judge Matthew Kahler and attorney Monica Kruger co-chair the committee. Committee members have formed several workgroups (Study and Data, Funding, Review, Case Management/Case Coordination, Building, Mission Statement/Governance, Strategic Plan). 

For information on CFCC ’ s unified family court consulting capabilities, contact Professor Barbara Babb.
Explore UB’s Post-JD Certificate in Family Law
I looked at LLM programs, but I liked that this program can be completed in one year. Law school gave us the important fundamentals. This program helps you transition to the next level. — Lauren Henry ’19
Now exclusively online, the University of Baltimore School of Law Post-J.D. Certificate in Family Law provides an
in-depth, interdisciplinary, and practice-focused curriculum that prepares attorneys for the full range of issues in the fast-growing, in-demand practice of family law.

Next application deadline: Aug. 1 for Fall Semester
Two Fall classes: Financial Foundations for Family Lawyers and Psychology, Child Development, and Mental Health in Family Law Matters

To apply or for information about financial aid, visit the program’s website: law.ubalt.edu/familylawcert
Noteworthy
Presentations, Collaborations, and Events
April 1, 2020 — 15th Anniversary Celebration of CFCC’s Truancy Court Program . For more information, contact cfcc@ubalt.edu.

On Feb. 11, 2020, CFCC presented testimony on its Truancy Court Program, particularly its work with justice-involved youth, to the Juvenile Justice Reform Council (JJRC), a newly formed entity partnering with the Maryland State Department of Juvenile Services. The presentation was part of listening sessions JJRC is holding statewide.

Quoted In: “ Kpetigo decision extends definition of de facto parents to stepparents,”  The Daily Record , Jan. 22, 2020. Professor Barbara Babb called the Kpetigo decision significant: “ I would label this sort of a legal realism approach, a way to get the law to reflect how people were actually living their lives. That was something the court did here. ” The decision grants de facto parental status to adults serving in the capacity of parents to children.
Resources for You
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.

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.

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, and an ecological or holistic approach to problem-solving.

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 (CFCC); 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 the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC).

CFCC Staff and Contributors
Rebecca Stahl, CFCC Deputy Director; Michele Hong, CFCC Program Manager; Arion Alston, Truancy Court Program Mentor; Eileen Canfield, Truancy Court Program Social Worker; Katie Davis, Truancy Court Program Attorney; Spencer Hall, Truancy Court Program Coordinator;  Katrice Williams, CFCC Program Administrative Specialist.
Connect with us.

410.837-5750 or cfcc@ubalt.edu