Court will aim to keep addicts' families intact

Court will aim to keep addicts' families intact
By MAX B. BAKER

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/377285.html

Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Associate Judge Ellen Smith is part of a team working to improve the
lives of drug-addicted mothers.
STAR-TELEGRAM/AMY PETERSON
Associate Judge Ellen Smith is part of a team working to improve the
lives of drug-addicted mothers.

FORT WORTH -- Nine people are gathered in front of Associate Judge Ellen
Smith's bench to discuss the future of a family.

A Tarrant County prosecutor is there, along with a Child Protective
Services social worker and attorneys for the father, mother and
children. In the middle stands a fidgeting 28-year-old woman from
Arlington hoping to get her children back.

Smith is told that the mother is trying to clean up her act: She attends
counseling sessions, works the midnight shift as a waitress and sees her
kids every weekend. But recently the mother stumbled: She tested
positive for cocaine.

During 13 years on the bench, Smith has heard that story too many times.
Still, it tears at her heart.

"Some cases are more heartbreaking than others," Smith said with a weak
smile after finishing a docket in which half the cases dealt with
drug-addicted mothers on the verge of losing their kids for good. "I'm
looking for some success stories."

In an attempt to find more happy endings, Smith recently joined a team
of judges, prosecutors, social workers and defense attorneys working in
a new family drug court with the goals of protecting children and
reuniting families.

Over the next year, 20 mothers who give birth to drug-exposed babies
will get a chance to go through an intensive program in an effort to
bring the children back home. Team members will become so intimately
involved in the mothers' lives that they will literally walk them from
the maternity ward to the courtroom and then to a rehab center.

Since the court started its work, this month, a 16-year-old girl has
entered the program and is undergoing in-patient drug rehabilitation.
She tested positive for cocaine and delivered a drug-exposed baby in
November.

State District Judge Jean Boyd, the county's chief juvenile court judge,
estimates that drugs are involved in 98 percent of the cases in which a
child is removed from a home. County officials say 55 percent to 60
percent of those children end up in adoptive homes.

Although taking children from their mothers protects them from immediate
harm, it ultimately inflicts a tremendous emotional toll on the child
and adds to the stress on a crowded foster care system, officials said.

"It is a never-ending cycle I'd like to break," Boyd said.

Prosecutor James Teel said he's heard all of the excuses about missing
counseling sessions, not checking in with a social worker, failing a
urine test. After eight years of dealing with those cases, he's ready to
try something new.

"It's easy to terminate their rights," Teel said. "But if you can create
stability with the parents in sobriety, if you can create economic
stability, housing stability, these kids are better off with their birth
parents."

Intensive care

Mothers on methamphetamine or cocaine may find out about the new court
soon after their babies are born.

When a drug-exposed infant is born, the hospital will call Child
Protective Services. An investigator will meet with the mother at the
hospital and determine whether she is a good candidate. Ideal applicants
are women who are giving birth to their first or second child and have
no history of violent criminal behavior and no serious mental health issues.

Within days, the mother will meet Smith at the courthouse to learn about
the program. Also at the hearing will be her attorney, mental health
experts, family counselors and treatment providers.

If the mother enters the program, she will be assessed and possibly
whisked to a treatment facility or program that day. If the father is
involved, the court will work with him, but its focus will be on the
mother and child.

It can now take weeks to get a drug-addicted mother help, so the new
program is a drastic change. "If you don't get control of these people
early on, you never will," Teel said.

In her first four months with the program, the mother will have daily
contact with the court through a family team meeting. She will be asked
to take drug tests twice a week, attend weekly administrative hearings
and see Smith once a month.

Over the next six months, she will see social workers less frequently as
the program focuses on developing skills to deal with her addiction and
with life in general. A court representative will see the mother every
three months.

During the final two months, contact with the case manager will drop to
once a week, and drug testing and administrative reviews will occur
monthly. If all goes well, Smith's last review will come as the case is
discharged and the child returned for good.

Agencies involved will also coordinate their efforts to prevent
increased pressure on the mother. For instance, a mother's
anger-management problems may be handled in counseling rather than by
making her take another class.

"These cases are real frustrating because it's hard to get everyone on
the same page," Teel said. "And while the services are already provided,
for some reason they don't jump on the fast-moving train to get their
lives back on track."

Through it all, the judge, prosecutor and caseworkers will offer the
mother continual feedback. Rewards for good behavior will include not
only freedom from drug testing and court appearances but also items such
as gift certificates from local stores.

But the biggest prize dangled in front of the mother will be the return
of the child.

Changing behavior

It is important to get mothers to buy into their treatment, and one way
to do that is to treat the whole person, said Holly McFarland, the
court's coordinator. McFarland is a lawyer and social worker at Tarrant
County Challenge.

"They realize that you are treating them like human beings," McFarland
said. "We want to work with those motivated to change."

Smith and others are convinced that the program will work, but family
drug courts are relatively new and have not been studied extensively.
There are 250 family drug courts nationwide, including seven others in
Texas.

But similar problem-solving courts have existed in other parts of the
justice system since 1989, when the first drug court was opened, in
Miami, during a crack cocaine epidemic. There are now more than 1,600
nationwide, including at least 90 in Texas.

Tarrant County has three specialized courts: Drug Impact Rehabilitation
Enhanced Comprehensive Treatment (Direct); the Felony Alcohol
Intervention Project (FAIP), a DWI court; and a juvenile drug court.

All can show that their approach has worked. Eighty-seven percent of
those who go through the Direct program do not reoffend, while during
the DWI court's one-year run, one participant has committed a new
offense, and two did not complete the program and were sent to prison.
In the juvenile drug court, 87 percent successfully completed the program.

A study by Southern Methodist University also shows that for every
dollar spent in a specialized court, taxpayers save $9, Teel said.

"I think that all of the courts have to be concerned with people
changing their behavior and not just getting locked up for their
offenses," said state District Court Judge Sharen Wilson, who was key in
starting the DWI court.

If the family drug court had existed six months ago, staff would have
already run additional drug tests on the 28-year-old Arlington mother,
and she would be attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings more than twice
a month, Teel said.

She would also probably be a lot closer to getting her kids back.

Holistic approach

The new Tarrant County family drug court is a $175,000 pilot project
being paid for with public and private money.

The program received a $100,000 grant from the Sid Richardson Foundation
and a $25,000 grant from the Ryan Foundation. Gov. Rick Perry awarded
the program $50,000 through the Texas Drug Court Program.

Among the community partners involved in the program:

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County

Tarrant County Defense Bar

Tarrant County Challenge

Lena Pope Home

Recovery Resource Council

Court Appointed Special Advocates

Source: Tarrant County Family Drug Court
MAX B. BAKER, 817-390-7714






CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...