Providing training, technical assistance, and expert consultation to communities and states as they plan, implement, enhance, expand, and sustain FTCs across the nation

Through federally and foundation-funded projects, we provide a broad range of training and technical assistance to states, state and local courts, units of local government (e.g., child welfare, substance use and mental health treatment, juvenile, and criminal justice), Tribal governments, and community agencies to help implement family treatment court (FTC) practices.

Dependency courts and child welfare systems often lack sufficient resources to meet the multiple needs and reduce the complex risk factors of families in which parental substance use contributes to child maltreatment. Well-functioning FTCs use a family-centered approach: one that brings together child welfare services, substance use disorder treatment agencies, family treatment professionals, and other community services to meet the diverse needs of children, parents, and their family members while ensuring equitable access and outcomes.

FTCs strengthen the relationships between parents, children, and family members; the goal is to provide safe environments for children through intensive case management; more frequent judicial monitoring; and culturally responsive services, supports, and interventions.

A meta-analysis found that FTC families were twice as likely to reunify than families receiving conventional service1

FTCs are more effective than traditional dependency court processing in the following areas: 

  • Getting people into treatment faster
  • Retaining people in treatment
  • Supporting completion of treatment
  • Reunifying families2,3
  • Reducing children’s time out of home4
  • Not having children return to care (reoccurrence of neglect or abuse)5,6,7
  • Cost savings in time in out-of-home care, jail/probation, Medicaid expenditures for children, and hospital costs for infants with prenatal substance exposure8,9

CFF ACTIVITIES

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18 years working with family treatment courts nationwide
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Nearly 6,000 training and technical assistance requests from over 400 family treatment courts since 2009 delivered through federally- and foundation-funded projects

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES 

Through federally- and foundation-funded projects, Children and Family Futures and its small business subsidiary, Center for Children and Family Futures, produces publications, reports, Technical Assistance tools and web-based learning for the field. The following are featured resources from our work. For more resources or information related to a specific topic, please visit our resources page or click the “Request Assistance” button below or at the top of the page.

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Harnessing the Power of Family Treatment Courts Brief Series

This series of four briefs focuses on helping collaborative teams fund (Brief 1), evaluate (Brief 2), meet community needs (Brief 3), and scale effective practice (Brief 4). While interrelated, each resource can be viewed individually and provides links to tools throughout for more in-depth information on each topic. 

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National Strategic Plan for Family Drug Courts

This publication outlines a coordinated national strategy to enhance and expand the use of Family Drug Courts (FDC) to reach more children and families.  

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National Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards

The eight Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards provide clear practice mandates to improve outcomes for children, parents, and families.

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Related Projects and Web-Based Learning

Learn more by exploring related projects and web-based learning.

Related Projects

Related Web-based Learning

  1. Zhang, S., Huang, H., Wu, Q., Li, Y., & Liu, M. (2019). The impacts of family treatment drug court on child welfare core outcomes: A meta-analysis. Child abuse & neglect, 88, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.10.014
  2. Lloyd Sieger, M.H., Becker, J., Brook, J. (2021). Family treatment court participation and permanency in a rural setting: Outcomes from a rigorous quasi-experiment. Child & Family Social Work. ;1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs. 12836
  3. Mercer, L., Cookson, A., Simpson-Adkins, G., & van Vuuren, J. (2023). Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with personal and professional factors in health and social care workers: A systematic review. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 15(Suppl 2), S231–S245. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001506
  4. Sieger, M. L., Nichols, C., Becker, J. & Brook, J. (2023). Cost analysis of a rural family treatment court: Is this enhanced approach “worth it”? Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 74, 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12247
  5. Bruns, E. J., Pullmann, M. D., Weathers, E. S., Wirschem, M. L., & Murphy, J. K. (2012). Effects of a multidisciplinary family treatment drug court on child and family outcomes: results of a quasi-experimental study. Child maltreatment, 17(3), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559512454216
  6. Green, B. L., Rockhill, A., & Furrer, C. (2006). Understanding patterns of substance abuse treatment for women involved with child welfare: the influence of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 32(2), 149–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/00952990500479282
  7. Lloyd, M. H. (2015). Family Drug Courts: Conceptual Frameworks, Empirical Evidence, and Implications for Social Work. Families in Society, 96(1), 49-57. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.2015.96.7
  8. Sieger, M. L., Nichols, C., Becker, J. & Brook, J. (2023). Cost analysis of a rural family treatment court: Is this enhanced approach “worth it”? Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 74, 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12247
  9. Logsdon, A. R., Antle, B. F., & Kamer, C. (2021). Family Treatment Drug Court Cost Analysis: An In-depth Look at the Cost and Savings of a Southeastern Family Treatment Drug Court. Child Welfare, 99(5), 51–74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48647833