Putting the Pieces Together: Harnessing the Power of Parenting Time to Strengthen the Parent-Child Relationship and Support Reunification Efforts in Your Family Treatment Court
Overview
October 12, 2021 | 11 — 12:30 PT | 12 — 1:30 MT | 1 — 2:30 CT | 2 — 3:30 ET
This Practice Academy course discusses quality parenting time as well as how to objectively measure and track progress in strengthening the parent-child relationship to support the family and inform decisions about parenting time expansion and reunification. Parenting time is an essential component of reunification efforts for children in out-of-home care, and FTC teams have the opportunity and responsibility to encourage safe and frequent parent-child interactions that support bonding and attachment. Watch the short video outlining core concepts on this topic prior to the Live Conversation on October 12. Then, use the Team Discussion tool to assess your team’s strengths and challenges in providing quality parenting time and supporting the parent-child relationship. Finally, join the Live Conversation on October 12 to hear from subject matter experts and FTC team members who have taken frequent, quality parenting time to a new level, while prioritizing discussions about the parent-child relationship in their FTC pre-court staffing and hearings. After the Live Conversation, use the Take Action tool to shift learning into action and monitor the effect on family outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
- Summarize the research linking frequent, quality parenting time to improved child wellbeing and permanency outcomes.
- Learn how to incorporate valuable and objective information about parenting time and the parent-child relationship into FTC pre-court staffing discussions and conversations with families; and contribute to decision-making about parenting time frequency and level of supervision, if any, needed to support a family.
- Hear how to implement this approach from FTC team members who provide frequent, quality parenting time to strengthen and heal the parent-child relationship while informing reunification decisions.
- Use the Team Discussion tool and Take Action tool to create an action plan to guide implementation of this approach in your FTC.
When children have been removed from their parents’ care due to safety concerns, research has well-established that ensuring frequent and quality parenting time together is key for driving successful reunification efforts. This course examines why frequent, high-quality parenting time must be a core component of the case plan, and focuses primarily on enhancing the process of monitored and supervised parenting time. Providing frequent, quality parenting time is a team effort–this core component of a case does not fall solely on our child welfare partners or outside agencies who supervise parenting time sessions. Teams will learn how to objectively measure and track progress in strengthening the parent-child relationship, supporting quality decision-making about parenting time expansion and reunification.
Hosts/Panelists:
- Will Blakeley | Program Associate | Center for Children and Family Futures
- Dr. Lynne Katz | Research Associate Professor (Ret.) | Department of Psychology | University of Miami
- Laura Orlando, MSW | Strive Project Director | Partners for Our Children | University of Washington School of Social Work
- Samantha Bond, LMFT-S, LPC | Program Manager | Integral Care | Travis County, TX
Harnessing the Power of Parenting Time to Strengthen the Parent-Child Relationship and Support Reunification Efforts in Your Family Treatment Court:
- Live Café Conversation Agenda
- Team Discussion Tool
- Take Action Tool
- Video Citations
- Live Conversation Resources and Chat
- Live Conversation Q&A
Previous Learning Academy Courses:
- The Role of Resource Parents in Supporting Family Recovery and Reunification in Family Treatment Courts
- Parent-Child Relationships: Supporting Families in FDCs for Recovery, Reunification, and Permanency
Information Memoranda and Policy Examples
- ACYF-CB-IM-20-02 – Family Time and Visitation for Children and Youth in Out-of-Home Care
- ACYF-CB-IM-21-02 – Achieving Permanency for the Well-Being of Children and Youth
- 17-OCFS-ADM-14 – New York Family Visiting Policy for Children in Foster Care
- SSA-CW#15-18 – Maryland Parent/Child and Sibling Visitation
Parenting Time Observation and Reporting Tools
- Observation Form
- Behavioral Observation Summary
- Summary Court Report Example A
- Summary Court Report Example B
- Parent Agreement Form
- Supervised Parenting Time Agreement
- Quantitative Tools
Best Practice Guides and Additional Resources
- University of Washington – Strive Overview
- Toy Suggestions for Parenting Time
- Rise Magazine – TIPS Approach to Supporting Parents in Supervised Visits
- Washington: Sources of Best Practices for Parent-Child Visitation
- Texas: Child and Family Visitation Best Practice Guide
- Pennsylvania: Parent Visitation Handbook
- Pennsylvania: Six Key Operating Principles for Determining Oversight
- Casey Family Programs Strategy Brief: How can frequent, quality family time promote relationships and permanency?
- Generations United: Help for Grandfamilies Impacted by Opioids and Other Substance Use – Engaging with Birth Parents and Talking with a Child about their Birth Parent
Websites:
Learning Opportunities
Grantee TTA Projects
OJJDP and CFF currently offer in-depth technical assistance to six Statewide System Improvement Program (SSIP) Awardees: Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, New York, and Guam. Find out more about how these states are implementing systems reform to expand FTCs’ scale and scope—increasing FTCs reach into child welfare and substance use disorder treatment systems and ensuring the delivery of a full range of comprehensive services for families.
In 2016 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention funded 12 FDCs. This funding opportunity aligns with the national FDC movement working to increase FDC’s capacity and scope of services to children and families. Of the 12 new OJJDP grantees, six sites were awarded implementation funding to create new FDC programs within their jurisdictions and six were awarded enhancement funding to expand the capacity and augment services among their existing FDC programs. Three tribal sites were awarded implementation funding to help bring Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts to tribal jurisdictions.
