Program Goals
The Hillsborough County Family Dependency Treatment Court (FDTC) is a specialized court in Florida for substance-using parents and caregivers whose families have become involved with the child welfare system. The goal of the FDTC is to achieve reunification between parents/caregivers and their children, while ensuring the safety and well-being of families.
The FDTC is an integrated court, meaning a single judge is responsible for overseeing both the dependency-related petitions and the parents’/caregivers’ compliance with court orders for substance use treatment. The judge also follows the child welfare case from the initial temporary custody proceedings to final disposition.
Target Population
To be eligible to participate in the Hillsborough County FDTC, parents/caregivers must 1) have a substance use or dependence problem; 2) be referred to the program by a dependency judge, drug court case manager, or state attorney; 3) have a child or children who were removed from the home after an initial child welfare investigation and placed in kin care or foster care; 4) have no serious and unstable mental illness (such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders); 5) have no prior convictions for violent or sexual offense or serious offenses resulting in incarceration; and 6) have a case plan goal of family reunification.
Program Components
Parents/caregivers are assessed by an FDTC case manager prior to referral, to ensure they are eligible to participate. Once they enter the program, parents/caregivers receive a full face-to-face assessment conducted by treatment agency personnel. FDTC participants must successfully complete court-mandated treatment, meaning they must graduate from the treatment program before family reunification can occur. Participants must also satisfy other court requirements such as attending required status hearings with the judge.
Participants receive group counseling and individual counseling on a weekly basis. The group counseling sessions include a trauma-informed psychoeducational counseling component. Participants must also attend weekly Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous self-help groups, undergo as many as three random drug screens each week, and make biweekly court appearances. Other services, such as psychiatric counseling, vocational counseling, and GED courses, can be provided to participants on an as-needed basis courses.
Key Personnel
The FDTC team includes a judge, court-employed case managers, local substance use treatment providers, representatives from the local child welfare agency, guardian ad litem personnel, defense attorneys, and the state Office of the Attorney General. The team works together to provide holistic treatment to substance-using parents, who have cases in the child welfare system.
