Program Profile: Jackson County (Ore.) Community Family Court

This program is for parents whose children are wards of the state. The program is rated Effective. Intervention parents had statistically significant improvements in treatment outcomes and lower rates of rearrest, compared with control parents. Children of intervention parents experienced statistically significant improvements in child welfare outcomes, compared with children of control group participants. There were no significant differences between groups for placement stability.

An Effective rating implies that implementing the program is likely to result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals/Target Population

The Jackson County (Ore.) Community Family Court (CFC) is a family drug court program for parents with admitted substance abuse allegations whose children are wards of the State of Oregon and are in the custody of the Department of Human Services (DHS). The CFC was designed to coordinate services and interventions that help to rehabilitate court-involved parents and their families. The goal of the program is to work toward parental sobriety, family reunification, and child safety.

Program Theory

The CFC is a family drug court (FDC), a type of problem-solving court that encompasses essential components of the adult drug court model. The program is implemented using the “Ten Key Components of Drug Courts,” established by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (1997). The components of FDCs include regular (usually weekly) court hearings, intensive judicial supervision, timely referral to a substance abuse treatment program, frequent drug testing, rewards and sanctions linked to program compliance, and wraparound services. FDC teams always include the child welfare system along with the judicial and treatment systems.

Most importantly, while drug courts typically serve as alternatives to incarceration for adults involved in the criminal justice system, participants in FDCs may not necessarily be criminally involved. Rather, FDC participants have become involved in the program because of civil family court matters. FDC programs have the difficult task of balancing the best interests of the children with the needs and treatment goals of the parents.

Program Eligibility

Substance abusing parents can be referred to CFC by public defenders, the district attorney, judges, a mental health agency, DHS child welfare caseworkers, treatment providers, and other participating agencies. There is no standardized assessment used to determine eligibility of potential program participants. Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis by the CFC team. Information from DHS and other agencies is considered, as well as suitability of the person (such as attitude and readiness for treatment).

Those with felony charges and parents that do not admit to having a drug problem are excluded from participating in the program, but parents with non–drug related charges and domestic violence charges are eligible to participate. The program also accepts those with child welfare allegations against them, including neglect, failure to protect, threat of harm, physical abuse, mental injury, abandonment, and prior termination of parental rights. Once a parent is found to be eligible, a full substance abuse treatment assessment is performed to determine level of care. Participants are also screened for co-occurring mental disorders and suicidal ideation.

Program Components

The program is designed to last a minimum of 12 months, from entry into the program until graduation. The CFC program consists of three phases. As participants demonstrate compliance with program requirements, they progress to the next phase of treatment. The phases differ on length, treatment requirements, and submission of drug tests. For example, the minimum length of the first phase is 4 to 6 weeks. Program participants are required to submit to drug tests 3 times per week, attend group treatment 4 or more times per week, and attend drug court sessions once per week. Participants are also required to attend self-help groups or 12-step meetings, and attend individual treatment sessions at least once per month. By the final phase of treatment, there is no minimum length of treatment. Participants are required to submit to drug tests at least once per month and usually several times during the final month prior to graduating. Participants attend group treatment once per month, and there are no specific requirements for individual treatment attendance. Participants are still required to attend self-help groups or 12-step meetings.

All CFC participants are required to attend outpatient individual treatment sessions, outpatient group treatment sessions, self-help meetings, and parenting classes. Participants are expected to work toward specific goals, such as job training (if they’re unemployed), securing safe and stable housing, accessing transportation, and identifying community service resources. Some participants may also be required to attend mental health counseling, residential treatment, psychiatric services, prenatal/perinatal programs, a DHS–required batterers intervention program, employment assistance, family relations counseling, and General Educational Development (or GED)/education assistance. Additional services that are provided include detoxification, gender-specific treatment, language- or cultural-specific programming, health care, and dental care.

Child care is provided by one of the treatment providers and available for participants’ children when participants have a drug court date. The facility is located across the street from the courthouse. Child care is also available several afternoons a week for participants that attend treatment with that service provider.

Sanctions may be used when a participant is not in compliance with program requirements. Sanctions are graduated so that the severity increases with more frequent or more serious noncompliance, and they are generally imposed on a case-by-case basis. Examples of sanctions that are used in CFC include writing essays, community service, residential treatment, more drug tests, more court appearances, jail, and increased treatment sessions. Participants may also be rewarded for demonstrating compliant behavior. Tangible rewards include store gift cards and coffee bucks, while intangible rewards include applause in the courtroom, certificates for moving to the next phase, and increased visitation with children.

To graduate from CFC, participants must comply with their child welfare case plan, have a job or be in school, secure a sober housing environment, pay all court drug fees, complete community services, and have a written sobriety plan. CFC also offers an aftercare program for graduates (a Mentor Mom Program), and an alumni group that meets regularly to provide support to current participants.

Graduation from CFC does not guarantee that a parent will be reunited with their children. However, the successful completion of the program is brought into consideration when the court makes any decisions about families.

Key Personnel

The CFC team includes three judges, the program coordinator, the prosecutor, defense attorneys, treatment providers, DHS child protection representatives, case managers, a domestic violence advocate, a representative from the Family Nurturing Center, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and CASA volunteer coordinator.

The CFC coordinator facilitates weekly meetings, which include the three court judges, CASAs, treatment providers, and DHS child welfare caseworkers. They discuss the participant’s progress through the program, including achievements and obstacles. The team generally arrives at an agreed-upon recommendation for each participant. The judges usually follow the recommendation, although they have the authority to make the final decision. Unlike adult drug courts, during the meetings, the interests of children of parents participating in the program are represented by DHS caseworkers and CASAs. They attend meetings to evaluate if a particular case with a high-risk family situation may require a CASA in order to advocate for children and ensure their needs are met.

Study 1

Carey and colleagues (2010) assessed the short- and long-term outcomes of the Jackson County (Ore.) Community Family Court (CFC). The evaluation compared parents who participated in the family drug court (FDC) program to nonparticipating parents.

The treatment group was identified from a sample of participants who entered the CFC between January 2002 (when the program was implemented) and June 2008. This timeframe allowed for at least 12 months of recidivism data for all study participants and 4 full years of recidivism data for a large enough portion of the sample for valid statistical analyses. A comparison group was identified from a list of family court cases for individuals that entered the court system on a petition for shelter care. The treatment group (n= 331) was 33 percent male, and 93 percent white, 3 percent Latino, and 2 percent African American, with an average age of 28 years. The comparison group (n= 349) was 38 percent male, and 93 percent white, 4 percent Latino, and 2 percent African American, with an average age of 27 years. The average age of drug court participants' children ranged from 2.7 to 4 years, while the average age of comparison group members' children ranged from 2.9 to 4 years. Approximately 80 percent of parents in both groups had allegations of physical abuse and neglect. There were no significant differences between the groups, except for race/ethnicity. There were significantly more whites in the treatment group and significantly more Latinos in the comparison group; these differences were statistically controlled for in the analyses.

The evaluation looked at treatment outcomes, program completion, child welfare outcomes, and criminal justice outcomes. Treatment outcomes measured whether FDC parents enrolled in treatment more often, stayed in treatment longer, and completed treatment more often than non–FDC parents. Program completion looked at how successful the CFC program was in bringing participants to completion and graduation within the expected timeframe and what characteristics of participants predicted completion and noncompletion. Child welfare outcomes measured the outcome of time children of FDC parents spent in foster care and whether FDC children returned to their parents sooner compared to non–FDC children. The child welfare outcomes also looked at the different types of permanency decisions, placement stability, and foster care recidivism. Finally, criminal justice outcomes measured the subsequent arrests (including arrests for drug charges) and use of jail resources.

The follow-up period looked at a period up to 4 years from the date of entry into the CFC for the treatment group. For the comparison group, an equivalent date was calculated by creating an average of the number of days from petition to program entry for participants and adding the mean number of days to the petition date for comparison group members. Data was collected from the Oregon Treatment Court Management System database, the Department of Corrections database, the Client Progress Monitoring System, the Oregon Judicial Information System, and the Adoptions and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the data, including chi-square, independent sample t-tests, and logistic regression. No subgroup analysis was conducted.

In addition to evaluating the outcomes of participating in the Jackson County (Ore.) Community Family Court (CFC), Carey and colleagues (2010) also conducted a cost–benefit analysis using an approach called Transactional and Institutional Cost Analysis (or TICA). This approach views an individual’s interaction with agencies that receive public funding as a set of transactions in which the individual uses resources contributed from multiple agencies. Transactions are those points in a system where resources are consumed and/or change hands. In this analysis, outcome costs were calculated for various factors, such as rearrests, jail time, probation/parole time, outpatient drug treatment days, residential treatment days, and foster care days. Only costs to taxpayers were calculated. <br/><br/> The cost analysis found that the average cost of the CFC program was $12,147 per participant. After 4 years, the criminal justice system outcome costs were $35,287 for the comparison group, $29,694 for all members of the CFC group, and $22,286 for CFC graduates. This results in a total average costs savings of $5,593 per CFC participant, or $1,398 per participant per year, regardless of whether the participant graduates from the program, which is 15.85 percent less per participant than members of the comparison group. CFC graduates had the greatest cost savings after 4 years; graduates cost savings per participant is $1,852 per year compared to all CFC participants and $3,250 per year compared to non–CFC participants. <br/><br/> If the program continues to run at its current capacity of serving a cohort of 50 new participants a year, this could result in a yearly savings of $69,900 per cohort year. The CFC program has a cost–benefit ratio of 1:1.06. This means for every dollar spent on the program, $1.06 is saved in public costs.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Jackson County Circuit Court, Oregon Judicial Department. 2009. “Treatment Courts.” Accessed March 16, 2011.

http://courts.oregon.gov/Jackson/TreatmentCourts.page

National Association of Drug Court Professionals. 1997. Defining Drug Courts: The Key Components. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Drug Court Programs Office.

http://www.bja.gov/grant/DrugCourts/DefiningDC.pdf

Rivera, Marny. 2008. “Healing Families: An Outcome Evaluation of a Community Family Court.” Juvenile and Family Court Journal 59(1):17–32.