Early Childhood Courts
Background
Using the National ZERO TO THREE organization’s Safe Babies approach and the Miami Child Well-Being model, Florida’s early childhood court emerged in 2014 and is one of the primary initiatives within the Office of Family Courts. Early childhood court addresses child welfare cases involving children under the age of three. It is a problem-solving court where legal, societal, and individual problems intersect.
Healthy attachment and early brain development, from birth to age three, is crucial to a child's future social-emotional health, school-readiness, and life-long well-being. Infants and toddlers in the child welfare system are at extraordinarily high risk for developmental delays, non-optimal attachment relationships, trauma, and toxic stress that can affect their adjustment and well-being for years to come -- often, tragically, for a lifetime. Early childhood court allows courts to take what is currently known about the appropriate services and practices for early brain development and make them available to the most vulnerable children. For additional information view the Hope and Healing video.
The multidisciplinary Dependency Court Improvement Panel developed best practice standards which are based largely on research and analysis that has been conducted on Safe Babies sites in other states as well as research and analysis of specific early childhood evidence-based interventions. The Florida Supreme Court adopted the Early Childhood Court Best Practice Standards
and Commentary in November 2019. The Steering Committee on Problem-Solving Courts is in the process of finalizing a certification program for all problem-solving courts with best practice standards in place. Core components of early childhood court include judicial leadership, a community coordinator, monthly court reviews, evidence-based child-parent therapy, frequent parent-child contact, and the use of multidisciplinary family team meetings.
The goal of Florida's early childhood court is to:
- improve child safety and well-being
- heal trauma and repair the parent/child relationship
- promote timely permanency
- stop the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment
Current Status
Florida’s early childhood court has grown from just a few sites in 2014 to 32 sites in 2023. The partnership between the Office of the State Courts Administrator, Florida State University, ZERO TO THREE, and other valuable partners has made it possible for the initiative to expand.
Below is a map of early childhood court sites throughout the state.
Measuring Success
ZERO TO THREE's Safe Babies Court Teams boast timely permanency and a substantial reduction of re-maltreatment. Permanency can also be referred to as case closure, with the child placed in a permanent home. Florida’s data continues to show positive results, particularly in days to permanency. Implementation of the best practice standards will increase data uniformity and promote fidelity of the approach statewide.
During the 2018 session, the Florida Legislature allocated funding for the Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW) to conduct a one-year state-wide evaluation of Florida’s early childhood courts. The evaluation aimed to provide a better understanding of the level of implementation, characteristics of participating sites, outcomes of participating children and families, and cost effectiveness. An executive summary from the FICW completed mixed method evaluation in June 2019.
Read the summary of the early childhood court (ECC) outcomes analyses conducted by the Office of the State Courts Administrator in 2020.
Read the early childhood court (ECC) data analysis report conducted by the Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW) in 2022.
About The Data
Timely permanency is assessed by measuring the time to closure, which is the time from the removal to the time the child's case is closed. Case closure is defined as the termination of supervision. In 2020, the Office of the State Courts Administrator conducted a comparison analysis between children who achieved permanency from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019 in 17 of Florida’s early childhood court (ECC) sites and in the six judicial circuits that have never had an ECC. This was conducted to gain a clearer picture of the impact of ECC on permanency outcomes. The analysis highlighted closed cases with the following permanency outcomes: reunification with a parent, adoption, and permanent guardianship with a relative or non-relative.
Analysis Results-Permanency
Reunification:
The average number of days from removal to closure for reunification for ECC children was 483.
The average number of days from removal to closure for reunification for non-ECC children was 620.
This is a difference of 137 days, which means ECC children attained permanency through reunification 4.5 months sooner than non-ECC children.
Adoption:
The average number of days from removal to closure for adoption for ECC children was 700.
The average number of days from removal to closure for adoption for non-ECC children was 779.
This is a difference of 79 days, which means ECC children were adopted almost 3 months sooner than non-ECC children.
Permanent Guardianship:
The average number of days from removal to closure for permanent guardianship for ECC children was 454.
The average number of days from removal to closure for permanent guardianship for non-ECC children was 606.
This is a difference of 152 days, which means ECC children attained permanency through permanent guardianship approximately 5 months sooner than non-ECC children.
Overall Permanency (this includes reunification, adoption, and permanent guardianship):
The average number of days from removal to closure for ECC children was 559.
The average number of days from removal to closure for non-ECC children was 664.
This is a difference of 105 days, which means ECC children attained permanency 3.5 months sooner than non-ECC children.
The table below shows the average number of days from removal to closure (ECC vs non-ECC):
The graphs below show the number of children for the main types of closure outcome (ECC vs non-ECC):
*does not include number of children closed in other/unknown outcomes
Safety
In the analysis, children in ECC experienced a lower rate of re-removals (7.8%) compared to non-ECC children (8.8%).
Well-Being
Children in ECC receive child-parent therapy using an evidence-based intervention aimed at healing trauma and repairing the child’s relationship with their parent(s) or caregiver. Other characteristics of ECC include more frequent contact between children and parents, fewer termination of parental rights trials, and a continuum of infant mental health and early intervention services.
Publications and Resources
Early Childhood Court Brochure
Early Childhood Court Recidivism Protocols
A multitude of publications and resources related to early childhood and ECC are available through FSU’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy website and YouTube channel.
Thinking About Starting an Early Childhood Court?
ECC Exploration Road Map for New Sites
ECC Installation Roadmap for New Sites
Resources for Existing Early Childhood Court Sites
Florida Supreme Court Governance Groups
The Steering Committee on Families and Children in the Court works to establish a fully integrated, comprehensive approach to handling all cases involving children and families. The steering committee is charged with assisting the statewide multidisciplinary dependency court improvement panel – the panel that oversees ECC implementation.
Contact the Office of Family Courts at ociecc@aifengcai.com for additional information on early childhood courts.