Spreading the Word
CFCC faculty and staff had an active and far-flung winter, spring and summer of 2010. Professor Barbara Babb, CFCC's director, started the year with a trip to Nebraska in January, where she participated in an interdisciplinary three-day conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law on problem-solving courts. Professor Babb's presentation focused on the intersection and relationship between unified family courts and problem-solving courts. The conference was the fifth in a series of Programs of Excellence co-sponsored by the University's Law-Psychology Program. In May, Senior Fellows Gloria Danziger and Sharon Rubinstein spoke about CFCC's Truancy Court Program to a group of community leaders at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Annapolis. Later in May, the Association of American Law Schools held its Conference on Clinical Legal Education in Baltimore. Professor Babb and Senior Fellows Danziger and Rubinstein led a breakout session on CFCC's Student Fellows Program. In early June, Professor Babb and Senior Fellows Danziger and Rubinstein traveled to Denver, where they gave a presentation on evaluating unified family courts to a well-attended breakout session at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts annual conference. And then it was back to Baltimore, with the Families Matter Symposium [see story, Families Matter, right] culminating a very busy first half of the year. CFCC is available for presentations and training; contact us here. |
CFCC's Urban Child Symposium
Since its inception, CFCC's Urban Child Symposium series has tackled pressing problems faced by young people, often poor, who live in cities.
Our first symposium in April 2009 considered truancy and other educational issues and was capped with a keynote speech on the importance of education by acclaimed author Jonathan Kozol. Our April 2010 event focused on health concerns, including child physical and sexual abuse, obesity, substance abuse, environmental and housing safety, and family violence. Congressman Elijah Cummings provided a rousing luncheon speech on the critical need for an early focus on the health of urban children, and equal access to excellent care.
Please mark your calendars for our third Urban Child Symposium, set for April 7, 2011. The topic is The Urban Child in the Child Welfare System: From Fracture to Fix.
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Bringing Judges into Schools Judges see a lot of "if only" cases. If only someone had paid attention to this defendant when he was a child. If only he had gotten a solid education and had decent job prospects. If only someone had cared.
CFCC's Truancy Court Program (TCP) is a response to these "if only" scenarios. It is an example of our therapeutic, ecological and holistic approach in action.
Every week for ten weeks during the Fall and again in the Spring, Maryland judges and masters lead a school-based team coordinated by CFCC to address early problems with school attendance. The TCP currently operates in eight Baltimore City schools, two middle schools in Montgomery County, and two middle schools in Anne Arundel County. Thanks to a $500,000 federal grant, there are plans for further expansion. Judge Ronald Silkworth says its best: "I believe in problem solving, and intervening early is one of the best ways to avoid problems entirely and give young people support when it can do the most good."
To find out more about the program, subscribe to the TCP e-newsletter, go to our website, or follow our blog.
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Greetings!
Welcome to the inaugural edition of CFCC's Full Court Press, a new e-newsletter from the University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC). We at CFCC are delighted to bring you news about our full range of work, announce upcoming events and opportunities, and highlight exciting developments around the world related to children and families, their communities, and their interactions with the justice system. In the ten years since CFCC's founding, we have grown dramatically. Please sign up for any of our many communications vehicles that suit your interests: the Unified Family Court Connection, the CFCC blog, this newsletter, and our Truancy Court Program e-newsletter. You can find a list of our scholarly publications, current news and events, recent press coverage, links to conference registration pages, and other useful information on the CFCC website. Please enjoy this issue, in which we give you a snapshot view of our recent Families Matter Symposium, showcase recent conference presentations, preview our next Urban Child Symposium and other events, and list some valuable resources. Sincerely, Professor Barbara A. Babb, CFCC Founder and Director and the CFCC staff |
Families Matter...and teamwork matters, too
CFCC
was proud to co-host the Families Matter Symposium with the ABA Section of Family
Law on June 24-25. Launching a three-year initiative, the
invitation-only event drew over sixty interdisciplinary experts,
including judges, lawyers, academics, financial professionals,
mediators, domestic violence experts, and mental health professionals.
The purpose was to generate potential solutions for what is widely
acknowledged to be a broken family law system that can badly harm
families and children. Maryland Chief Judge Robert Bell
delivered the keynote address on the first day, and Georgia's former Chief Justice
Leah Ward Sears provided closing remarks. Over the course of two days,
working groups discussed the negative impact of the family law process
on families, brainstormed about innovative practice methods to address
their concerns, and developed concrete steps to implement those methods.
The
legal and popular press paid attention. CFCC Director Barbara Babb and
ABA Section of Family Law Chair Mitchell Karpf co-authored an op-ed
elaborating upon the destructive effect family law proceedings so often
have on families, which ran in the Baltimore Sun and has since been
reprinted elsewhere.
Stay tuned for a report on the symposium's recommendations and look for our next issue of CFCC's Full Court Press, which will include reflections from an array of participants.
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Sincerely,
Barbara Babb, Associate Professor of Law and Director, Center for Families, Children and the Courts
CFCC Staff: Gloria Danziger, Senior Fellow; Sharon Rubinstein, Senior Fellow; Andrea Bento, TCP Manager and School Liaison; Anthony "Bubba" Green, TCP Mentor Coordinator; Sharon Curley, Program Administrative Specialist; Mimi Lumeh, Administrative Assistant
Editing Staff: Barbara Babb, Editor; Sharon Rubinstein, Editor/Writer; Mimi Lumeh, Assistant Editor
University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Families, Children & the Courts Contact Us |
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