Citation

Rivera M. Juv. Fam. Court J. 2008; 59(1): 17-32.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1755-6988.2007.00002.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this paper, a model community family court program that seeks to break the intergenerational cycle of crime and substance abuse by treating families holistically will be presented. This model court seeks to reduce crime and provide safe and permanent homes for children of substance-abusing parents. In this community family court, the prototypical problem-solving court has been both focused and expanded. The community family court provides a focused response designed to address the unique combination of problems facing families on a family-by-family basis. At the same time, supervision and treatment services have been expanded to include every family member and all open court cases including criminal charges, juvenile delinquency, dependency, and civil cases. An overview of the court's evolution and discussion of integrated services designed to provide a wraparound style intervention will be highlighted as key contributors to the largely positive results of this community family court's evaluation.