Evaluation of Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers Project
JBA was awarded a grant by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to evaluate the ZERO TO THREE Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers, which is based on the innovative model developed by the Miami-Dade Juvenile Court. The purposes of the Court Team are to: increase awareness of the impact of abuse and neglect on very young children; improve their safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes; and reduce the recurrence of maltreatment. The model combines judicial leadership with child development expertise. Led by a local judge working in collaboration with a community coordinator, each Court Team brings together a team of community providers to deliver developmental and behavioral health services to very young children, establish more frequent parent-child visitation and implement evidence-based parenting services. In 2005, three Court Teams were implemented in Fort Bend County, Texas; Forrest County, Mississippi; and Polk County, Iowa. In 2006, a fourth Court Team was established in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. The evaluation examines the following issues:(1) whether there is evidence of systems change underway at each program site through implementation of the Court Team model; (2) the state of knowledge among Court Team stakeholders regarding the impact of abuse and neglect on early development and the needs of maltreated infants and toddlers; and (3) the safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes of infants and toddlers served by the Court Teams.