The Massachusetts Trial Court this week marked the statewide launch of Family Treatment Court sessions in the Juvenile Court with an event in the Great Hall of the John Adams Courthouse. These new court sessions will address the critical needs of families with cases in the Juvenile Court statewide where substance use is a contributing factor in the case.
PATHS (Prevention and Treatment for the Health and Safety of Children and Families) Family Treatment Courts are non-adversarial, collaborative court sessions working with child protective services, substance use and mental health treatment professionals, and community partners to coordinate services with the goals of ensuring that children have safe, nurturing and permanent homes; parents achieve stable recovery; and each family member receives needed services and support.
Speakers included Trial Court Chief Justice Heidi E. Brieger; Trial Court Administrator Thomas G. Ambrosino; Juvenile Court Chief Justice Amy L. Nechtem; and Alexis Balkey, program manager for the Center for Children and Family Futures, the national training and technical assistance provider for family treatment courts. A short video created by staff and graduates of the Franklin County Family Treatment Court was presented.
The PATHS Family Treatment Court opened in the Hampden County Juvenile Court in Springfield in December 2023. It is the first for the Juvenile Court and the second in the state, following a successful program in the Franklin County Probate and Family Court. The Family Treatment Court expansion into the Juvenile Court was made possible by a $1.5 million grant awarded to the Trial Court from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to develop and implement family treatment courts across the state.
The PATHS Family Treatment Court initiative is a collaboration of the Massachusetts Trial Court, the Department of Children and Families, the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition, the Massachusetts Center of Excellence for Specialty Courts, and local treatment, recovery, and family support providers.
Research cited by the Center for Children and Family Futures shows that family treatment courts assist parents in entering treatment more quickly, staying in treatment longer, and completing treatment at higher rates when compared with conventional child welfare and dependency court interventions; increase the likelihood of reunification of children and parents with no effect on the risk of repeat maltreatment or reentry into the child welfare system; and reduce the amount of time that children spend in out-of-home care and the amount of time to get children to permanent homes.