{"id":31923,"date":"2021-08-13T20:36:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T20:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caseyfamilyv2.wpengine.com\/ftc-brief-three\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T16:58:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T16:58:33","slug":"escrito-de-la-ftc-numero-tres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/es\/ftc-brief-three\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfQu\u00e9 podemos aprender de los tribunales de tratamiento familiar para apoyar el cambio de los sistemas?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Summary<\/h3>\n

Family treatment courts foster collaboration to improve care for families in recovery.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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This brief is part of a series on family treatment courts (FTCs) developed in partnership with\u00a0Children and Family Futures<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0Additional briefs on this topic provide an\u00a0<\/span>overview of family treatment courts<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0practice-level strategies<\/a>\u00a0that FTCs employ to improve outcomes.\u00a0For more information about family treatment courts, please consult the\u00a0Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or contact Children and Family Futures at\u00a0FDC@cffutures.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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System transformation<\/span><\/a> requires successfully developing strategies that realign child welfare agencies and the justice system to work in increasingly effective and collaborative ways with other public serving organizations and community networks to support and nurture family development, promote overall child and parent well-being, and to help families thrive.1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>The process of developing and operating family treatment courts (FTCs) naturally enhances collaboration and communication among family-serving systems and community agencies, including substance use disorder treatment and health. The relationships and processes developed to operate FTCs often, in turn, result in benefits for the entire system of care for families experiencing substance use disorders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some jurisdictions are now leveraging their FTC programs to improve the experience of families with substance use disorder that concurrently are involved with child welfare so that they also can benefit from earlier access to treatment and increased family stability. In some cases, proactively employing FTC-related processes with families in which substance use disorder is a concern has helped prevent the need for child welfare system involvement altogether.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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While FTCs themselves may promote systems change, their principles and strategies are also relevant for jurisdictions without a specialty court: focusing on equity, cultivating a common vision, enhancing cross-system communication, demonstrating positive outcomes, and securing financial and relational sustainability. These strategies will benefit any collaborative effort to transform child welfare and justice systems to better serve children and their parents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Use the data you have to take an informed, collaborative approach to systems change. Learn the history of your community. Learn which other systems are experiencing inequities. Understand how they all impact what you are trying to do. Then get the people who have a part in these systemic problems to the table, and elevate the community\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

— Aurora Martinez Jones, Presiding Judge, 126th District Court, Travis County, Texas<\/cite><\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n
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Equity and inclusion<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

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FTCs can serve as a catalyst for new ways to look at equity, and particularly racial equity, within child welfare systems, starting with the data: for example, by comparing the demographics of families in the jurisdiction, those coming into the child welfare system, and those entering the FTC. Limited available research indicates that Black, Indigenous and people of color are currently underrepresented in all types of treatment courts. Reasons range from restrictive eligibility or participation criteria, lack of culturally or linguistically relevant treatment options, or distrust of legal and treatment systems.2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

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One study<\/span><\/a> of FTCs funded by the federal Regional Partnership Grant program (2007 to 2012) found that white children were overrepresented in FTCs compared to the child welfare population in those communities. By contrast, Black, Hispanic\/Latinx, Asian American\/Pacific Islander, and multiracial children were underrepresented in the programs, and American Indian\/Alaska Native children were equally represented. Among those enrolled, however, white, Black, American Indian\/Alaska Native, and Hispanic\/Latinx children achieved similar rates of reunification within 12 months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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If racial proportions of families participating in FTCs do not reflect those of the child welfare system, and more importantly if treatment and reunification outcomes differ by race, it is important to explore each phase of the system to determine the reasons:<\/p>\n