Premium
A Coordinated Approach to Improving Outcomes for Substance‐Abusing Families in Juvenile Dependency Court
Author(s) -
SAGATUNEDWARDS INGER,
SAYLOR COLEEN
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
juvenile and family court journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1755-6988
pISSN - 0161-7109
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6988.2000.tb00028.x
Subject(s) - dependency (uml) , juvenile , juvenile court , substance use , psychology , criminology , juvenile delinquency , psychiatry , computer science , ecology , biology , artificial intelligence
This paper describes a coordinated approach to providing enhanced services for substance‐abusing families in the juvenile dependency court. The enhanced services consisted of an interagency collaborative model including the Department of Social Services, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Public Health Nurses, and Family Support Specialists. The purpose of the intervention was to increase the likelihood of family reunification. Families were randomly assigned to either the enhanced services (N=48) or to a regular services group (N=41). Variables included social background factors, data related to court hearings and court orders, and final court outcomes regarding placement and custody. Significant factors predicting final placement of the child were completion of court ordered programs, a stable home, and mothers' cooperation and motivation. Families who received the enhanced services had significantly higher rates of reunification of children with parents.