Leaders steering McLean County's family treatment court describe it as a work in progress, but it's one they hope eventually will spread throughout the state.
“It’s kind of an arm or an offshoot of the abuse and neglect courtroom,” connecting the recovery support process with intensive courtroom supervision, said McLean County associate judge Brian Goldrick, who presides over the court’s Child Protection Division. All family court clients are involved in Goldrick's courtroom.
He was among four panelists discussing the family court during a public forum Tuesday at the Bloomington Public Library. Women to Women Giving Circle hosted the event.
Other panelists were Judge Rebecca Foley, who helped establish the program, and worked a decade earlier to create McLean County's recovery court; Kaitlynn Stigall, the Family Treatment Court [FTC] coordinator; and Wendi Ashford, who manages therapy and program development for Carle BroMenn Medical Center's addiction and recovery area. Ashford supervises FTC clients substance abuse recovery plans.
The family court is a voluntary program offered to parents in McLean County child welfare cases where substance abuse is a primary factor, and custody is at risk. It's only utilized when the court believes a parent could benefit from the services, said Goldrick.
Admitting they have a problem is key, he said, adding for some people, that comes easier than to others.
Regardless of participation in the voluntary program, such cases require a parent complete substance abuse recovery to avoid losing custodial rights. But Goldrick said for parents who do sign up, “the chance at success is greater than without the program, because there is more oversight on a weekly basis.”
The $1 million, mostly federally-funded, project, launched about six months ago. So far, 10 clients have volunteered to go through the five-phase program that has participants work toward the long-term goal of maintained sobriety and family re-integration.
One family has reached that final phase. Their child has returned home, and court interactions are fewer. But the other clients continue at individual paces.
The program is patterned after similar problem-solving court models in McLean County such as its drug court and mental health court. Those criminal court programs do have state certifications, but this family court is the state's first official such program, and does not yet offer that certification, noted Foley.
“What we’re hoping to be is a model,” she said. “A blueprint, so to speak, for others, [so they] aren’t building the plane as they are flying,” she said, adding before launching the program, organizers did comparative research in Indiana and Iowa.
About 75 people attended Tuesday’s forum that was moderated by Diane Zosky, retired Illinois State University dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and former head of its School of Social Work. As part of the forum, she fielded about a dozen audience questions.
One of those asked panelists to reflect on lessons learned.
FTC Coordinator Stigall said patience with the process has been important. "We have to give ourselves grace. To not only ourselves as the team, but also our participants — because this is something that is brand new to us, and to them," she said.
A $750,000 federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP] to fund operations, and a McLean County match of $250,000 worth of professional hours put the wheels in motion to begin the family court.
As part of the pilot project for the state, the FTC has a contract with the National Center for State Courts to develop data-based evaluation.
The way family court works
Each client begins with an assessment, said Foley, adding, “Then a specialized plan is developed." Those plans can include in-patient or outpatient recovery services.
Initially, the client appears weekly in court, much more frequently than a client would in a normal court setting. The parent also begins a treatment plan at Carle BroMenn.
Carle's Ashford noted this component of the family court program is invaluable because it allows parents to be outside of a courtroom setting, and in group therapy with fellow parents facing these unique circumstances that other people might not understand. With the current 8 participants all being single mothers, the curriculum Carle uses is a women-centered approach that has incorporated parenting education into the recovery model, she added.
Besides the four panelists from Tuesday’s event, the family court team pulls from several public and private organizations, including staff from the county’s state’s attorney’s, and public defender’s, offices, and guardian ad litem and court appointed special advocates [CASA] offices. In addition, there's an appointed peer support specialist.
Representatives from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, The Center for Youth and Family Solutions, the Baby Fold, and Family Community Resource Center also are on the team.
This interdisciplinary team works with the judge on the client’s case to determine goals and other actions, including incentives and sometimes sanctions — and to track progress.
This combined expertise makes a big difference in creating a stronger potential for a client’s success, said Goldrick.
Women to Women, Prairie foundation
Women to Women is part of the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation. It's purpose is to expand philanthropy among women in McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties. Since 2011, Women to Women has awarded nearly $600,000 in grants to Central Illinois projects.
For almost three decades the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation has been leading philanthropy efforts in McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties. The group connects donors with causes that matter to them.
The foundation manages a variety of funds including endowments, scholarships and more. WGLT is among a dozen community partners that work with the group.
