Justice Services seeks funding to revive Family Treatment Court, aiming to speed reunifications

Justice Services presented a proposal to restart a Family Treatment Court intended to help high‑risk, high‑need parents and caregivers involved with child protective services who are struggling with substance use that affects parenting.

Director Humphrey explained the model would follow the specialty‑court pattern used for recovery and mental‑health courts: chief components include a coordinator and a case manager housed in Justice Services, clinical screening for referred parents, individualized wraparound supports (mental‑health and substance‑use treatment, parenting classes, housing and transportation assistance), and a two‑year phased rollout to build capacity and refine referrals.

Humphrey described the intake and evaluation plan: the program would accept referrals from DSS, perform a comprehensive clinical assessment, and—at launch—plan to admit 10 unduplicated participants (families) in its first iteration. “Although it’s 10 participants, we’re looking at 10 families — 10 children or more that would be impacted by their parents receiving the structure and support of the court,” Humphrey said.

Commissioners asked about budget and funding sources. Staff presented a two‑year budget that staggers start‑up costs (year one lower due to hiring and set‑up) and said they are pursuing opioids settlement funds and other grants for longer‑term support. Commissioners and stakeholders (including the DSS director and the elected public defender present at the meeting) described past Family Treatment Court work that accelerated reunification and urged staff to include cost‑savings analysis and measures for tracking outcomes.

What it would pay for: the proposal requests two full‑time FTEs (coordinator and case manager) as core staff and associated operational costs to support program roll‑out, screening, data collection and partnerships with DSS and court stakeholders. Staff said they will look for federal RFPs and opioid‑related funding opportunities to extend support beyond the two‑year startup window.

Next steps: commissioners voiced strong support and asked Justice Services to prepare outcome metrics and a plan for measuring fiscal savings alongside human‑services outcomes; staff said they will continue grant searches and return with refined budget details.