Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Federal Grant Will Boost Family Treatment Court Services in Washington

Addiction and substance abuse play a large role in a majority of family court cases involving welfare of children. Despite this fact, effective Family Treatment Court programs have been able to reach only 11 percent of Washington families who could benefit from these therapeutic courts.

That will soon change.

The Court Improvement Program of the state Administrative Office of the Courts was awarded a $1.75 million grant to strengthen and expand the provision of Family Treatment Court (FTC) services in Washington. The funds will be used to develop a stronger, coordinated foundation for family treatment courts statewide – including staffing, oversight and planning committees, and a partnership with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and the state Health Care Authority (HCA).

“The Family Treatment Court program is a very effective collaboration between courts and other specialists who work with struggling families, but the help it provides families has been limited by lack of funding and structure,” said Washington Court Administrator Dawn Marie Rubio, who will take part in the new FTC oversight committees. “This grant will give this valuable program the boost it needs to be a significant resource for families.”

The grant was awarded by the Office of Justice Programs of the U.S. Department of Justice. Although the Administrative Office of the Courts initially applied for a $1 million grant, the DOJ later offered the state an additional $750,000 to help fund more services.

“Working with families affected by substance use disorders is not something a court or any one agency can improve on its own. It takes a team effort with involvement of all community partners,” said Cindy Bricker, Court Improvement Program Supervisor. Social services, drug treatment and court specialists must all work together to help these families to heal and be successful, she said.

Grant funds will provide additional support for family treatment courts that are already operating – but are underutilized due to barriers. This work will expand capacity, improve use of best practices, and coordinate necessary treatment and services for children and families affected by substance use disorders.

Rural communities, in particular, will be a focus of this coordinated effort.

Family Treatment Court is a therapeutic court program modeled after drug courts and veterans courts, where teams of specialists address underlying issues. The programs aid parents in regaining control of their lives and promote long-term, stabilized recovery. Judges, attorneys, child welfare, social service and treatment personnel collaborate to assess core problems; to provide assistance such as mental health and substance abuse treatment, access to job training and job search guidance, housing assistance, parental skills training, etc.; to provide oversight and accountability to ensure parents are taking required steps. The goal is providing safe, nurturing, and permanent homes for children while providing parents the necessary support to become drug and alcohol abstinent.

Currently only 19 of Washington’s 39 counties have either a family treatment court or a juvenile/family court docket of cases where parental substance abuse is identified as a primary factor. Even with so few such courts and specialized dockets, more than 1,000 parents have graduated from programs since the first one opened in 2001. However, many FTC programs are struggling to enroll and effectively serve families at a time when the opioid epidemic has flooded child welfare programs with families in need of the therapeutic approach.

The expanded Family Treatment Court program will include community assessment of needs, barriers and availability of services, as well as data collection and evaluations of services and outcomes.

“We are very excited by this grant and the ability to bring so many pieces together into an effective program to help struggling families,” Bricker said. “While there are many statewide resources dedicated to supporting families hurt by substance use disorders, they often are underutilized or fragmented across the state. This new effort can change that and become a strong resource for Washington families.”

CONTACT: Cindy Bricker, Court Improvement Program Supervisor, Administrative Office of the Courts, Cindy.Bricker@courts.wa.gov, (360) 705-5306