Learn more about the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children, and the Courts' news and events
CFCC also has numerous publications, which include newsletters, articles, reports, and books, some of which are currently for sale. Please visit our publications page for a full list of CFCC's published materials.
News
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March 27, 2020 - CFCC Responds to the COVID-19 Crisis.
During the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) continues its important work on behalf of vulnerable children and families. Read more.
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September 9, 2019 - CFCC Welcomes 14 New Student Fellows.
CFCC's Student Fellows program provides students with an in-depth examination of the policies and theories surrounding court reform in family law, including unified family courts, therapeutic jurisprudence, and the ecology of human development. In addition to a weekly two-hour classroom component, students will take an active role in research and writing associated with the Center for Families, Children and the Courts' (CFCC's) projects. The research and writing will involve weekly one-hour meetings with either CFCC's Director or Senior Fellow and might include areas such as the creation and evaluation of unified family courts in specific jurisdictions, juvenile justice, truancy and truancy courts, high conflict custody programs, and addiction and substance abuse as they affect families in courts. Particular subject-matter areas will depend upon the nature of CFCC's activities at any given time. Meet CFCC's 2019-2020 Student Fellows.
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July 1, 2019 - CFCC's Truancy Court Program Receives Grant from The Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention.
The Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention has awarded CFCC a grant in the amount of $106,421. This funding supports the operation of our Truancy Court Program, designed to assist Baltimore City Public School students. We are very grateful for our continued collaboration with GOCCP and their funding of the TCP over the last several years.
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June 19, 2019 - CFCC's Truancy Court Program announces the first receipient of the Anthony "Bubba" Green Star Playe Award.
The CFCC Truancy Court Program awarded the Anthony "Bubba" Green Star Player Award to Mark Friedenthal for his years of dedication to the TCP and the hundreds of students he has served.
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May 20, 2019 - CFCC's Truancy Court Program receives grant funds of $145,165 from the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts.
The Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts has awarded CFCC a grant in the amount of $145,165. This funding supports the operation of our Truancy Court Program to assist Baltimore City Public School students for the 2019-2020 academic year. We are grateful to AOC as they have been a consistent funder of our work for over a decade.
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May 17, 2019 - Visitor from the National University of Ireland Galway to conduct research on childrens rights and family law at CFCC.
CFCC is pleased and honored to welcome Dr. Connie Healy, from the National University of Ireland Galway for a 2-week research visit. Dr. Healy comes to CFCC to study the feasibility of implementing a unified family court model in Ireland. Her research focuses on children's rights, family law, alternative dispute resolution, and the role of the legal profession in effectively resolving conflict.
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March 26, 2019 - CFCC highlights Speakers for its Eleventh Annual Urban Child Symposium. Read More.
During CFCC's Eleventh Annual Urban Child Symposium speakers will discuss problems and responses to homelessness through the lens of its profound impact on children.
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March 6, 2019 - CFCC announces Peter Edelman, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University of Law Center as the Keynote Speaker for its Eleventh Annual Urban Child Symposium. Read More.
CFCC’s Eleventh Urban Child Symposium examines the issue of homelessness through the lens of its profound impact on children.
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December 7, 2018 – CFCC receives grant funds of $40,000 to support the Truancy Court Program.
CFCC has received a grant of $40,000 from the Charles Crane Family Foundation to support the operation of CFCC's Truancy Court Program in 2019-2020. The Charles Crane Family Foundation was CFCC's first donor in 2004 and has been a consistent donor since that time. We thank the Charles Crane Family Foundation for their unwavering support.
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September 6, 2018 - CFCC Welcomes Five New Student Fellows.
CFCC's Student Fellows program provides students with an in-depth examination of the policies and theories surrounding court reform in family law, including unified family courts, therapeutic jurisprudence, and the ecology of human development. In addition to a weekly two-hour classroom component, students will take an active role in research and writing associated with the Center for Families, Children and the Courts' (CFCC's) projects. The research and writing will involve weekly one-hour meetings with either CFCC's Director or Senior Fellow and might include areas such as the creation and evaluation of unified family courts in specific jurisdictions, juvenile justice, truancy and truancy courts, high conflict custody programs, and addiction and substance abuse as they affect families in courts. Particular subject-matter areas will depend upon the nature of CFCC's activities at any given time. Meet CFCC's 2018-2019 Student Fellows.
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August 23, 2018 - CFCC Conducts Study on Implementing a Unified Family Court Pilot Initiative in Douglas County, Neb.
The University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) is providing training, technical assistance, and guidance on a court improvement project in Douglas County, Neb., to evaluate the possibility of implementing a Unified Family Court pilot initiative. The study includes a review of court operations, site visits by CFCC to Nebraska, a stakeholders' survey and forum, and visits to Maryland family courts by Nebraska court officials. Read more...
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July 27, 2018 - CFCC's Truancy Court Program Receives Grant from The Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention.
The Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention has awarded CFCC a grant in the amount of $141,931. This funding supports the operation of our Truancy Court Program, designed to assist Baltimore City Public School students. We are very grateful to GOCCP, as they have been a consistent funder of our work for the past three years.
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June 20, 2018 – CFCC's Truancy Court Program Receives Grant from The Fund for Educational Excellence (FEE), in conjunction with the Open Society Institute – Baltimore (OSI-Baltimore).
The Fund for Educational Excellence (FEE), in conjunction with the Open Society Institute – Baltimore (OSI-Baltimore), has awarded CFCC a grant in the amount of $50,000. The grant will be used for the Truancy Court Program Restorative Practices Project. We are very grateful to FEE and OSI-Baltimore for their support.
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June 11, 2018 – Baltimore Features op ed written by Law Professor Barbara Babb and Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger: Officer's murder highlights Baltimore's truancy problems.
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May 18, 2018 - CFCC's Truancy Court Program Receives Grant from Administrative Office of the Courts.
The Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Department of Juvenile and Family Services has awarded CFCC a grant of $117,025 to help support its Truancy Court Program. This is the eleventh consecutive year that the AOC has provided funding to CFCC, and we thank them for their continued and generous support.
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February 26, 2018 – CFCC presents Unified Family Court Project to members of the Nebraska Judicial System.
CFCC Founder and Director Professor Barbara Babb, CFCC Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger and Diane Nunn, CFCC consultant and founding director of the Judicial Council of California Center for Families, Children and the Courts presented "Understanding the Unified Family Court " at the Douglas County Courthouse in Nebraska. CFCC is partnering with the Nebraska Court Improvement Project to study the creation of a Unified Family Court in Douglas County, Nebraska. The presentation was an examination of the Nebraska Judicial System focused on how Unified Family Courts efficiently and effectively address the needs of families and children in court.To view a recording of the presentation click here.
Upcoming Events
Recent Events
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December 2 - 5, 2019 - In collaboration with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), CFCC held two trainings for professionals who work with families and children
December 2-3, 2019: “Parenting Coordination” with Debra K Carton, PhD. This seminar presented a comprehensive overview of the definition, role, responsibilities, and function of the parenting coordinator. Parenting coordination is an out-of-court dispute resolution process designed to assist coparents in managing parenting disputes, minimize litigation, and shield the children from harmful interparental conflict. The integrated model of parenting coordination highlights factors leading to entrenched child-related disputes, the pathways and personalities that lead parents to enduring conflict, and specialized interventions to address intractable conflict. This program focused on practice issues including (1) Structuring the parenting coordination process; (2) initial and ongoing assessments; (3) interventions for case and conflict management; and (4) effective utilization of a collaborative support team. In addition, the new AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Coordination and core competency areas for training were highlighted.
December 4-5, 2019: “Critical Issues in Child Custody: To Share or not to Share?” with Dr. Phillip Stahl. Developing parenting plans for separating and divorcing parents has become increasingly complex in recent years as new statutes, court rules, programs, practices and research come to light. Is shared parenting always best for children? What about 50/50 presumptions? What is the impact of domestic violence or high conflict? What happens when one parent relocates or when special needs children are involved?
Day one of this program explored these and other fundamental child custody issues, incorporating the most recent research and thinking about parenting time, domestic violence, high conflict, and relocation.
Day two built on AFCC’s guidelines and model standards that address child custody evaluations and incorporate research on various biases that affect decision-making processes, participants will explore the process of identifying factors that support a shared parenting approach and when it may present challenges.
Visit the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) website for more details..
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April 4, 2019 - CFCC, held its eleventh annual Urban Child Symposium, "Housing and the Urban Child: Exploring the Landscape".
In its eleventh annual Urban Child Symposium, CFCC brought together experts to examine the many stressors that threaten the health, well-being, and long-term success of urban children and youth, the experience of homelessness and housing insecurity during the most critical developmental years is one of the most challenging and impactful. A recent study has found that on any given night, 17% of the U.S. population is experiencing homelessness, including an estimated 1.4 million students enrolled in school. The overall number of homeless people has increased almost one percent between 2016 and 2017, with the largest percentage increase among unaccompanied children and youth. Children who are homeless are more likely to have chronic health problems, asthma, and behavioral problems, and they have reduced access to medical and dental care. Homeless children are twice as likely to repeat a grade, be expelled or suspended, or drop out of high school. One quarter of children who experience homelessness have witnessed violence, including domestic violence, and more than half suffer with anxiety and depression. CFCC’s Eleventh Urban Child Symposium examined the issue of homelessness through the lens of its profound impact on children. For more information visit the event webpage.
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September 2018 - The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) announces Family Law Writing Competition
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, in cooperation with the editorial staff of the Family Court Review (FCR), have held the tenth annual Family Law Writing Competition. The Editor-in-Chief of FCR, CFCC’s Founder and Director Professor Barbara Babb, encourages all interested University of Baltimore School of Law students to submit an entry to the competition. Please view the website for more information including entry requirements and prizes.
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December 3 - 6, 2018 - In collaboration with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), CFCC held two trainings for professionals who work with families and children
December 3-4, 2018: “Parenting Coordination” with Mindy Mitnick, MA, EdM. This program described the fundamentals of parenting coordination (PC), including the principles and functions of the PC role, the knowledge base for being an effective PC, and ethical guidelines. This interactive training assists professionals in understanding the PC process, scope of authority, and techniques and strategies to help parents improve cooperation and communication. Participants learned how to help clients utilize the process and how to effectively write recommendations or decisions.
December 6-7, 2017: “Advanced Issues in Child Custody” with Robin Deutsch, PhD. This program focused on three areas of complex child custody work for new and experienced evaluators, attorneys, judges, parenting coordinators, and family therapists. Topics included: (1) assessing and managing difficult clients including those with mental illness, substance abuse, trauma, and personality disorders; (2) assessment of intimate partner violence and effects on children, parenting, and co-parenting; (3) an introduction to addressing children’s resistance or refusal to have contact with a parent.
Visit the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) website for more details.
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June 2018- CFCC Founder and Director Professor Barbara Babb and CFCC Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger present a workshop at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts 55th Annual Conference
CFCC Founder and Director Professor Barbara Babb and CFCC Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger, along with The Honorable Yvette Bryant, Baltimore City Circuit Court and CFCC TCP Attorney Katherine Davis, presented a workshop this week at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts 55th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.. The workshop examined how The Truancy Court Program (TCP) judges and the TCP team meet weekly with participating students and use a trauma-informed approach to identify and address the complex reasons why students are missing school.
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April 4, 2018 - CFCC, in partnership with the Open Society Institute-Baltimore held its tenth annual Urban Child Symposium, "Restorative Practices and the Urban Child: Rethinking School Discipline
In its tenth annual Urban Child Symposium, CFCC, in partnership with the Open Society Institute-Baltimore, brought together experts to examine alternatives to harsh school discipline practices. Education, justice, and policy experts focused on restorative practices and restorative justice as powerful vehicles to strengthen relationships between adults and students. Panelists discussed chronic absenteeism, school disengagement, drop out, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Audience members participated in a restorative practice exercise and learned about efforts in Baltimore to make Baltimore City Public Schools a restorative practices district. For more information visit the event webpage.
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February 5, 2018 - Members from Community Conferencing Center train CFCC’S Truancy Court Program (TCP) team on Restorative Practices.
CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP) team participated in a training session with members from the Community Conferencing Center. The TCP team learn about Daily Rap Dialogue Circles and how to facilitate restorative conversations. On April 4, CFCC’s Tenth Annual Urban Child Symposium will focus on Restorative Practices and the Urban Child: Rethinking School Discipline. For more information visit the event webpage.
Press
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June 11, 2018 – Baltimore Features op ed written by Law Professor Barbara Babb and Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger: Officer's murder highlights Baltimore's truancy problems.
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February 15, 2019 - TJ founder Professor David Wexler writes Caring for Families in Court - new book out now. A blog highlighting authors Associate Professor Barbara Babb and Adjunct Professor Judith Moran's Caring for Families in Court: An Essential Approach to Family Justice.
Want to learn more about CFCC's activities? CFCC's news archives are available.