2015 News and Events
-
December 2015 - CFCC’s Truancy Court Program Receives $47,025 grant from the Maryland Judiciary’s Department of Family Administration
CFCC has received $47,025 from the Maryland Judiciary’s Administrative Office of the Courts, Department of Family Administration to support the operation of our Truancy Court Program (TCP). This funding supplements $70,000 awarded earlier in the year, bringing the Department of Family Administration’s total support of the TCP to $117,025 for this fiscal year. We are grateful for our longstanding partnership with the Maryland Judiciary, whose funding of our Truancy Court Program began in 2008.
-
December 2015 - CFCC’s Truancy Court Program Receives $25,000 grant from Open Society Institute—Baltimore
CFCC has received a $25,000 grant from Open Society Institute—Baltimore to support the operation of the Truancy Court Program (TCP). We are grateful for this opportunity to partner with OSI-Baltimore, with whom we have worked closely for many years on attendance issues. The TCP has increased the number of schools where it operates the TCP this year in response to its success with students at the ninth grade level.
-
December 2015 - CFCC Receives $60,000 grant from the Charles Crane Family Foundation
CFCC has received $60,000 from the Charles Crane Family Foundation to support the operation of the Truancy Court Program (TCP) in several Baltimore City Public Schools for the 2016–2017 academic year. We are proud to have continuing annual support from the Crane Foundation, which was the first funder of TCP in 2004 and has been a consistent funder since that time.
-
December 2015 - CFCC Partners with Maryland Department of Juvenile Services
CFCC has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), which will enable CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP) to focus on DJS-involved youth who participate in the TCP. We are proud to partner with DJS Secretary Sam Abed and his Chief of Staff, Jay Cleary, a 2002 University of Baltimore School of Law graduate.
-
October 5, 2015- 2015-2016 Truancy Court Program (TCP) Underway
CFCC's Truancy Court Program (TCP) is working with four public schools in Baltimore City and one high school in Anne Arundel County for the 2015-2016 school year. This year's schools are Henderson Hopkins Elementary/Middle School, Reginald F. Lewis High School of Business and Law, Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology, New Era Academy in Baltimore City, and North County High School in Anne Arundel County. CFCC's TCP is in great demand by school principals, and the selection process is very competitive. Twenty to thirty schools apply for the grant-funded TCP each year. Learn more about CFCC's Truancy Court Program.
-
September 22, 2015- Montgomery County Truancy Prevention Program Has Roots at CFCC's Truancy Court Program
Former CFCC Student Fellow and Truancy Court Program (TCP) Volunteer Rexanah Wyse coordinates a Truancy Prevention Program (TPP) in twelve Montgomery County public schools. CFCC operated a Truancy Court Program (TCP) in Montgomery County from 2009 until 2012 after receiving a US Department of Justice grant to develop and implement TCPs in three counties and in Baltimore City. Since then, the Montgomery County Council has provided funding for the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office to operate the Truancy Prevention Program (TPP), which is based on the TCP. Learn more about CFCC's Truancy Court Program.
-
September 1, 2015- CFCC Welcomes 14 Student Fellows for Fall 2015
CFCC faculty and staff have welcomed fourteen second- and third-year School of Law students enrolled in the Fall 2015 CFCC Student Fellows Program. CFCC Student Fellows participate in a weekly seminar, visit innovative family justice system programs, and are involved in one of CFCC's many projects. This year's fellows represent a wide range of experience, interest, and expertise. Learn more about this year's Student Fellows. Read their insights and learn about their experiences through CFCC's blog.
-
August 14, 2015- Center for Families, Children and the Courts Info Session
As part of the School of Law’s orientation week, CFCC will host an informational session to explain volunteer opportunities in its Truancy Court Program and other CFCC initiatives. The session will take place in Room 544. If you would like more information or to RSVP, please contact Spencer Hall at shall2@ubalt.edu.
-
August 6, 2015- 2015-2016 Truancy Court Program (TCP) Volunteer Judges Named
Volunteer judges for the 2015-2016 TCP include: Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Silkworth, Baltimore City Circuit Court Magistrates Kristin Peacock and Joyce Mitchell (ret.), and Baltimore City Assistant Public Defender Mark Friedenthal. The TCP capitalizes on the credibility and authority of our distinguished volunteer judges to create strong bonds between truant students and the TCP judges in order to identify and address the root causes of truancy.
-
August 19, 2015- CFCC Student Fellows Program I Meeting
The first seminar of the Fall 2015 CFCC Student Fellows Program takes place in Room 607 of the Angelos Law building. CFCC faculty and staff look forward to welcoming the 2015-2016 Student Fellows.
-
June, 2015- CFCC introduces "Trails Over Truancy" program to the Truancy Court Program (TCP)
The TCP, in collaboration with Merritt Pridgeon, will introduce a new program to TCP participants in a Baltimore City Middle middle school. "Trails Over Truancy" will expose TCP students to classroom environmental activities and field trips to Robert E. Lee Park in Baltimore.
-
June, 2015- The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund awards grant to CFCC's Truancy Court Program (TCP)
For the fourth consecutive year, the Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund has provided support for CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP). The Krieger Fund awarded $15,000 to CFCC to continue operating the TCP in the 2015–2016 school year. Gifts from the Krieger Fund have helped CFCC to operate the TCP at the Historic Samuel Coleridge Taylor Elementary School from 2012–2014, Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School in 2014–2015, and Henderson Hopkins Elementary/Middle School in 2015–2016. The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund supports programs that enhance individual and community potential.
-
June, 2015- The Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) funds CFCC's Truancy Court Program (TCP)
For the eighth consecutive year, the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has provided funding for CFCC’s Truancy Court Program (TCP). The $70,000 grant assists with the development and implementation of the TCP in Baltimore City at the Reginald F. Lewis High School of Business and Law, New Era Academy, Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology and Henderson Hopkins Elementary/Middle School. The grant also helps support the operation of the TCP at North County High School in Anne Arundel County. The AOC has consistently appreciated the preventive power of the TCP to keep children out of the juvenile and child welfare systems and to keep parents out of the criminal justice system due to truancy.
-
June, 2015 - CFCC Director Barbara Babb receives the 2015 Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) bestowed the 2015 Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award on Professor Barbara Babb, director of the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC), during their 52nd Annual Conference. The award recognizes outstanding research and achievements in family law. AFCC is an interdisciplinary, international association with more than 5,000 members. The award, named after one of AFCC's founders, recognizes outstanding research and achievements in family law. In his introduction of Professor Babb, AFCC Oregon Chapter Leader William Howe III noted her nationally- and internationally-recognized scholarship and activism to improve the family justice system, primarily through the creation of unified family courts.
-
May 27-30, 2015 - CFCC presents at 52nd annual Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) annual conference.
CFCC Director, Professor Barbara A. Babb, Maryland Circuit Court Judge Cathy Serrette, and CFCC Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger presented a workshop titled "Unified Family Courts: The Door to One-Stop Shopping for Children and Families" at AFCC's annual conference, "Children in the Court System: Different Doors, Different Responses, Different Outcomes." The workshop focused on how Unified Family Courts efficiently and effectively address the needs of families and children in court. -
April 1, 2015– CFCC hosts seventh annual Urban Child Symposium.
Over 200 people attended "Violence and the Urban Child: What Can We Do?" The symposium was hosted by CFCC at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Speakers focused on issues relating to children and violence, including juvenile detention, gang activity, trauma, and family engagement. Participants included educators, attorneys, social workers, services providers, and students. -
March, 2015– CFCC awarded the William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation Grant.
The William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation has awarded CFCC a $50,000 Special Projects grant to assist in the operation of the Truancy Court Program (TCP) at North County High School in Anne Arundel County and the Reginald F. Lewis High School of Business and Law in Baltimore City during the 2015–2016 school year. The vision of the Ohio-based O’Neill Family Foundation is for strong communities where families thrive. -
January 2015 – CFCC published A Comprehensive Approach to Truancy for Baltimore City: A Roundtable Discussion, by Professor Barbara A. Babb and CFCC Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger.
CFCC has published A Comprehensive Approach to Truancy for Baltimore City: A Roundtable Discussion . The report is based on two roundtable meetings convened by CFCC that brought together city officials, school leaders, private and public agency heads, and other stakeholders in the education of Baltimore city’s youth. The report provides recommendations to address the widespread truancy in Baltimore and other cities where school attendance is a critical issue. It describes a collaborative citywide approach that encourages the development of best practices and offers a continuum of interventions for students who are missing school.
Events
-
November-December 2015 – In collaboration with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), CFCC held two trainings for professionals who work with families and children.
November 30-December 1, 2015 – “Construction of an Effective Parenting Coordination Process: Structure, Tools and Techniques,” with Debra K. Carter, PhD. This two-day training program was for parenting coordinators, mediators, lawyers, judges, therapists, parent educators, and other professionals who work with high conflict families.
December 2-3 – “Complex Issues in Family Law and Child Custody” with Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP. This two-day training program was for child custody evaluators and legal professionals who work in child custody litigation and mediation.
Both events were held at the University of Baltimore Student Center, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm on all four days. View the PDF of the Training Brochure (PDF) for more information on these recent AFCC/CFCC trainings. View the event video.
-
November 2015 –State Farm Insurance Good Neighbor Citizenship Program on Financial Literacy Workshops for Truancy Court Programs Schools
CFCC sponsored six workshops this Fall which were supported by a $15,000 State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship Grant. CFCC Student Fellows (second- and third-year University of Baltimore law students enrolled in CFCC’s Student Fellows Program) developed workshop content for both parents and students in partnership with State Farm. The first workshops in the series, on November 2 and 4, focused on financial literacy skills and included presentations by State Farm agents David Rosario, John Buggs and Tom Benisch. The second workshops, November 9 and 11, provided students with information about opportunities for higher education and parents with information about how to help their children afford college. The third workshops, November 16 and 18, focused on job skills and the college admissions process.
-
October 23, 2015 – CFCC Co-Hosted “Family Transitions: Issues, Solution and Policies” Conference.
CFCC co-hosted an interdisciplinary conference on October 23, 2015, to address issues affecting separating and divorcing families. Several hundred judges, lawyers, services providers, and other professionals attended the “Family Transitions: Issues, Solutions and Policies Conference,” which consisted of five panels of experts from a wide range of disciplines. Panelists spoke about challenges, solutions, and policies relevant to separating and divorcing families and their children. In addition, Dr. Robert Emery, a nationally recognized expert on children and divorce, and Delegate Katherine Dumais, Vice-Chair of the Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee, provided keynote remarks. The conference was designed to launch a statewide conversation about the ways in which courts, policymakers, and services providers can better serve families in transition.
-
June 1, 2015 – CFCC hosted “Maryland's Family Justice System: a Symposium.”
CFCC collaborated with the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to present "Maryland’s Family Justice System: a Symposium" on June 1, 2015, at the University of Baltimore School of Law. The symposium featured keynote remarks by Maryland Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera, former Chief Judge Robert Bell, and Frank Kros, Executive Vice President of the Children’s Guild of Baltimore City. Panelists focused on the successes and challenges of Maryland’s family justice system since the establishment of the five Family Divisions in 1998. Symposium participants laid the groundwork for moving forward to address critical issues affecting families and children in family court.
-
May 27-30, 2015 – CFCC faculty gave presentation at Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) 52nd Annual Conference.
Professor Barbara A. Babb, CFCC’s director, Maryland Circuit Court Judge Cathy Serrette, and CFCC Senior Fellow Gloria Danziger presented "Unified Family Courts: The Door to One-Stop Shopping for Children and Families" at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) annual conference, “Children in the Court System: Different Doors, Different Responses, Different Outcomes.” The workshop focused on how unified family courts efficiently and effectively address the needs of families and children in court.
-
April 1, 2015 - Seventh Annual Urban Child Symposium, Violence and the Urban Child: Protecting and Saving Our Children
Over 200 people attended CFCC's seventh annual Urban Child Symposium. Speakers and panelists focused on issues relating to children and violence, including juvenile detention, gang activity, trauma, and family engagement. Participants included educators, attorneys, social workers, services providers, and students, among others. Events took place in the Moot Court Room, UBalt School of Law, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
-