eleventh judicial circuit court miami-dade county, florida eleventh judicial circuit court...

Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court

Miami-Dade County, Florida Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court

Miami-Dade County, Florida

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the DCIPFV

“Tools That Work” Sponsored by CWLA

November 14, 2003 Miami Beach, FL


Miami-Dade County, Florida Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court


Presentation Overview• DCIPFV program design and implementation• Development of the data collection and case

management system• Challenges and barriers to the system design• Initial program evaluation results• Potential for further research and technological

collaborations with newly developing court-wide databases.



Mission

To promote the safety and well-being of maltreated children by addressing the

safety and self-efficacy of mothers who have experienced domestic violence.



Program Development• Concept developed by Judge Cindy Lederman

and Susan Schechter, M.S.W. of the U. of Iowa• Funded by the Department of Justice, Violence

Against Women Grants Office - Awarded to the 11th Judicial Circuit

• Initial award in 1997 – Continuation funding through March 2004



Program Objectives

• Develop family-centered collaborative relationships among enforcement, advocacy and service provider stakeholders.

• Provide domestic violence screening and advocacy services within child maltreatment proceedings to improve prospects for healthier family environments.



Program Objectives (continued)

• Educate and empower women and their families to meet their psychosocial and health-related needs.

• Transfer knowledge and disseminate program information in multiple venues and formats for the benefit of other jurisdictions.



Program Design• Intervention protocols

• Worker safety policies

• Lethality, suicidality and substance abuse assessments

• Direct aid procedure

• Reporting child abuse and neglect



Program/Logic Model• Clearly define Program Model at the outset – Goals,

Objectives, Resources, Activities, Process Measures, Outcome Measures (Initial, Intermediate, Long-term)

• Program elements (including theoretical/conceptual foundations)

– Identification of cases

– Systemic and judicial processes

– Engagement (approach and recruitment)

– Services offered, accepted, provided



Program Implementation• Community meetings• Memorandums of understanding• Interagency operating agreements• IRB approval for research/program evaluation• Hiring and training staff• Training for the child welfare professionals



Document Document Document!• Policies and Procedures• Position Descriptions• Training Manual• MOUs• ANY changes in implementation• Date and reason change was made



Key Community Partners• Cops Care, Inc. • FL Immigrant Advocacy Center (LUCHA program) • Domestic Violence Court Intake Unit (TRO)• Department of Children & Families - District 11

• Dade County Bar Association Legal Aid Society• Safespace Shelter of Dade County, Inc.• State Attorney’s Office Victim Services Unit



StaffingJudicial Advisor

Director Program Administrator

Advocacy SupervisorAdvocates

(4 full time and 2 part time)

Office Manager

Program Evaluators



Approach to Domestic Violence Advocacy

• Client-centered and client driven.• Length of program participation based on client’s

needs.• Non-judgmental and non-blaming.• Use of all viable tools to build support for client.• Collaborative interactions with system professionals.• Limited case loads to enable best social work

practice.



The Advocacy Protocol

•Referral

•Screening

•Services



Referral Process• Mother usually referred to DCIPFV during

first or second hearing.

• Judge makes referral in open court.

• Judge emphasizes the voluntary and confidential nature of the program.



Referral CriteriaReferrals for:

• Cases with DV in shelter petition.

• Cases identified in court by DCIPFV advocate

No Referrals for:

• Expedited TPR cases

• Mothers incarcerated long-term

• Mother’s whereabouts unknown



The Screening Tool

• 7 Questions to elicit indicators of possible DV. • Designed based on DV screening literature and ease of use in emotionally charged dependency court setting.• Questions about current and/or former partner(s). • Timeframe: within the past year.• Safety Assessment by mother and advocate.



Array of Advocacy Services• Crisis counseling • Emotional support• Domestic violence education• Safety planning• Assistance navigating court and social service systems• Client outreach



Array of Advocacy Services(continued)

• Accompaniment to court (dependency, domestic violence, criminal, family)• Facilitate obtaining injunctions

• Facilitate emergency housing or re-location

• Direct monetary aid for “basic needs”

• Link to all necessary services



Data Entry FormsCase Information Sheet

Completed for every shelter/dependency petitionScreening Tool

Completed for all potential clients screened by Advocate

Client ProfileCompleted for those clients who voluntarily enter

programCase Summary

Completed for all clients upon case termination



Forms – Protocol & Guidelines• For consistency and standardization – everyone must be

using forms and implementing the protocol the same way• Staff In-service/Training includes instructions on:

– When to administer/complete– How to administer/complete– What information to gather

• Forms can and should be piloted to maximize “usability” and iron out any kinks



What information to collect• What questions do you have?• How data will be used will dictate what is

collected – Consider target audience (funding agency, staff, legislators and other key stakeholders)

• Basics – client demographics, services provided• Identify external sources of data for comparison

(e.g. other community agencies)



Data System requirements• User friendly• Serves multiple purposes

– Case management – services needed and provided

– Client tracking

• Transportability - Data format compatible with other software packages for later statistical analysis



Data Considerations• Utilize quantitative and qualitative methods

– Stakeholder interviews, focus groups

• Clinical case management and tracking can be integrated with comprehensive data collection system BUT– Ensure that each item of data collected has a

purpose – don’t arbitrarily collect information; Minimize data entry burden



Revisions and Refinements – Programs Change/Evolve!

• Strategic planning process to evaluate and refine program model and mission.

• Revision of advocacy protocol to better standardize and expand program services.

• Development of additional case management and data collection tools.

• Design and implementation of data entry system and database.



Challenges

• Responding to the needs of a changing program while still collecting useful data

• Capturing the uniqueness and nuances of program elements

• Identifying clinical service components• Linking program elements to outcome • Defining & demonstrating “success”



Initial Observations:Battered Mothers in Dependency Court

• The needs of battered mothers in dependency court are complex and multi-layered.

• Often, assisting a mother to meet her basic needs (food, clothing, shelter), is key to her safety and completion of her case plan.



Initial Observations:Battered Mothers in Dependency Court

(continued)

• Most mothers who are victims of DV have sought help numerous times before entering dependency court.

• Battered mothers fight back in defense of themselves and their children.

• “Success” cannot only be measured by reunification with children or separation from the batterer….must look at safety.



Service Delivery and Future Research Options

• “Pre-court” intervention by DV advocates.

• Limit intervention to cases with DV.

• Operate in one dependency court division.

• Focus on improving identification and service delivery by DCF workers.

• Substance use issues can also be examined.



www.miamidcip.org

2700 NW 36th StreetSuite 114

Miami, FL 33142305.638.5619/5604 (fax)[email protected]

[email protected]

eleventh judicial circuit court miami-dade county, florida eleventh judicial circuit court...

Documents

florida program objectives

judicial circuit initial

miami beach

florida mission

program model

neglect slide

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program information