December 2020
Full Court Press is the newsletter of the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC).
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What Will Family Justice Look Like After Covid-19? |
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By Barbara A. Babb
For too many people around the world, Covid-19 is a harsh, heartbreaking test of courage and faith. Individuals have lost loved ones, have seen the inequities in our society laid bare yet again, have watched our frontline workers risk their lives with too little support, and have held their breaths as livelihoods and businesses have collapsed. The isolation, deprivation of human connection, fear, and anxiety continue to take a tremendous toll.
With vaccines imminent, however, we can begin to feel a little hopeful. Many of us are contemplating what a post-Covid-19 world will look like and are asking the question, What good will be wrought from 2020? I believe the answer is … greater appreciation for the resiliency, creativity, and adaptability of humans. How can we make the most of that?
Particularly for court professionals and educators such as myself – known more for our constancy than for our nimbleness – Covid-19 has rattled our ways, has forced us to rethink how and what we do, and has required us to make very complex changes quickly. We can build on this experience to create positive, lasting change.
CFCC’s Fall 2020 Unified Family Court Connection was one of the first publications to examine the stressors the pandemic has placed on courts and family law practitioners. Our authors discussed access to justice during the pandemic, particularly for vulnerable populations; how the practices of family courts have adapted in 2020; how judges, attorneys, and practitioners have helped families traverse the court system; the role technology has played in the changes; and how the pandemic has redefined family law for lawyers.
Other early evaluations of the lessons learned during the pandemic are emerging. The October 2020 Family Court Review, a special issue on dependency, featured two reflections on how emergency Covid-19 court adjustments have affected parent-child dynamics in both dependency and private custody matters. Judge Randall H. Warner, Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County, expressed deep concern about the loss of time and connection between parents and children that Covid-19 has caused. He expressed skepticism about the true effectiveness of legal practice and supportive services delivered via phone and computer screen, although he noted that parents’ attendance at court hearings has improved. Attorney Kristen Pisani-Jacques, training director of the National Association of Counsel for Children, was more optimistic in her article: “The Covid-19 pandemic has stifled many aspects of the [child welfare] system, but, often out of necessity, it has bred innovation and many of those novel ideas should be retained and continued once the pandemic ends.”
The National Center for State Courts’ 2020 Trends in State Courts, while planned well before Covid-19, is a compendium of excellent writings about innovative court practices in place today and destined to become more prevalent. Trends features articles on virtual remote interpreting, online dispute resolution, visual icons to improve forms in family law cases, reimagining the built environment of courthouses, and several articles on data systems, data integration, and case management, among others. Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan L. Hecht’s and Court Administrator David Slayton’s thoughtful overview on leadership in the midst of challenging and rapidly changing circumstances (in their case, Covid-19 and a cyberattack on court systems simultaneously) especially resonates. They encourage court leaders to “act without fear” then communicate, gather feedback, and modify as necessary.
These examples of rethinking what we do are just the beginning of what I believe is likely to become a new normal for court and legal practice – if we can retain the new perspectives resulting from adapting to the impact of Covid-19.
Our winter holidays are quieter this year, but solitude offers an opportunity to contemplate what is important. For many of us, improving the family justice system is a life-long passion. Thank you for all you do in your work and your support of CFCC’s mission to bring together communities, families, and the family justice system in ways that improve outcomes for all.
Barbara A. Babb is the Founder and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts and the Editor-in-Chief of Family Court Review, published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
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CFCC’s Truancy Court Program Provides Students and Families with Essential Guidance on School Choice
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Many school children and their families are looking forward to a winter break from virtual learning, but students and families in Baltimore City Public Schools are focusing on the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. In Baltimore City, middle and high school students apply to attend the school of their choice. Choice applications are available December 1 and are due on January 22.
To guide students and families through the challenging process, the Truancy Court Program (TCP) partnered with the Fund for Educational Excellence to offer two virtual workshops on December 16 and 17. The hour-long sessions allowed ample time for questions. In addition, the TCP Team is offering individual mentoring to participating TCP students until applications are completed.
TCP Coordinator Spencer Hall says the TCP Team encourages students to explore all of the school options and search for a school with a program that is exciting to them, while being realistic about the practical issues. “Many students make a choice based on the schools they hear everyone talking about,” Hall says. “They haven't fully researched what is available. They may not know that Baltimore Design School has an architecture program or that they can graduate from Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy ready to be an EMT. We also encourage students to look at the bell schedules (start and end times) and figure out how to get to school each day. A long commute may be worth it for a top-choice school, but it's important to consider the logistics in the selection process.”
Being in the right school can spell success for a student. The one-on-one mentoring that is a hallmark of the CFCC's TCP Team helps students accomplish that goal.
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The Caring Lawyer: Applying the Principles of Therapeutic Jurisprudence |
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The University of Baltimore School of Law will sponsor a free webinar on the practice of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) on February 18, 2021, from 5:30 to 7 pm, as part of the UB Law in Focus series. The TJ webinar will be a conversation, featuring experienced panel members who will share their insights, followed by questions from attendees. All are welcome. For more information, contact cfcc@ubalt.edu.
Today’s most successful attorneys have embraced a new role in their relationships with clients. They see themselves as caring professionals who help clients through some of life’s most difficult and complicated problems, such as divorce, business startups and dissolution, care of elders and persons with disabilities, estate planning, personal injury cases, and criminal law issues, among others. The goal is to guide clients effectively through the challenges that life presents.
Many of these attorneys have developed the skilled application of therapeutic jurisprudence, the perspective or framework maintaining that all interventions into clients’ legal problems and related non-legal issues should make matters better, not worse, as a result of the law’s involvement. Practitioners of therapeutic jurisprudence respond to the totality of a client’s circumstances. They become true partners with the clients they serve, creating opportunities to tailor and expand their practices in unique and rewarding ways.
What is therapeutic jurisprudence? How can you incorporate it into your practice? How can the practice of therapeutic jurisprudence benefit you and your clients? How can judges employ therapeutic jurisprudence?
Hear more from our distinguished panel: Professor David Wexler, University of Puerto Rico School of Law and President, International Society of Therapeutic Jurisprudence; The Honorable Miriam B. Hutchins (Ret.), Associate Judge, District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City; Amanda Odorimah, Esq., Hearns Law Group, LLP; Spencer Hall, Esq., CFCC Truancy Court Program Coordinator; Jasmine Martinez, current UB law student; and Professor Barbara Babb, Founder and Director, Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts, moderator.
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Noteworthy
Presentations, Collaborations and Events
All of us at CFCC are mourning the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Judge Peggy Fulton Hora, who died unexpectedly on October 31. Judge Hora guest lectured to the CFCC Student Fellows Program seminar students on October 12, and she wrote several chapters for CFCC's upcoming benchbook on substance use for family courts. She was a dear friend of Professor Babb's for more than two decades, and the two often collaborated professionally. Her death is a tremendous loss for the international TJ and drug treatment court communities. We extend our deepest sympathies to Judge Hora's family, of whom she was incredibly proud.
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February 18, 2021 — The Caring Lawyer: Applying the Principles of Therapeutic Jurisprudence. A free webinar. To preregister, contact cfcc@ubalt.edu.
April 8, 2021, 5:30 to 7 pm — 20th Anniversary Virtual Celebration of CFCC and 15th Anniversary Virtual Celebration of CFCC’s Truancy Court Program. Mark your calendars now! More details to come. For more information, contact cfcc@ubalt.edu.
Spring 2021 and July 2021 — The University of Baltimore Law Review will publish a symposium issue (Spring 2021) devoted to therapeutic jurisprudence scholarship, and Family Court Review, published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, will feature a special issue (July 2021) consisting of articles focused on family law/therapeutic jurisprudence topics. For more information, contact cfcc@ubalt.edu.
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Must Read: A Holistic Approach to Family Law |
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For 20 years, the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts has worked to improve the practice of family law and to reform the family justice system by advocating for and applying two key interdisciplinary theories to all of its initiatives: therapeutic jurisprudence from the law and the ecology of human development from the social sciences. These approaches emphasize a goal of achieving positive outcomes for families and children, as well as a holistic focus to understand and resolve family legal matters.
The story of CFCC’s founding and work is featured in the Fall 2020 Baltimore Law Magazine.
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Authors Barbara A. Babb and Judith D. Moran envision the family court as a "care center" and make a compelling case that reforms to the family justice system are necessary to achieve positive, long-lasting outcomes for families and children.
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CFCC's Truancy Court Program Toolkit, Second Edition provides a step-by-step guide on how to start and maintain an effective truancy reduction program. The Toolkit can be adapted to suit individual schools or entire jurisdictions.
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About CFCC
The Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) promotes policies and practices that unite families, communities and the justice system to improve the lives of children and families and the health of communities. CFCC advocates the use of therapeutic jurisprudence, the understanding that the legal system has an effect on behavior, emotions and mental health.
CFCC is led by Barbara A. Babb, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law; Founder and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts; Director of the Post-J.D. Certificate in Family Law program at the University of Baltimore School of Law; and Editor-in-Chief of Family Court Review, published by Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
CFCC Staff and Contributors
Rebecca Stahl, CFCC Deputy Director; Michele Hong, CFCC Program Manager; Arion Alston, Truancy Court Program Mentor; Spencer Hall, Truancy Court Program Coordinator; Katrice Williams, CFCC Program Administrative Specialist.
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