Mandatory, fast, and fair: Case outcomes and procedural justice in a family drug court

Abstract

Objectives: Problem-solving courts are traditionally voluntary in nature to promote procedural justice and to advance therapeutic jurisprudence. The Family Treatment Drug Court (FTDC) in Lancaster County, Nebraska, is a mandatory dependency court for families with allegations of child abuse or neglect related to substance use. We conducted a program evaluation examining parents' case outcomes and perceptions of procedural justice to examine whether a mandatory problem-solving court could replicate the positive outcomes of problem-solving courts. Methods: We employed a quasiexperimental design that compared FTDC parents to traditional dependency court parents (control parents). We examined court records to gather court orders, compliance with court orders, case outcomes, and important case dates. We also conducted 263 surveys (FTDC = 232; control = 31) to understand parents' perceptions of procedural justice in the court process. Results: Overall, FTDC parents were more compliant with some court orders than control parents. Although FTDC and control parents did not have significantly different case outcomes, FTDC parents' cases closed significantly faster than control parents' cases. FTDC parents also had higher perceptions of procedural justice than control parents. Mediation analyses indicated that FTDC parents believed the court process was more fair and therefore participated more consistently in court-ordered services and therefore reunified more often than control parents. Conclusions: Mandatory problem-solving courts can serve parents through the same mechanisms as voluntary problem-solving courts. More research is necessary to examine which specific elements of problem-solving courts, aside from the voluntary nature, are essential to maintain their effectiveness.

Family treatment court participation and permanency in a rural setting: Outcomes from a rigorous quasi‐experiment

“…Based on findings in earlier literature that reunification for this population is heavily dependent on parents successfully completing SUD treatment and other case plan-mandated services (Doab et al, 2015), this association may reflect that FTC's are more effective than traditional child welfare courts at ensuring parental case plan compliance and substance use treatment completion. Prior literature reports poor treatment completion rates among parents with substance use disorder in the child we fare system, whereas FTC research documents that these programmes significantly improve case plan compliance (Fessinger et al, 2020), reduce substance use and mental health symptoms (Moore et al, 2012) and increase treatment completion (van Wormer & Hsieh, 2016). The overarching paradigm, and central focus of FTC programmes, is to leverage rewards, sanctions and oversight to increase parent compliance with case plans and ensure adequate substance use treatment receipt.…”

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, family care plans and infants with prenatal substance exposure: Theoretical framework and directions for future research

“…A team of professionals? Previous research does suggest that parents with SUD involved in the child welfare system are more compliant with orders from an authority figure rather than a lower status individual (Fessinger et al, 2020), meaning that receiving an assessment from a physician may impact perceived need to a greater extent than if the family care plan were developed by a child welfare worker. Future research is needed to clarify which approach results in the most accurate and useful family care plan.…”

The Impact of Child‐Parent Psychotherapy on Child Dependency Court Outcomes

“…Parents’ cooperation with court professionals and the case plan is known to be an important factor that predicts court outcomes. Parents who work better with professionals are more likely to reunify with their children and close their cases faster than those who do not have collaborative relationships with professionals (Fessinger et al, 2020; Meyer et al, 2010). Timely referrals and cooperative relationships between parents and case mangers lead to better case outcomes and quicker time to case closure (Green et al, 2007; Meyer et al, 2010).…”