Making Court the Last Resort - Center for Children's Advocacy

Endnotes1 Florida statute defines eligibility. Children and families with an existing investigation into abuse,with a pending delinquency case, or who are under current DJJ custody are not eligible for CINS/FINS services. See Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, Children in Need of Services/Families in Need of Services (CINS/FINS) Operations Manual (Tallahassee, FL: Florida Network ofYouth and Family Services).23Florida Statutes, §984.225. Florida state law permits placing CINS in physically secure facilities onlywhen there has been a violation of a valid court order.Mary Dee Richter, “Improving the State of our Children” (presentation, Tallahassee, FL, November13, 2008, slide 18).4 Louise Horkan, Assessment of Prevention Services of Florida Network of Youth and Family Services(Tallahassee, FL: Florida TaxWatch, September 2001), p. 28.5 This effort followed New York State legislation in 2000, which increased the jurisdictional age ofstatus offenders from 16 to 18. New York State Family Court Act, §712; New York State FamilyCourt Act, §732.6Southwest Keys provides juvenile justice and youth development programming in jurisdictionsnationwide. For more information, visit www.swkey.org.7 Youth and families with open department of probation or social services investigations orcomplaints are ineligible for Family Keys intervention. School-referred complaints are alsoineligible. In truancy cases, probation officers work with school personnel to address studentabsence and behavioral problems in school.8New York State Family Court Act, §712.9 Vera Institute of Justice, Widening the Lens 2008: A Panoramic View of Juvenile Justice in New YorkState (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, in press).10 The Office of Children and Family Services is the primary agency responsible for maintaining juveniledetention data in New York State. This data can be accessed through the agency’s newly designedJuvenile Detention Automated System (JDAS). At the time of this publication, all counties exceptthe five New York City boroughs routinely submit data to JDAS.11 Families with Service Needs Advisory Board, Report to the Connecticut General Assembly(Connecticut: Families with Service Needs Advisory Board, February 2008), p. 27, http://www.ctjja.org/media/resources/resource_287.pdf.12 Raised Bill No. 6980: An Act Concerning Services Available to a Child in a Family with Service Needs,Connecticut General Assembly (April 4, 2005). Testimony of the Center for Children’s Advocacy,copy on file with the authors.13 Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, Raised Right: Making Smart Progress for Youth (Bridgeport,CT: Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance), http://www.ctjja.org/media/resources/resource_271.pdf.14 Public Act 05-250 (July 11, 2005), General Statutes of Connecticut, §46b-148.15 Public Act 07-4 (June 29, 2007), General Statutes of Connecticut, §46b-149.16 The probation department developed a screening and assessment tool for this purpose. Lower-needchildren are not eligible for service at the FSC. A future goal for the Connecticut System is to serveall FWSN children and families through the FSC programs, regardless of risk and need.14 Making Court the Last Resort: A New Focus for Supporting Families in Crisis