The Field Center sits on the Philadelphia Family Court’s Court Improvement Committee and is represented by Faculty Director Alan Lerner. Chaired by Judge Flora Barth Wolf, the Court Improvement Program (CIP) brings key court personnel and stakeholders together to identify and address areas of potential improvement specific to Philadelphia Family Court. Judge Wolf also sits on the statewide CIP. The Field Center has served as a resource for the Court Improvement Program and established its expertise in this setting. Several critical projects have emerged from this group. During the past year, the Field Center has, at the request of the Court Improvement Program leadership, conducted research on the confidentiality of mental health evaluations in family court proceedings and presented the results to the CIP. The next area of committee-requested research is an evaluation of the value of pretrial hearings in dependency cases. Under the supervision of Professor Lerner, a Penn Law student and a Penn MSW student designed an evaluation tool and conducting interdisciplinary research on this topic. The court utilized the results of the Field Center’s study to advocate for continued funding by the state of the pretrial hearing process.
The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research has continued to work in partnership with the late Judge Myrna Field, Administrative Judge, Philadelphia Family Court.1 With the support of Judge Field, Masters in Public Health student Morgan Model initiated a research study to identify both families’ and stakeholders’ perceptions of families’ experiences waiting to have their dependency cases heard at the Philadelphia Family Court and recommendations to improve the process. A questionnaire was administered to a pilot random sample of families in the Philadelphia Family Court waiting rooms. The results were compiled and the original questionnaire was further modified and expanded. The new questionnaire was administered to another 30 families. A separate series of questions were developed and administered to a variety of professionals involved with families waiting to have their cases heard. This group included judges, DHS caseworkers, attorneys representing the various parties in the cases, therapists, and child advocates.
Several themes emerged as a result of the research interviews. Among the consistent concerns were:
- Lack of privacy when discussing cases
- Extensive waiting time
- Inconsistent or non-existent contact with attorneys
- Uncomfortable environment
- Waiting room does not meet the needs of families with children
- Lack of information about court process
- Information on services available in the community
Recommendations were formulated for presentation to the Administrative Judge. The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research intends to seek further funding to implement key recommendations.
During the summer of 2005, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Juvenile Procedural Rules Committee, which had been working to create a statewide system of procedural rules for Dependency Court, published proposed rules and distributed copies to lawyers and judges who work in the Dependency system throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, inviting comments by 10/1/05. In order to conduct a thorough review and present a cohesive and impactful response, the Field Center convened a task force of all of the constituent agencies and groups in Philadelphia to come together to discuss the proposed rules and to try to agree upon a common set of questions and comments. Over the next two months, at a series of meetings, representatives of each legal constituency met and discussed the proposed rules. Participants included:
- City of Philadelphia Law Department (representing the Department of Human Services)
- Department of Human Services
- The Defender Association
- Child Advocacy Unit (representing children)
- Community Legal Services (representing parents)
- the private Bar (individual lawyers representing both children and parents)
- Juvenile Law Center (representing children)
- the Support Center for Child Advocates (representing children)
- Penn Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic (representing children)
Specific proposals of the Rules Committee were analyzed, research conducted, and proposed responses were drafted for discussion among the task force members, with explanations for all to review at subsequent meetings. Through this process a single set of comments including proposed changes to the Rules Committee’s draft were developed and submitted to the Rules Committee.
Faculty Director Alan Lerner and Public Health graduate student Morgan Model represented the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the Advocates Roundtable, a group of Philadelphia-based child advocates whose mission is to improve services for children and families at Philadelphia Family Court. As a further example of interdisciplinary collaboration, the Field Center engaged PennDesign to assist in the development of family-friendly signage for the various waiting rooms at Philadelphia Family Court which would serve to inform families of the court process in a readable, non-threatening manner. Ms. Model presented the results of her previously-cited research to PennDesign graduate students to be incorporated in the project. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia a Field Center partner, assisted in editing the language of the signage and a prototype was designed. The multidimensional product can be moved if the court is eventually relocated. A proposal for funding has been developed to implement this project.
The interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic, co-taught by Law Professor Alan Lerner of the Law School, pediatrician Dr. Cindy Christian of Children’s Hospital and social worker Amira Abdul-Wakeel, MSW, integrates law, medical, and social work students in learning about child welfare advocacy. The educational mission of the Child Advocacy Clinic focuses on the role and skills of an advocate in the highest sense of their respective professions, including the importance of collaboration, and skills necessary to work with committed professionals in other disciplines. Students face the need to solve clients' problems. They identify relevant law, evaluate the myriad personal and interpersonal perspectives and relationships that affect their clients' best interests, find resources to support the needs of the clients and their families, develop strategies and tactics, draft legal documents, obtain and evaluate medical, mental health, and educational records, and communicate with clients, other counsel, and third parties, including DHS, other governmental agencies, and various service providers. During the past year, teams of law students, social work students, and medical students, residents, and fellows represented numerous children in dependency proceedings in the Philadelphia Family Court, while exploring the complexities of the systemic response to child abuse and neglect. Students consider the issues raised in the course’s clinical work for implications for needed research and the creation of new knowledge which may improve the child welfare system. Guest lectures and discussions led by some of the leading voices in child welfare supplement the clinic’s casework. Guest lecturers/discussants over the past year have included Dean Richard Gelles, Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, Dr. Carol Spigner, Professor of Social Work and formerly the Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau in the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, head of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Dr. Judith Silver, Founder and Director of CHOP's Starting Young program, a federally funded center to evaluate and follow the progress of children in the dependency system, ages birth to 30 months. Students emerge from this experience with a greater understanding and respect for disciplines other than their own and the ability to work in an integrated, collaborative manner.
