Parent Support

We have developed a range of programs to improve how the justice system works with parents and children.

Our parenting programs link participants to community-based agencies to help enhance their ability to support and care for their children. In Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Syracuse, we help justice-involved, non-custodial parents gain both life and work skills. We also seek to provide children greater protection and improving the accountability and responsiveness of the child welfare system. Our Strong Starts Court Initiative, for example, works with Family Court-involved infants in the Bronx, offering tailored service plans and access to a network of community-based providers.

Initiatives

Midtown Community Justice Center

The award-winning Midtown Community Justice Center (formerly Midtown Community Court) is one of the country’s first problem-solving courts.
Parent Support Program

The Parent Support Program works to empower non-custodial parents to find and maintain employment, increase child support payments, and build stronger relationships with their children.
Strong Starts Court Initiative

The Strong Starts Court Initiative is a Family-Court based, specialized, intergenerational collaborative approach to handling abuse and neglect cases involving children birth to three years of age.
Young Parent Initiative

Young Parent Initiative is a new pilot project of the Center to address the needs of young parents so that they can provide social and economic supports for their young children.
Westchester Court Education Initiative

The Westchester Court Education Initiative promotes educational stability and academic success for students involved in the Westchester Family Court.

Publications & Digital Media

Publication
Youth Involvement in the Sex Trade

With funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center for Court Innovation conducted a multi-site study designed to increase scientific knowledge concerning youth involvement in the sex trade. Nearly 1,000 youth, ages 13-24, were interviewed across six sites on subjects including entry into the sex trade, earning a living, finding customers, involvement of pimps and market facilitators, health issues and service needs, interactions with law enforcement, and outlook for the future.

Human Trafficking, Parent Support, Supporting Child Victims, Youth Initiatives
Publication
Fact Sheet: Parent Support Program

The Parent Support Program works with non-custodial parents to help them find employment, increase child support, and engage with their children. In collaboration with the Onondaga County Family Court, the Center piloted New York State’s first parent support program in 2008. Using this program as a model, the Center worked with the New York City Family Court and New York City Human Resources Administration to launch parent support programs in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Parent Support, Workforce Development
Publication
Domestic Violence Risk Factor Guide: An Implementation Manual for Civil Courts

The goal of this guide is to increase the capacity of civil judges and self-represented litigants to identify and respond to domestic violence risk factors in civil protective order hearings.

Risk Assessment, Gender and Family Justice, Parent Support, Supporting Child Victims

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