Over the past decade, the Strong Starts Court Initiative has worked to transform the family court process to focus on strengthening parents’ relationships with their babies.
When David, a single father, came to Family Court a decade ago with his then one-year-old daughter Ovenia, the Strong Starts Court Initiative was a brand-new pilot program available only in the Bronx.
Today, Strong Starts has grown to all five boroughs of New York City as well as Erie and Westchester counties.
Launched in 2015, Strong Starts transforms the family court process to center the unique needs of one of the most vulnerable populations in the system: babies aged three and younger. The program brings experts on early childhood development and mental health into the court to assess families’ needs and connect them to services that support stronger relationships.
Its goal is to repair relationships between parents and their babies and break the intergenerational cycles of trauma underlying many family court cases.
“It made everything go faster and smoother,” David said in a 2016 interview with WNYC after his time with Strong Starts, where he was able to find support for his daily needs, a medical facility for his child that accepted their insurance, and help with transportation to and from a parenting group. He and his daughter were the very first family to participate in the program.
Along with connecting families to services, the program brings everyone involved in the family court process together to address the individual needs of parents and their children. Families in Strong Starts have an opportunity to share their progress and find additional support in monthly clinical conferences with their attorneys, clinical coordinator, service providers, and others.
In a recent panel discussion that brought together some of the people involved in Strong Starts from the beginning, David—alongside his daughter Ovenia, now 10 years old—reflected on how Strong Starts was there for them in a time of need.
“You were there, you sent the help I needed, you gave me good advice and everything worked out.”
