Abstract
Parental substance abuse is increasingly recognized as a significant factor in cases of child maltreatment (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse 1999). In response to the burgeoning number of drug cases that flooded the child welfare system, policy makers created a “treatment-focused” family drug courts in the late 1990s as reported by Lu (Children’s Legal Rights Journal 21:32–42, 2001). The purpose of this paper is (1) to review the policy and theory behind family drug courts, (2) to review empirical evidence of family drug courts, and (3) develop policy and intervention implication based on this review.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alemi, F., Haack, M., & Nemes, S. (2004). Statistical definition of relapse: Case of family drug court. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 685–698.
Azzi-Lessing, L., & Olsen, L. J. (1996). Substance abuse-affected families in the child welfare systems: New challenges, new alliances. Social Work, 41, 15–23.
Baron, S. (2003). The scope of family court intervention. Journal of the Center for Families, Children and the Courts, 4, 115–131.
Belenko, S. (2001). Research on drug courts: A critical review, 2001 update. National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
Boldt, R. (2002). The adversary system and the attorney role in the drug court. In J. Nolan (Ed.), Drug courts in theory and in practice. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (1999). No safe heaven: Children of substance-abusing parents. Columbia University.
Cooper, C. (2003). Drug Courts—Just the beginning: Getting other areas of public policy in sync. Prepared for the Middle Eastern-Mediterranean Summer Institute on Drug Use: 2003–2004. Retrieved from http://spa.american.edu/justice/publications/sync.pdf
DiClemente, C. C. (1999). Motivation for change: Implications for substance abuse treatment. Psychological Science, 10, 209–213.
Drug Court Program Office (DCPO) (1999). Fact sheet. US. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
Famularo, R., Kincherff, R., & Fenton, T. (1992). Parental substance abuse and the nature of child maltreatment. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16(4), 475–483.
Feig, L. (1998). Understanding the problem: The gap between substance abuse programs and child welfare services. In R. L. Hampton, V. Senatore, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Substance abuse, family violence, and child welfare: Bridging perspectives (pp. 62–95). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Garmston, R. J., & Wellman, B. M. (1999). The adoptive school: A sourcebook for developing collaborative groups. Norwood: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.
Geraghty, A. H., & Mlyniec, W. J. (2005). Unified family courts: Tempering enthusiasm with caution. Family Court Review, 40, 435–454.
Girvin, H. (2004). Beyond ‘stages of changes’: Using readiness for change and caregiver-reported problems to identify meaningful subgroups in a child welfare sample. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 897–917.
Harrell, A., & Goodman, A. (1999). Review of specialized family drug courts: Key issues in handling child abuse and neglect cases. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Hennessy, J. J., & Pallone, N. J. (Eds.). (2001). Drug courts in operation: Current research. New York: Haworth Press.
Hohman, M. (1998). Motivational interviewing: An intervention tool for child welfare case worker working with substance-abusing parents. Child Welfare, 77, 275–289.
Irvin, J. E., Bowers, C. A., Dunn, M. E., & Wang, M. C. (1999). Efficacy of relapse prevention: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 563–570.
Jaudes, P., Ekwo, E., & Van Voorhis, J. (1995). Association of drug abuse and child neglect. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19(9), 1065–1075.
Kopels, S., Carter-Black, J., & Poetner, J. (2002). Reducing conflict between child welfare communities. Journal of Health and Social Policy, 15, 117–129.
Littell, J. H., & Girvin, H. (2004). Ready or not: Uses of the stages of change model in child welfare. Child Welfare, 83, 341–367.
Lu, C. (2001). Family drug court: An alternative answer. Children’s Legal Rights Journal, 21, 32–42.
Marlowe, D. B., Elwork, A., Festinger, D. S., & McLellan, A. T. (2003a). Drug policy by popular referendum: This, too, shall pass. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 25, 213–221.
Marlowe, D. B., Festinger, D. S., Lee, P. A., Schepise, M. M., Hazzard, J. R., Merrill, J. C., et al. (2003b). Are judicial status hearings a key component of drug court? Criminal Justice & Behavior, 30(2), 141–162.
Marlowe, D. B., & Kirby, K. C. (1999). Effective use of sanctions in drug courts: Lessons from behavioral research. National Drug Court Institute Review, 2, 1–31.
McColl, W. (2002). Theory and practice in the Baltimore city drug court. In J. Nolan (Ed.), Drug courts in theory and in practice. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
McMahon, T. J., & Giannini, F. D. (2003). Moving from popular stereotypes to therapeutic jurisprudence. Family Court Review, 41, 337–354.
Miller, W. R. (1985). Motivation for treatment: A review of the special emphasis on alcoholism. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 84–107.
National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). (1997). Defining drug courts: The key components. Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs, US. Department of Justice.
Nolan, J. L. (2002). Drug treatment courts and the disease paradigm. Substance Use and Misuse, 37(12–13), 1723–1750.
Pagliaro, A. N., & Pagliaro, L. A. (1999). Substance use among women. Lillington: Edwards Brothers.
Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1982). Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory. Research and Practice, 19, 276–288.
Prochaska, J. O., DiClemente, C. C., & Norcross, J. C. (1997). In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors. In G. A. Marlatt & G. R. VanderBos (Eds.), Addictive behaviors: Readings on etiology, prevention, and treatment (pp. 671–696). Washington, DC: American Psychology Association.
Prochaska, J. O., DiClemente, C. C., Velicer, W. F., & Rossi, J. S. (1992). Criticisms and concerns of the transtheoretical model in light of recent research. British Journal of Addiction, 87, 825–828.
Sackett, D. L., & Straus, S. E. (1998). Finding and applying evidence during clinical rounds: The “evidence cart”. Journal of the American Medical Association, 280, 1136–1138.
Saunders, B., Wilkinson, C., & Towers, T. (1996). Motivation and addictive behaviors: Theoretical perspectives. In F. Rotgers, D. S. Keller, & J. Morgenstern (Eds.), Treating substance abuse: Theory and technique (pp. 241–265). NY: Guilford Press.
Schwartz, B., & Lacey, H. (1982). Behaviorism, science, and human nature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Senjo, S., & Leip, L. A. (2001). Testing therapeutic jurisprudence theory: An empirical assessment of the drug court process. Western Criminology Review, 3, 1–21.
Slobogin, C. (1995). Therapeutic jurisprudence: Five dilemmas to ponder. Psychology, Public Policy, and the Law, 1(1), 193–219.
Steib, S. D., & Blome, W. W. (2003). Fatal error: The missing ingredient in child welfare reform: Part 1. Child Welfare, 82, 747–751.
Sutton, S. (2001). Back to the drawing board? A review of applications of the transtheoretical model to substance use. Addition, 96, 175–186.
Waldfogel, J. (2000). New perspectives on child protection: Protecting children in the 21st century. Family Law Quarterly, 34, 311–322.
Wexler, D. B. (1991). Essays in therapeutic jurisprudence. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.
Wexler, D. B. (1995). Reflections on the scope of therapeutic jurisprudence. Psychology, Public Policy, and the Law, 1(1), 220–236.
Winick, B. J. (1991). Harnessing the power of the bet: Wagering with the government as a mechanism for social and individual change. In D. B. Wexler (Ed.), Essays in therapeutic jurisprudence (pp. 219–290). Durham: Carolina Academic Press.
Wolf, R. V. (2000). The story of the Manhattan family treatment court. Journal of the Center for Families, Children and the Courts, 2, 5–19.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Choi, S. Family Drug Courts in Child Welfare. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 29, 447–461 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-012-0272-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-012-0272-2