In early June 2016, CITA presented a dynamic two-day training program focused on providing information and tools to support what courts do – making informed and fair decisions – and how they do it – with trauma-responsive and compassionate leadership. Below are the presentations and materials from the training.
The ABA Safety Guide was presented as a tool for structuring decisions and building dispositional orders and visitation plans designed to provide the information needed to make reunification and other permanency decisions.
A brief presentation of the law governing visitation in dependency court served as a broad structure within which the Science of Visitation could be understood and operationalized.
Dr. Joanne Solchany, a national expert on child-parent relationships, provided an overview of the science and research of attachment and visitation. Drawing on her experience working with separated families in dependency, family law and military systems, she offered real-life examples.
The Children’s Administration recently reviewed and made meaningful changes to its visitation policy. Nelly Mbajah and Deanna Bedell, representatives from CA, presented on the differences judicial officers will experience from CA social workers and their visitation plans, as a result of the new policy.
Marti Miller and Jenna Kiser, Children’s Administration trainers, presented on the CA Safety Framework from the social work perspective. Judicial officers gained an understanding of the language and process used by CA social workers to help them ask questions and seek information from the Department in a common language.
A brief introduction to the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study and findings and how resilience offers an opportunity to strengthen children and families.
CITA partner, Dr. Kristen Allott, explained the basics of the brain, how it makes decisions, how it is fueled, and the surprisingly detrimental affect on mood and cognition that result from the simplest failures to eat properly. Dr. Allott turned the lens of this presentation toward clients in dependency court and talked about how trauma looks in the brain. Participants also learned about tools, developed by Dr. Allott and CITA, to help parents make food choices to support their emotional and cognitive functioning in stressful situations, including court hearings, visitation and evaluations.
- Optimizing Brain Function in Court and Other High Stakes Settings
- Optimize your Brain (handout)
- After Three Days
- Monitoring Power Supply
- Be Your Best at Visits
- Be Your Best at Court
- Be your Best at Evaluations
