The University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts focuses on family law and family justice system reform designed to improve the lives of families and children. As a national leader in the movement to reform the family justice system, CFCC is instrumental in generating family court initiatives, preparing action-oriented reports and proj
ects, and providing educational programs that focus on issues affecting parents, children, the judiciary, practitioners, and services providers. CFCC’s Student Fellows Program (SFP) – CFCC approaches legal education from a new perspective, giving students a unique lens through which to understand the family justice system. This experiential course provides students with an in-depth examination of the policies and theories surrounding court reform and cutting edge issues in family law, including unified family courts, therapeutic jurisprudence, and the ecology of human development. In addition, the program exposes students to a range of opportunities within the family law field and allows them to delve deeply into an initiative of their choice. Unified Family Courts (UFCs) – In reforming the family justice system, CFCC focuses on the components that characterize a UFC system. A central tenet is therapeutic jurisprudence, involving intervention in family problems to make matters better. The UFC offers a fair and efficient forum to resolve family legal matters in a problem-solving manner, with the goal of improving the lives of families and children appearing before the court. In a UFC, the family court addresses all of the legal and the non-legal issues in a family law case, providing for a holistic, internally consistent resolution. CFCC has led the movement to create UFCs in Maryland, has held a national UFC Symposium, and continues to promote the concept across the country. The Truancy Court Program (TCP) –The TCP is a holistic, early intervention, and school-based approach that provides a volunteer judge, a coordinator, a CFCC Student Fellow, a professional mentor, and volunteer tutors to work alongside school personnel to address truancy. Through close interaction with the child and his/her family, the TCP identifies the root causes of a child’s truant behavior; builds relationships among the judge, the CFCC and school teams, the student and his/her family; and provides services and support to enable the student to address and alleviate the causes of truancy to enable the child to come to school every day and on time. The "Families Matter" Initiative – In response to the often destructive, adversarial, and inefficient nature of the family justice system, CFCC has partnered with the American Bar Association Section of Family Law (ABA FLS), the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), the National Conference of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), and other national organizations to work to transform the family justice system into a more therapeutic, holistic, and effective system. The initiative involves public outreach, dissemination of reports and articles, Continuing Legal Education programs, and other activities designed to improve the practice of family law. CFCC’s Annual "Urban Child Symposium" – CFCC brings together local and national experts from academia, the judiciary, policymaking, and practice, as well as interested participants from the community, to address an issue of special concern for urban children each spring. Past symposium topics include truancy, health, and the child welfare system. More information about these initiatives, CFCC’s core philosophies, and ways to get involved with CFCC’s work are available for review on CFCC’s website and blog.
*CFCC does not engage in client legal representation
