View a Report on CFCC activities and impact from July 2022 through June 2022.
CFCC News
CFCC's April Newsletter Focus on Violence and its Impact on Students, and Save the date for the 2023 CFCC Symposium!.
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Join Our Team
CFCC is hiring a new Executive Director. We are looking for someone who is passionate about working with the community and our legal partners to improve the lives of families. Expertise in family law, juvenile justice, education law, child welfare law or disability law preferred. Please reach out with any questions, and feel free to share widely!
Thank You for Donating Towards TCP Family Food Baskets
CFCC operates the Truancy Court Program (TCP) in some of Baltimore’s most underserved neighborhoods. Working to re-engage students and families with their schools, the TCP identifies and addresses the reasons why students are missing school, including violence, poverty, poor health, substance use, grief, homelessness, and unemployment, to name a few. We thank everyone who contributed to our spring break food basket drive—we delivered 25 baskets to families who rely on school meals that are not available when students are not in school, providing enough food to share with the student's household. Your continuing support allows us to help students meet ongoing challenges that pop up throughout the year. Thank you for helping to support Baltimore City students and their families!
CFCC in the Spotlight
March 7, 2023 – CFCC Faculty Director Shanta Trivedi participated in a discussion of Daniel L. Hatcher’s book Injustice, Inc.: How America’s Justice System Commodifies Children and the Poor” (University of California Press), at Red Emma’s in Baltimore.
March 10, 2023 – Shanta Trivedi presented her paper “The Adoption and Safe Families Act Should Not Be Salvaged: The Case for Repeal” at the Poverty Law Conference at University of California Berkeley School of Law.
March 21, 2023 – Shanta Trivedi participated in a judicial training coordinated by Hon. Cathy Serrette entitled “Cultural Considerations in Family Law,” with Maria Nenutzka Villamar, Dr. Denise McCain, and Nolanda Kirby.
March 23, 2023 – Shanta Trivedi conducted a virtual training for the Judicial Council of California on the harm of removal.
March 23, 2023 - Shanta Trivedi published "The Adoption and Safe Families Act Cannot Be Salvaged," in the Family Court Review.
March 30, 2023 – Shanta Trivedi presented at a University of Connecticut School of Law symposium entitled “Are Parental Rights Always in the Best Interest of Children? Race, Gender, Sexuality, and the Conflict over Parental Rights.”
March 2023 – Shanta Trivedi was quoted in the article "Advocates for foster children sue state over psychotropic drug prescriptions" in The Daily Record's March 2023 Maryland Family Law Update.
CFCC Symposium on Protecting Family Integrity, Thursday September 29, 2022 – Recordings are now available on the University of Baltimore School of Law’s YouTube Channel:
- Keynote conversation with University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Dorothy Roberts and Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and Founder of Families for Justice as Healing, moderated by CFCC Faculty Director Shanta Trived.
- Incarceration and Its Devastating Impact on Families with the panelists Yanet Amanuel, Director of Public Policy at the ACLU of Maryland; Kristin Henning, Blume Professor of Law at Georgetown Law; Shari Ostrow Scher, Founder and Executive Director of Children of Incarcerated Parents; Nicole Hanson-Mundell, Executive Director of Out for Justice; and moderator Odeana Neal, Professor at University of Baltimore School of Law.
- Promoting Family Integrity while Ensuring Children’s Welfare with the panelists Jamar Barnes, advocate, scholar, and former foster youth; Marty Guggenheim, formerly Fiorello LaGuardia Professor of Clinical Law at NYU School of Law; Stephanie Franklin, President and CEO of the Franklin Law Group; Nate Golden, Baltimore City Public School teacher and President of Maryland Child Alliance; Joyce McMillan, Founder and Executive Director for JMAC for Families; and moderator Shereen A. White, Director of Advocacy and Policy at Children’s Rights
CFCC WORKS TO ENSURE THAT THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE PRACTICE OF FAMILY LAW IMPROVE THE LIVES OF FAMILIES AND CHILDREN AND THE HEALTH OF COMMUNITIES.
CFCC aims to improve the practice of family law and to reform the family justice system in ways that better serve the complex needs of today's families, children and communities.
We are strong advocates for the creation and implementation of a court structure that has comprehensive subject-matter jurisdiction over all family law matters.
WHAT WE DO
We educate new and experienced attorneys
We prepare attorneys to address the complex issues of family law cases through internships.
We advocate for family justice system reform
We work nationwide to advocate for problem-solving courts. Our goal is to ensure that the family justice system helps, not harms, families, children and communities.
We consult with courts and jurisdictions
We work with courts and jurisdictions nationally and internationally to improve the delivery of legal, social, judicial, administrative and other services within the family justice system. We work with jurisdictions to evaluate and recommend reforms to a jurisdiction's family justice system.
We provide resources and trainings for professional development
Our training programs and tools provide judges, attorneys, court professionals and services providers with resources to increase their understanding of the overwhelming problems that so often bring families and children to court.
We engage the community and interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline
Our Truancy Court Program directly improves the lives of students, families and schools. Our annual Symposium brings together professionals across a wide range of disciplines to address issues affecting the well-being of children nationwide.