Family Treatment Court – An Innovative, Collaborative Alternative to Standard Dependency Court

Family Treatment Court – An Innovative, Collaborative Alternative to Standard Dependency Court

Family Treatment Court (FTC) in King County is a voluntary, intensive alternative to regular dependency court for parents for whom substance use is central to their dependency case, and who can benefit from a more intensive, less adversarial court process. County dependency drug courts vary widely and don’t exist in most counties. Parents who opt into FTC agree to engage in an individualized, intensive treatment plan that includes more frequent review hearings. In regular dependency court, review hearings occur roughly once every six months. In FTC, parents begin with weekly court appearances that lessen in frequency when they progress through different phases of the program. This allows them to develop a relationship and rapport with the Judge, something which rarely happens in regular dependency court and is immensely beneficial to reunification. Each family has an FTC team where all members stay in the loop about their progress and provide input on their service plan and the Judge’s messaging for review hearings. Case staffings occur every morning before review hearings where all team members, including the Judge, meet to discuss the case and develop the most effective plan for the case moving forward and for that week’s hearing.

King County FTC is an innovative program that serves as a model for treatment courts nationwide. Because FTC only accepts families upon referrals made no later than six months from the dependency petition filing date, it is critical that attorneys, social workers or others identify good possible fits to the program early on in the life of a family’s dependency case. FTC has immense benefits and high success rates, but is not for everybody. Parents must be truly committed to a more intensive, transparent, and collaborative process in their case, and must be ready to hold themselves accountable in their recovery journey. If chemically dependent parents know that they need and are ready for a more intensive, individualized dependency court process, FTC may be an excellent fit for them.

For more information about King County FTC, click here.

If you have questions about dependency cases or family treatment court, you can also email us at eliseb@elisebuiefamilylaw.com or call at 206-926-9848.

STAY UP TO DATE

Subscribe to our newsletters

 
Subscribe to one or more of our newsletters, delivering meaningful insight on topics that matter to you and your family.
ebl home subscribe image

FURTHER READING

Latest Blog Posts

If you and your partner reside in Washington state and are unmarried, you each might qualify for the legal protections availed to you by law by classifying your relationship as a committed intimate relationship.

One of the greatest gifts you can give your family is to build an estate plan while you are alive and well. Estate planning allows you to formally communicate your wishes so they will not be up for interpretation by…

A co-executor can help facilitate the distribution of assets, minimize conflicts, and provide much-needed support to grieving families.

The law makes it easy for people to get out of bad marriages. Washington, like most states, acknowledges no-fault divorce. This means that if you want a court to dissolve your marriage, all you have to do is file for…

Washington state’s laws on non-marital relationships, including committed intimate relationships (CIRs), can be convoluted, especially in the absence of a cohabitation agreement. Given the ambiguity that exists for unmarried partners in Washington state, thinking about the future and what it could look like is more important than ever. This is especially true in terms of aging, incapacity, and death. Fortunately, you can address each of these issues in a comprehensive estate plan.

Prenups and postnups can strengthen a marriage, given how they require relationship partners to put their cards on the table for each other to see, offering transparency and peace of mind. Despite their similarities, there are a few significant differences between the two.

Child support is one of the most contentious issues in divorce cases where parties have minor children. Even though Washington state law uses the same complex mathematical formula to determine the amount of child support for each child, there is…

Family law and estate planning often intersect. This is particularly true when contemplating divorce, remarriage, or blending families.

At some point during your divorce case, friends and family members whose own marriages ended in divorce probably told you that it gets better, and it does. Of course, from your perspective, getting out of a bad marriage might be…

Co-parenting over a long distance when you are a non-residential parent does not have to equate to sacrificing involvement in your children’s lives. But it likely does mean you will have to make tweaks in your communication and parenting style to accommodate the new living arrangement.