To be effective, interventions must begin early and be designed with infants, toddlers, and families in mind. Given this critical time when young children’s brains and social attachments are developing, the ECC program offers the following specialized evidence-based interventions resulting in positive outcomes.
INTRODUCING THE FIRST EARLY CHILDHOOD COURT IN BREVARD COUNTY
The Eighteenth Judicial Circuit has launched an Early Childhood Court in Brevard County. ECC is for young children and their families involved in dependency court because of allegations of abuse or neglect. ECC is a trauma-responsive court providing therapeutic jurisprudence and multidisciplinary team support for infants and toddlers ages three and younger. One of the young child’s parents must consent to voluntarily participate in the ECC program.
The goal of Florida’s Early Childhood Court is to improve child safety and well-being, heal trauma and repair the parent/child relationship, expedite permanency, prevent recurrence of maltreatment, and stop the intergenerational cycle of abuse, neglect, and violence.
The ECC program and its team members including parents working together to change the tragedy that brought the family into court into an opportunity to heal.
ECC offers an intensive program for the youngest, most vulnerable children and their parents involved in the dependency division. Abuse and neglect are harmful to a young child’s developing brain and social, emotional development. More than fifty percent of children involved in dependency cases are under age five with infants under age one being the largest group.
The Early Childhood Court program is for families involved in dependency court having at least one child age three or younger. To participate, at least one parent needs to be committed to voluntarily participating in the program.
ECC is a voluntary program. Parents chose to voluntarily participate in the specialized interventions provided by a multidisciplinary team of professionals including child development experts. This team will support the family during the difficult time of separation while striving to achieve permanency as soon as safely possible.
Parents involved in dependency court have often experienced adverse childhood experiences resulting in personal and multi-generational trauma. The specialized therapeutic interventions used in the ECC program simultaneously focus on healing the trauma of young children and their parents to break the adverse childhood experiences trajectory.
Trauma healing in the ECC program is accomplished using child parent psychotherapy which also strengthens parent child attachment for the goal of reunification. The ECC program also provides psycho-educational parenting to build attunement and secure attachment in parents’ relationships with their children. Parent participation and input are key at monthly family team meetings focused on ensuring the developmental needs and well-being of children are met.
Judicial leadership holds frequent court hearings to monitor progress towards permanency. The core components of the ECC program stem from the science of early childhood development and infant mental health to ensure meaningful services for children; empower parents to have a voice throughout the process; and build a supportive community around each family. The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare has listed the Safe Babies Court Team approach as having promising research evidence and high child welfare system relevance.
View Florida's Best Practice Standards and Commentary on how Early Childhood Court operates.
Administrative Order and Policies & Procedures establishing and governing Brevard's Early Childhood Court.
Below are the specific forms used for referral and participation in Early Childhood Court.
Our Favorite Quote:
“Perhaps the butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness yet become something beautiful.” - Unknown
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Dina Mezza |
Moore Justice Center |
A young child’s experience of trauma, whether psychological maltreatment, neglect, exposure to violence, or physical or sexual abuse, can have long-lasting adverse effects on developmental functioning, and physical, social, or emotional well-being.
National data shows an overwhelming percentage of infants and toddlers encountered by the child welfare system have attachment problems and developmental delays. This includes a child’s physiological and emotional responses; ability to think, learn, and concentrate; their impulse control, self-image, and relationships.
Dependency cases scheduled for ECC hearings will be calendared for specific hearing times between 9:00 am - 12:00 pm or 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm.
ECC hearings are both in-person and virtual. Parties are expected to attend in-person unless excused by the court due to illness or other extenuating circumstance. A Microsoft Teams link for remote appearances will be provided to parties and participants needing to participate virtually. The ECC hearing link is https://fl18.org/judgemckibben (Judge McKibben’s virtual courtroom link).
Links for ECC hearings and family team meetings will be sent by ECC’s Community Coordinator, Dina Mezza, who may be reached at dina.mezza@flcourts18.org or 321-635-5070.
ECC HEARING DATES | FAMILY TEAM MEETING DATES | |
Friday, April 5, 2024 Friday, May 3, 2024 Friday, May 31, 2024 Friday, June 28, 2024 Friday, July 26, 2024 Friday, August 23, 2024 Friday, September 20, 2024 Friday, October 18, 2024 Friday, November 15, 2024 |
Thursday, April 18, 2024 * FTM weekday change due to conflict docket sounding dates and court holidays |
Teams is a platform that unifies chat, voice, and video similar to other software such as Zoom or Webex. The Eighteenth Judicial Circuit has fine-tuned Teams to effectively conduct Video hearings.
MS Teams is free and can be downloaded either as an app on your phone or as a program on your computer. All you need is to make sure you have the video camera and audio enabled on your device.
Fill in and submit the Brevard Early Childhood Court Referral Form
Download the brochure for more information
View this 21 minute tutorial on the Early Childhood Courts debut in Florida
Honorable Kelly J. McKibben is a trauma-trained judicial leader committed to improving the lives of young children and their families by utilizing a collaborative court team to make informed decisions and decrease the length of time to reach permanency. Read more by clicking Meet the ECC Team button above.
The Eighteenth Judicial Circuit has launched an Early Childhood Court in Brevard County. ECC is for young children and their families involved in dependency court because of allegations of abuse or neglect.
ECC is a trauma-responsive court providing therapeutic jurisprudence and multidisciplinary team support for infants and toddlers ages three and younger. One of the young child’s parents must consent to voluntarily participate in the ECC program.
For constituents, customers, or callers seeking help with family law cases – divorce, adoption, name change, custody, order of protection, and much more – there is now a one-stop source for lots of information aimed at self-represented people. Florida Courts Help is available at app stores as well as online at help.flcourts.gov.