LA County Board

19.\nStrengthening Early Childhood Prevention and Family Stability Using the\nSuperior Court of Los Angeles County’s Hope Court Program as a Model\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisor Mitchell: Instruct the Director of\nChildren and Family Services and the Acting Chief Executive Officer to work\nwith the Executive Officer/Clerk of the Superior Court to assess ways the County\ncan support the Helping Our Parents Excel (HOPE) Court model and assist the\nSuperior Court of Los Angeles County (Court) should it choose to expand this\ninnovative court model in other areas of the County and report back to the\nBoard in writing in 90 days with a recommended support plan, prioritizing\ncommunities with:\nHigh rates of child welfare system involvement for infants and toddlers\nages 0-3;\nDisproportionate representation of Black and Brown families; and\nExisting prevention, Family Maintenance, and Family First Prevention\nServices Act (FFPSA) eligible caseloads.\nInstruct the Director of Children and Family Services, in collaboration with\ncommunity-based organizations and faith partners, to develop and implement a\nstrategy to expand culturally responsive, developmentally appropriate family time\nresources for HOPE Court-involved families including, but not limited to, the\nfollowing:\nSupervised and supported family time services for infants and toddlers;\nAccess to child-friendly, trauma-informed visitation spaces within\ncommunity settings;\nExpanded evening and weekend visitation hours in locations accessible\nby public transportation;\nTransportation assistance, including rideshare vouchers, gas cards, and\npublic transportation credit;\nWorkforce capacity building for family time supervisors trained in\ninfant-parent attachment and early childhood development who can\nprovide real-time coaching during visits;\nJoint caregiver-parent training on trauma-informed care, developmental\nmilestones, and communication strategies to reduce conflict and improve\nreunification outcomes;\nProvide caregiving essentials and culturally appropriate books available\nin multiple languages; and\nImplement tools to support communication and celebrate developmental\nmilestones.\nInstruct the Director of Children and Family Services to report back to the\nBoard in writing at or before recommended budget with a plan to leverage\nexisting FFPSA and potential Flexible Family Support funds to implement the\nstrategy proposed in Directive No. 2 within existing resources.\nDirect the Acting Chief Executive Officer to convene an interdepartmental\nHOPE Court Support Workgroup including, but not limited to, the Departments\nof Children and Family Services, Mental Health, Public Social Services,\nEconomic Opportunity, and County Counsel, Los Angeles Dependency\nLawyers, Children’s Law Center, First 5 LA, and the Department of Health\nServices’ Court Pediatrician Program, and invite the Court’s participation in the\nworkgroup, to:\nDevelop a coordinated approach to support the HOPE Court model;\nBuild data and evaluation systems to monitor outcomes;\nAlign staffing, funding, data sharing, and service delivery across\nDepartments; and identify opportunities to braid FFPSA, Flexible Family\nSupport, prevention, and early childhood funding; and\nIdentify additional areas in the County where County Departments and\npartner agencies could dedicate resources to support replication or\nexpansion of the HOPE Court model.\nThe Workgroup shall report back to the Board in writing in 90 days with\nrecommendations, resource needs, proposed next steps, and milestones.\nInstruct all County Department Heads participating in HOPE Court\nimplementation and support to center racial equity, family voice, and community\npartnership in program design and delivery, and to track outcomes\ndisaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, and Supervisorial District to ensure\nequitable access and impact.\nInstruct the Director of Children and Family Services, in partnership with the\nCourt, to strengthen and standardize implementation of the HOPE Court Team\napproach, including:\nTraining for attorneys, social workers, and service providers on infant\nmental health, early attachment, and trauma-informed practices;\nEmbedding multidisciplinary team staffing and case consultation models;\nEnsuring frequent, meaningful parent-child visitation as a core practice\nexpectation; and\nEstablishing shared outcome measures focused on child safety, family\nstability, timely reunification, and prevention of re-entry into care.\nDepartments Heads shall identify existing resources and partnership\nopportunities to support implementation without disrupting current HOPE Court\noperations, and the Director of Children and Family Services shall report back\nto the Board in writing within 120 days on the progress. (26-1207)\nMotion by Supervisor Mitchell