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Project Name: Infant-Toddler Court Program (U2Z)
Applicant Title: EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY
Abstract Text: Project Director: Jennifer Dodd, Ph.D. Assistant Superintendent Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio 6393 Oak Tree Blvd. Independence, OH 44xxx-xxx-xxxx-6447 (cell) xxx-xxx-xxxx (office) xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Funds Requested: $3,120,202 The Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio, in partnership with Groundwork Ohio, Childrens Defense Fund Ohio, and Case Western Reserve University, is applying for an Infant-Toddler Court Program (ITCP) State Award to build capacity to expand implementation of the Infant-Toddler Court approach in Ohio. A State Coordination Team, along with a State Advisory Group that includes representation from all local ITCP sites, intends to build upon the three ITC sites across Ohio that were established in 2020 with funding from the national organization ZERO TO THREE: Cuyahoga County (urban), Lucas County (suburban) and Scioto County (rural, Appalachian). Additional sites will be phased in over the 5 years of the project to create momentum for a statewide system of fully functional, effective and sustainable court teams. Through this project, the Ohio ITCP will: • Provide leadership, coordination and quality improvement and assurance for local ITC sites; • Improve local and state policies and practices for advancing the unique developmental health and well-being needs of children under 3 and their families who are involved, or at risk for involvement, in the child welfare, system and prevent child maltreatment more broadly during the prenatal to 3 period; • Increase timely access to prevention, early intervention and therapeutic health and family support services for the priority population; • Increase the use of evidence-driven strategies and data in ITC sites to reduce disparities associated with poverty, race/ethnicity and rurality in early developmental health and well-being outcomes for the priority population; and • Promote a community-driven and equitable approach to strengthening families, preventing child maltreatment, and advancing long-term health and development. The approach to the Ohio’s ITCT expansion would be guided by ZERO TO THREE’s strategic framework for the Safe Babies Court Team that identifies five areas of focus and ten core components. The Ohio ITCP team anticipates being able to collect and analyze data using a variety of sources and strategies including direct feedback from families and providers involved in the local ITC teams to engage in Continuous Quality Improvement throughout the project. In addition, a robust evaluation effort, led by experts from Case Western Reserve University, will address five main evaluative questions: (1) Do children involved with Safe Babies spend less time in care than other children their age? (2) Do children involved with Safe Babies have fewer placements while in care? (3) Do children involved with Safe Babies have more interactions with their siblings and parents than other children? (4) Do children and parents engage in Child Parent Psychotherapy or other evidence-informed birth-3 infant mental health treatment in a timely way and do they complete the services? and (5) Are parents able to participate in meaningful conversations about their case through family team meetings and hearings? With strategic partnerships, attention to strengthening families, and applying evaluation results to continuous improvement, and funding from the Health Services and Resources Administration, Ohio is prepared to build upon the momentum that currently exists for aligning key initiatives and vital systems at both the state and local level to ensure infants, toddlers and families who are most at-risk in our communities receive expedited, targeted and developmentally appropriate services and support to reach their potential as individuals and as a family.