March 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County has been awarded a $100,000 state funded grant for the implementation of a Safe Baby Court through the Juvenile Court.
The object of Tennessee’s Safe Baby Court is to address the critical needs of child and family programs to reduce the incidents of child abuse, neglect, and endangerment, to minimize the effects of childhood trauma, and to provide stability to parents and children.
DeKalb County’s Safe Baby Court will serve families with children 36 months of age or younger who are involved in the child welfare system. Wraparound services will be utilized not only for the infant, but also the siblings, parents, and caregivers.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission adopted the $100,000 budget amendment to accept the state funding for this program.
DeKalb County General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox addressed the commission during last Thursday night’s committee of the whole meeting.
“We have a grant of $100,000 for this fiscal year and technically its $50,000 for next year because its set to sunset in December but there is some legislation to keep that going,” explained Judge Cox. “ It should be a $100,000 annual grant. We are asking for a budget amendment to include those grant funds in the juvenile program. Its 100% grant funded. It’s a pilot program and several other counties are participating . Its adjunct or adjacent to our DCS (Department of Children Services) cases and it would be impactful for any family that has DCS involvement whatsoever with a child under three years old. There could be five kids in the home but if there is one under age three they could qualify for this program. It basically opens us up to resources, some funding to help solve problems for these families that we have trouble solving in our community,” said Judge Cox
“I am asked often and its one of the hardest things I have to do is sign papers to remove kids from parents. Oftentimes, its for drug related issues. We had a case in December and at that time, there were identifiable drug issues in the home. After an assessment, certain services were recommended. We are almost in April now and those services haven’t started because they don’t have insurance, the department (DCS) is not going to fund it, or they are balking at funding because they need this information or that piece of paper. With a program like this, funds are available for those families where we can identify the need and meet the need,” Judge Cox continued.
“Ninety nine percent of the folks in my DCS type court are also indigent and they have appointed counsel. They can barely afford rent and sometimes food, even with government assistance and they can’t afford some necessities like car seats or cribs, etc. This program has the ability to do that. The grant lays out what we can do for them. Its basically to identify a need for a family in the program and to fix that need with the funds we have available. That is the crux of it. What it looks like in reality is going to develop over time because it’s a very new program and I am sure I will adjust it along the way to fit our needs here,” said Judge Cox.
The program will establish specific eligibility requirements and will be tailored to target the most at risk children and families meeting the requirements.
The Safe Baby Court will be comprised of a Multidisciplinary Team including the following members, at a minimum:
Birth parents, out of home caregivers, judge, coordinator and supervisor, mental health providers, attorneys and guardian ad litem, department of children’s services, early intervention specialists, foster parents and support organizations, and other community members.