Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1144 3
4
By: Representatives Dalby, Cavenaugh 5
By: Senators G. Stubblefield, J. Dotson, B. Johnson 6
7
For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS FAMILY TREA TMENT 9
SPECIALTY COURT ACT; TO CREATE A SPECIALT Y COURT 10
PROGRAM FOR FAMILIES INVOLVED IN A DEPEND ENCY-NEGLECT 11
PROCEEDING THAT ARE AFFECTED BY SUBSTANC E USE 12
DISORDERS OR MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS; AN D FOR OTHER 13
PURPOSES. 14
15
16
Subtitle 17
TO CREATE A SPECIALTY COURT PROGRAM FOR 18
FAMILIES INVOLVED IN A DEPENDENCY -NEGLECT 19
PROCEEDING THAT ARE AFFECTED BY SUBSTANCE 20
USE DISORDERS OR MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS. 21
22
23
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
25
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 9, Chapter 27, is amended to add an 26
additional subchapter to read as follows: 27
9-27-801. Title. 28
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Arkansas Family 29
Treatment Specialty Court Act". 30
31
9-27-802. Purpose and intent. 32
(a) There is a critical need for judicial intervention and support for 33
effective treatment programs that reduce the incidence of family separation 34
due to substance use disorders and mental health disorders. 35
(b) Family treatment specialty c ourts shall: 36 HB1144
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(1) Use a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to serve 1
families affected by substance use disorders and mental health disorders who 2
are involved with the child welfare system; 3
(2) Ensure that: 4
(A) A participant is fully support ed in his or her 5
parenting roles and 6
(B) A child receives the necessary services and support to 7
remain with his or her parent, guardian, or custodian during the treatment 8
and recovery process; 9
(3) Provide: 10
(A) A comprehensive array of clinical t reatment and 11
related support services that meet the needs of each member of the family 12
rather than only the individual receiving care for a substance use disorder 13
or mental health disorder; and 14
(B) Services that address recovery, trauma, social, 15
emotional, and development challenges; 16
(4) Apply therapeutic responses to: 17
(A) Improve parent, child, and family functioning; 18
(B) Ensure children’s safety, permanency, and well -being; 19
(C) Support participant behavior change; and 20
(D) Promote participant accountability; and 21
(5) Include the following components: 22
(A) Use of a non-adversarial, family-centered approach to 23
improve family recovery, safety, and stability; 24
(B) Protection of a participant’s right to due process; 25
(C) Reduction in the amount of time a child spends in an 26
out-of-home placement; 27
(D) Achievement of permanency more quickly; and 28
(E) Reunification of families. 29
30
9-27-803. Family treatment specialty court — Program authorized — 31
Evaluation — Restriction on services and treatment. 32
(a) A family treatment specialty court is a specialized court within 33
the existing structure of the court system. 34
(b) A circuit court may establish a family treatment specialty court 35
program for families involved in a dependency-neglect proceeding in the 36 HB1144
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juvenile division of circuit court subject to approval by the Supreme Court 1
in the administrative plan submitted under Supreme Court Administrative Order 2
No. 14. 3
(c) The goals of the family treatment specialty court program shall be 4
consistent with the Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards as adopted 5
by the Center for Children and Family Futures and the National Association of 6
Drug Court Professionals, as they existed on January 1, 2023. 7
(d) A family treatment specialty court program authorized under this 8
chapter is subject to evaluation by the Specialty Court Program Advisory 9
Committee under § 16 -10-139. 10
(e)(1) Services ordered by a family treatment specialty court program 11
shall be supplemental to the: 12
(A) Cash assistance and family services authorized under § 13
9-27-303; and 14
(B) Other dispositions authorized under § 9-27-334. 15
(2) A family treatment specialty court must comply with § 9 -27-16
335 before ordering services. 17
(3) Notwithstanding subdi vision (e)(2) of this section, a family 18
treatment specialty court may still order services if: 19
(A) The provider waives payment; 20
(B) The family treatment specialty court program 21
participant has private insurance that will pay for the services; 22
(C) An administrative and programmatic appropriation has 23
been made for the services; or 24
(D) Administrative and programmatic funding is available 25
for the services. 26
27
9-27-804. Administration. 28
(a) A family treatment specialty court program may require a separate 29
judicial processing system differing in practice and design from the 30
traditional adversarial trial system. 31
(b) Each family treatment specialty court shall develop a policy and 32
procedure manual for the family treatment specialty court program w ith the 33
assistance of the Administrative Office of the Courts. 34
(c) The family treatment specialty court program shall offer judicial 35
monitoring with strict supervision and intensive treatment of participants 36 HB1144
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with substance use disorders or mental health disorders, as determined by a 1
validated clinical assessment tool. 2
(d)(1) A family treatment specialty court program team shall be 3
designated by the circuit court judge assigned to manage the family treatment 4
specialty court program docket. 5
(2) Family treatment specialty court program team members shall 6
include: 7
(A) A circuit judge; 8
(B) A program coordinator, if appointed by the circuit 9
judge; 10
(C) A child welfare agency attorney; 11
(D) An attorney acting as parent counsel for a parent, 12
guardian, or custodian participant; 13
(E) An attorney ad litem; 14
(F) A court-appointed special advocate, if appointed by 15
the circuit judge; 16
(G) A family service worker; 17
(H) One (1) or more treatment providers with experience in 18
the fields of substance use disorders or mental health disorders, or both; 19
and 20
(I) Any other individuals determined necessary by the 21
family treatment specialty court program judge. 22
(e) If the family treatment specialty court utilizes a case management 23
system that allows for the collection and processing of data, the family 24
treatment specialty court shall collect and provide monthly data on program 25
applicants and program participants as required by the Specialty Court 26
Program Advisory Committee in accordance with t he rules promulgated under § 27
10-3-2901. 28
29
9-27-805. Eligibility and participation. 30
(a) Participation in a family treatment specialty court is voluntary. 31
(b) A person is eligible for participation in a family treatment 32
specialty court program if: 33
(1) The person is a parent, guardian, custodian, or other 34
caretaker of a juvenile found by the court to be dependent or dependent -35
neglected; 36 HB1144
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(2) The person is eighteen (18) years of age or older; and 1
(3) The person agrees to comply with the policies and procedures 2
developed by the family treatment specialty court program. 3
(c) If a child has more than one (1) parent, guardian, or custodian 4
and at least one (1) but not all parents, guardians, or custodians objects to 5
participation in a family treatmen t specialty court, participation in the 6
family treatment specialty court is conditioned upon providing notice and the 7
opportunity to attend all family treatment specialty court staffings and 8
hearings involving the objecting party to: 9
(1) The objecting p arty; or 10
(2) The attorney for an objecting party. 11
(d) Unless otherwise agreed upon by the parents, guardians, or 12
custodians, a family treatment specialty court staffing or hearing shall not 13
include discussions, requests, or orders related to the follo wing matters: 14
(1) Modification of: 15
(A) A custody schedule; 16
(B) A visitation schedule; 17
(C) A case plan; 18
(D) A service plan; or 19
(E) The case goal; 20
(2) Requests: 21
(A) For a restraining order; or 22
(B) To change attorneys; 23
(3) Other matters that require notice to all parties or that 24
otherwise would be brought before the juvenile court in a non -specialty court 25
setting. 26
27
9-27-806. Costs and fees. 28
(a) A judge presiding over a family treatment specialty court program 29
that has been approved by the Supreme Court may order a parent, guardian, 30
custodian, or caretaker to pay for the following supplemental services: 31
(1) Treatment costs; 32
(2) Drug testing costs; 33
(3) Continuous alcohol monitoring fees; or 34
(4) Other supplemental services, if ordered after notice and 35
hearing. 36 HB1144
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(b)(1) In all cases in which supplemental services are ordered, the 1
court shall determine the ability of the parent, guardian, custodian, or 2
caretaker to pay, in whole or in part, for these services . 3
(2) The determination of ability to pay and the evidence 4
supporting the determination shall be included in a written order. 5
(c)(1) A judge presiding over a family treatment specialty court may 6
establish and order a family treatment specialty court program user fee. 7
(2) The family treatment specialty court program user fee 8
assessed by the judge shall be paid to the court clerk for remittance to the 9
county treasury under § 14 -14-1313. 10
(d) Funds collected under subsection (c) of this section shal l be 11
credited to a fund known as the “Family Treatment Specialty Court Program 12
Fund". 13
(e) Approval of the judge presiding over the family treatment 14
specialty court program is required for all expenditures from the Family 15
Treatment Specialty Court Program Fund. 16
(f) Expenditures from the Family Treatment Specialty Court Program 17
Fund shall be used solely for the support, benefit, and administration of the 18
family treatment specialty court program. 19
(g) Expenditures may be made for indirect expenses related to the 20
family treatment specialty court program, including: 21
(1) Training and travel expenses; 22
(2) Family treatment specialty court program user incentives; 23
(3) Graduation costs; and 24
(4) Supplies. 25
(h) The quorum court shall appropriate all fees and pay for all 26
approved expenditures of the family treatment specialty court program. 27
(i) A grant awarded to a family treatment specialty court program, as 28
well as all memorials, honorariums, and other monetary gifts to the family 29
treatment specialty court program, shall be deposited into the Family 30
Treatment Specialty Court Program Fund. 31
(j) A fee or cost under this section may be waived in whole or in 32
part. 33
34
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36