CourtCare is a research partnership between the University of Texas at Arlington and the Texas Center for Child and Family Studies. Our external collaborating partners include the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the Children's Commission of the Supreme Court of Texas, the Office of Court Administration, EMPOWER, Texans Together, and Our Community Our Kids.
CourtCare is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and a Court Improvement Program grant administered by the Children's Commission.
CourtCare Co-Investigator
CourtCare Co-Investigator
Research Associate
Doctoral Graduate Research Assistant
CourtCare is a 3-year longitudinal, quasi-experimental study. Children in foster care are eligible to join the study when a judge changes their legal status to Permanent Managing Conservatorship. We will compare the permanency and wellbeing outcomes of children and youth whose cases move to one of the three PMC Courts in Dallas and Harris counties to children and youth in the same geographical areas whose cases do not move to a PMC court. The CourtCare team will collect measures of wellbeing every six months from individuals who enroll in the study. This consists of an approximately 45-minute interview with the participant that will include measures of mental health, social support, preparation for independent living, and open-ended questions to explore the youth's wellbeing while in long-term foster care.
For children 7 years of age and under, their caregiver will be given an opportunity to an interview and respond to questions that ask about the child’s behavior, development, and broader wellbeing.
For children between the ages of 8-11 years of age, the CourtCare team will make a decision based on the child’s development and ability to give assent as to whether they will interview the child directly or interview a caregiver/adult to respond to items about the child’s wellbeing.
For children ages 12 and older who do not have intellectual or developmental disabilities that may inhibit them from understanding the research study, the youth will have an informed assent process to participate.
Interested in supporting research that centers youth wellbeing in foster care? Do you believe you are eligible to participate in CourtCare? We'd love to hear from you!
