Early Childhood Court (ECC) is a problem-solving court which addresses child welfare cases involving children under the age of three and is premised on the fact , that healthy attachment and early brain development, from birth to age three, is crucial to a child's future social-emotional health, school-readiness, and life-long well-being. Infants and toddlers in the child welfare system are at extraordinarily high risk for developmental delays, non-optimal attachment relationships, trauma, and toxic stress that can affect their adjustment and well-being for years to come -- often, tragically, for a lifetime. Early Childhood Court allows courts to take what is currently known about the appropriate services and practices for early brain development and make them available to the most vulnerable children. The core components of Early Childhood Court include judicial leadership, a community coordinator, monthly court reviews, evidence-based child-parent therapy, frequent parent-child contact, and the use of multidisciplinary family team meetings.
The goal of Florida's Early Childhood court is to:
- Improve child safety and well-being
- Heal trauma and repair the parent/child relationship
- Promote timely permanency
- Stop the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment
The ECC model provides for the dependency court to serve as a platform for increasing the reach and effectiveness of therapeutic evidence-based interventions for maltreated children and their caregivers. The model focuses on (1) centering the attention of the Court on the developmental, emotional, relational, and mental health needs of the young child (ages 0-5) in judicial decision‑making, case planning, and permanency determination; (2) timely referral to and judicial monitoring of services for adjudicated children and their parents; (3) cross‑disciplinary, sustainable practice change at the case level; (4) reducing re-removals by increasing continuity in high-quality foster care placements; and (5) expediting permanency planning decisions and achieving sustained placements for all of our children.
Our Unified Family Court (UFC) Division forged further ahead with the support and commitment of Miami-Dade’s lead child welfare agency Citrus Family Care Network (FCN) to advance an “ECC Plus model”, with a much greater, expansive scope from the other statewide models. The goal being to approach cases in a way where legal, societal, and individual problems intersect to attain the best outcomes for our families.
Our circuit’s ECC “Plus” Problem-Solving Court model launched in September 2021 in two stages. First, was the roll out of a comprehensive and targeted service delivery system for all children ages 0-5 with a pending juvenile dependency case before any of the other eight presiding UFC Division Judges and two General Magistrates in Miami-Dade County. The care coordination is carefully managed by an experienced Early Childhood Manager from Citrus Family Care Network (FCN).
Second was the launch, in January 2023, of a specialized ECC docket for selected dependency cases involving children ages 0-3, to be presided over by a designated, seasoned, and cross-trained, trauma-informed UFC Division ECC Judge (Administrative Judge Marcia B. Caballero).
Upon Judge Caballero’s retirement in March 2026, the newly appointed Unified Family Court Administrative Judge Michelle A. Barakat took over the helm of leadership over the Early Childhood Court and the specialized ECC docket.
The Problem-Solving ECC structure and caseload consists of a partnership between the UFC and CITRUS FCN:
UFC Component
A cross-trained, trauma-informed UFC Division Judge presides over the Circuit’s ECC, with a planned caseload of 40 matters/families heard on a specialized court docket. An alternate judicial designee — also a cross-trained, trauma-informed UFC Division Judge who receives the same judicial and infant/toddler mental health training — presides over any necessary cases or dockets as needed. An alternate judicial designee that is cross-trained and trauma-informed UFC Division Judge that will receive the same amount of judicial training and infant/toddler mental health training to preside over any necessary cases/dockets. An ECC Program Coordinator position that provides leadership and manages all aspects of the EEC, supervises the ECC Case Manager, and liaises with the CITRUS FCN team in the selection of new families and the ongoing support of existing families, represents the circuit’s ECC as state and national meetings and conferences. Currently, calendars are conducted on a weekly basis.
Citrus FCN Component
Citrus FCN funds and administers all social services and affiliated program staff, including an ECC Early Childhood Manager who leads and supports the Early Childhood matters within the Behavioral Health Team; Citrus FCN provides seven behavioral health coordinators with extensive knowledge of mental health, childhood development, trauma, and behavioral issues provide care coordination for all children in the child welfare system, regardless of whether or not they are on the ECC specialized docket, but whose dependency cases are proceeding before the UFC Division Judges and General Magistrates; Specifically two of the seven behavioral health coordinators who have extra training in early childhood development and infant/early childhood behavioral health services are assigned to act as Community Coordinators dedicated to the specialized docket of ECC cases. Those cases in the specialized docket involve at least one ECC child aged 0-3.
The Citrus FCN Behavioral Health Coordinators are each assigned to only one (1) of the Circuit’s three Full Case Management Agencies (FCMA) and the families therein. Specifically, for children aged 0-5, all the coordinators staff their cases with the assigned case manager and participate in court hearings as needed. All families involved in the child welfare system benefit from full care coordination, including referrals to any needed services such as child-parent psychotherapy (CPP), dyadic therapy, infant mental health services, where appropriate, and continued monitoring of the child’s overall development.
The two dedicated Community Coordinators/ECC Behavioral Health Coordinators assigned to the specialized ECC docket each carry a caseload of a maximum, of 20 ECC families presided over by the designated ECC Judge. Additionally, the ECC Community Coordinators attend all court hearings, coordinate and lead family team meetings, and provide support to the families as they navigate through the ECC process.
Unified Family Court Contact Information
Unified Family Court
Miami-Dade County Children's Courthouse
155 NW 3rd Street, Room 1335, Miami, FL 33128
Ph: 305-679-1609
Email: rugarte@jud11.flcourts.org