Warriors in the Community is a radio segment that features short, insightful interviews with key figures from Wayne State University about the many ways in which the university and its programs make a positive impact on the metro area and on the lives of Detroiters. 

In this episode, we are joined by Ann M. Stacks, Ph.D., the Director of the Infant Mental Health Program at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and WSU's partner to Wayne County's "Baby Court," a specialized treatment court in Michigan designed to address the needs of children under the age of three years who are being served by the child welfare system for maltreatment. It is a problem-solving court that recognizes a child's need for a consistent and sensitive attachment figure. Baby Court is effective at reducing developmental delays, time in care, and re-entries into care. It also increases timely permanency, parenting sensitivity, and reunification. 

Announcer:  This is Warriors in the Community, brought to you by Wayne State University. And now, to learn about how Wayne State is positively impacting our communities, here's Darrell Dawsey.

Darrell Dawsey: Today I'm with Professor Anne Stacks, Ph. D., who is Director of the Infant Mental Health Program at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute at Wayne State, and serves as the Wayne State University Partner to Wayne County's Baby Court.

And she's here to tell us about the Baby Court Program and how courts, the state, and the university work to keep families together in the face of poverty and other debilitating forces.

Ann Stacks: So, BabyCourt is a specialty problem solving court for parents and their children ages birth to three who are in foster care or at risk of entering the foster care system. 

And all families in BabyCourt have an infant mental health specialist and work with families and other members of the team including the judges and attorneys or any other services.

Darrell Dawsey: Now, how many families does this facet of the court system touch?

Ann Stacks: 20 to 55 a year in Wayne County.

Darrell Dawsey: Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the role that you have and the university plays.

Ann Stacks: So we started BabyCourt in Wayne County in 2008, and so I worked with RTI International to write the first grant, which was funded by the CDC, and worked to really share Wayne County's experience with the people who are coaching us and starting the project. I've done a lot of trainings for attorneys and judges about attachment and trauma and brain development and the importance of Parenting and I write a lot of grants to try to keep us funded.

What BabyCourt allows is for a team of people to really get to know the parent, to see their strengths and to help them meet their goal. Kids development improves, families have faster access to services. They're seen in the court every month instead of every three months, and the entire team takes a strengths based approach, which I think feels a little different for families.

Darrell Dawsey: Well, uh, we, we keep hoping for more and more positive outcomes, and you guys are producing them. Ann, thanks so much for joining us and telling us about the great work that you do.

Ann Stacks: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Announcer: This has been Warriors in the Community. For more Wayne State news, please visit us online at today.wayne.edu slash WWJ, and join us here next Monday at the same time for more Warriors in the Community.