Duval County Dependency Model Court is a laboratory for innovation, creativity and implementation of evidence based best practices. The goal of Model Court is to reduce the need for children to be in foster care and, when it is not possible to avoid foster care placement, to safely reduce the amount of time children are in the foster care system so that the children achieve permanency more quickly."
Unified Family Court ("UFC") is a fully integrated, comprehensive approach to handling all cases involving children and families, while at the same time resolving family disputes in a fair, timely, efficient and cost effective manner. UFC involves case management, coordination of multiple cases involving one family, collaboration between the judiciary, stakeholders, and the community to provide access to an array of services to families, and promotes a less adversarial approach to handling family cases that minimizes harm to children while balancing due process concerns."
In Duval County, Dependency Model Court is part of Unified Family Court, where one family will have one judge, and the family will be connected to the services they need.
Some of our community partners are listed below. To access information from their websites use the ctrl key and click on the community partners name.
Department of Children and Families
Duval County Clerk of Court
Guardian ad Litem (GAL Program) Specific information regarding the Fourth Judicial Circuit Program can be accessed under Circuit Offices 4.
Family Support Services (FSS) of Northeast Florida
Kids Hope Alliance