Judge Hope Tieman Bristol, Administrative Judge for Unified Family, and Judge Jose Izquierdo, who presides in Dependency, led a Broward County team to the ZERO TO THREE Safe Baby Courts Conference in Boston last week.
Judge Izquierdo presented on his work with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Court. In Broward County, the 17th Judicial Circuit established a collaborative framework with the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Court to better handle cases under the federal ICWA. Judge Izquierdo spearheaded this initiative to help bridge state dependency proceedings with tribal jurisdiction and customs.
Judge Bristol attended the conference with her Early Childhood Court team, gaining valuable insight into the latest approaches to supporting infants, young children and their families involved in the child welfare system.
We’re proud of our judges and teams for sharing their expertise, learning from colleagues across the country, and bringing innovative approaches back to Broward County. (Pictured in the insert, left to right: Judge Jose Izquierdo, Judge Hope Tieman Bristol, ChildNet Director of Case Management ECC Diane Rufus, ChildNet Dependency Case Manager Supervisor ECC Sherelle Young, ChildNet Early Childhood Court Dependency Case Manager Tyquisha Lee, and Trent Baker, Juvenile Problem-Solving Courts Program Coordinator.)
