Recovery
Through the Courts
Family Treatment Court
Written by Sierra Worden
Noel Adkins attends her FTC graduation with her son.
Photos by Alex Wilson
F amily Treatment Court( FTC) is a specialized court that focuses on long-term recovery for parents who are involved in the child welfare system. The main goal of this court is to allow the parents to receive the help they need while safely and permanently reunifying them with their children.
Unlike a traditional court process designed to resolve legal disputes, FTCs use a collaborative approach that offers a multidisciplinary team that works directly with the families to support their recovery and monitor their progress.
“ Participants appear before the court regularly, engage in treatment, work closely with recovery professionals and are held accountable every step of the way,” says Tera Salango, Eighth Judicial Circuit judge.
These specialized courts were facilitated by William Thompson, dean of students at the Appalachian School of Law and counsel at Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC, who drew inspiration during an orientation in Reno, NV, as a newly appointed judge in 2007.
“ Part of the training included attending a local drug court. I knew West Virginia, at the time, had a few drug courts in operation, and I thought bringing one to Boone and Lincoln counties could really benefit the people there,” says Thompson.“ When the Supreme Court later asked circuit judges if they would be interested in starting one, I volunteered quickly.”
FTC serves many parents who have been involved in abuse and neglect cases where substance use disorder( SUD) contributed to the circumstances that brought their family into the child welfare system.
“ In a lot of these cases, addiction is the underlying issue that impacts a parent’ s ability to safely care for their children,” says Salango.“ The goal is to address that issue while focusing on child safety, family stability and long-term recovery.”
There are three different ways a parent can be referred to FTC: a one-page referral form, case coordinator referral or circuit judge referral from the bench. After FTC receives a parent referral, the case coordinator contacts the parent to schedule an interview and a time to do the screening to determine if they meet the criteria of SUD.
“ Family Treatment Court is voluntary in West Virginia, meaning every participant must consent to participate,” says State Family Treatment Court Specialist Katie White.
“ When the parent’ s substance use disorder determination has been made, the case coordinator will staff the referral with the FTC treatment team, which is a group of professionals and community members who handle the day-to-day operations of Family Treatment Court and work closely with the participants and their families,” says White.
After reviewing the case, the FTC judge will make an acceptance decision based on whether the parent meets the eligibility and participation criteria.
“ Family Treatment Court focuses specifically on the intersection of substance use disorder, child welfare and family reunification,” says Salango.“ That focus allows us to bring together professionals from multiple disciplines to address the root causes contributing to abuse and neglect cases, ultimately decreasing the workload and burden on the already overloaded judicial system.”
The participants in FTC reside in different places according to their individual needs as parents. They can stay in their homes while receiving their outpatient treatment, sober-living residences or short-term residential treatment.
Funding for FTC has not been easy to come by, but thanks to Public Defenders Services( PDS), FTCs have been able to remain in West Virginia.
“ The gap funding we received from Public Defender Services in 2025 allowed us to continue serving families in West Virginia in fiscal year 2026,” says White.“ We are eternally grateful to their executive director, Dana Eddy, for providing FTCs with the funding needed.”
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