Parents play a critical role in the progression and outcomes of juvenile dependency (child welfare court) cases. Yet, very little is known about these parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences. We examined legal understanding and attitudes among 201 parents involved in ongoing dependency cases in California and Florida via semi-structured, in-person interviews. We expected parents’ understanding to be low and attitudes to be negative, particularly among parents of color and low SES parents. We expected greater dependency understanding to be related to more positive justice attitudes, and procedural and distributive justice attitudes to be indistinguishable in this population. Findings partially confirmed expectations. Parents’ understanding of the system was low, especially among parents of color and less educated parents. Parents felt less than satisfied about the fairness of procedures and decisions. However, procedural and distributive justice attitudes were distinguishable. Finally, and unexpectedly, parents’ knowledge and attitudes were negatively related. The consistently low levels of knowledge across CA and FL suggest the critical need to increase parental knowledge. It is also important to promote fair court procedures and decision-making to improve parents’ attitudes about procedural and distributive justice, which were found to be distinct and important factors among parents navigating juvenile dependency cases.

父母在少年抚养（儿童福利法庭）案件的进展和结果中起着关键作用。然而，人们对这些父母的知识、态度和经历知之甚少。我们通过半结构化的面对面访谈调查了 201 名参与加州和佛罗里达州持续抚养案件的父母对法律的理解和态度。我们预计父母的理解力低，态度消极，特别是在有色人种和低 SES 父母中。我们预计更多的依赖理解与更积极的正义态度相关，并且程序和分配正义态度在这个人群中是无法区分的。调查结果部分证实了预期。家长对该系统的了解程度很低，尤其是在有色人种和受教育程度较低的家长中。家长们对程序和决定的公平性感到不太满意。然而，程序正义和分配正义的态度是有区别的。最后，出乎意料的是，父母的知识和态度呈负相关。CA 和 FL 的知识水平一直很低，这表明迫切需要增加父母的知识。促进公平的法庭程序和决策以改善父母对程序和分配正义的态度也很重要，这被发现是父母处理未成年人抚养案件的独特和重要因素。CA 和 FL 的知识水平一直很低，这表明迫切需要增加父母的知识。促进公平的法庭程序和决策以改善父母对程序和分配正义的态度也很重要，这被发现是父母处理未成年人抚养案件的独特和重要因素。CA 和 FL 的知识水平一直很低，这表明迫切需要增加父母的知识。促进公平的法庭程序和决策以改善父母对程序和分配正义的态度也很重要，这被发现是父母处理未成年人抚养案件的独特和重要因素。