Family Justice Initiative to improve court process for domestic relations cases

Family Justice Initiative to improve court process for domestic relations cases

Williamsburg, Va. (November 8, 2017) — The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has created the Family Justice Initiative to evaluate and improve the way courts handle domestic relations cases.

In addition to NCSC, the 36-month initiative is a project of the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), the Institute for the Advancement of the Legal System (IAALS), and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). The State Justice Institute is funding the initiative, which is modeled after the Civil Justice Initiative, a CCJ/COSCA project.

The initiative involves three phases:

1. Assessing the current landscape and best practices in domestic relations.
2. Extending and modifying the CCJ Civil Justice recommendations to address domestic relations cases.
3. Implementing and evaluating pilot projects in four jurisdictions.

The Family Justice Initiative will focus primarily on cases involving divorce/dissolution, property distribution and spousal support, and the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities.  Cases that originated in criminal, probate or juvenile courts will be excluded from FJI. 

NCSC, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. NCSC provides executive management services to CCJ, COSCA, NACM, NAPCO and several other court associations. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.