Category: Safety and well-being

Data Collection

Surveys and roundtables (Hennepin)

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Challenges identified by the project team included a lack of accurate identification of domestic violence by family court practitioners and survivors’ lack of understanding and information regarding family court procedures, available relief, and governing law. Another challenge concerned the inconsistency in court orders around the intersection of domestic violence and custody, both in the inclusion of child-related relief in protection orders and in properly accounting for domestic violence in divorce and custody cases. To better assess these gaps and their impact, the site conducted several roundtables with different practitioner groups as well as survivors, and the bench and family law bar were surveyed to gather more data about the scope of these issues and to inform the development of possible solutions.

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Access to Justice

Self-represented litigant info on protection orders and child custody (Hennepin)

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Most litigants in family court, in Hennepin County as in the rest of the country, do not have lawyers and instead represent themselves. The team identified litigants’ lack of information and understanding about family court procedures as one of the challenges for the project. To help address this gap, Hennepin County created a series of materials designed to help litigants understand court processes and present their cases in the best way possible.

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Child Protection

Pilot court for child-related relief in protection orders (Hennepin)

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One challenge for Hennepin County was an inconsistency in the inclusion of child-related relief in orders for protection. After gathering information about the issue, the team developed a domestic violence pilot court, specifically for cases in which such relief is requested. The materials here include sample pilot court calendars, the pilot protocol, an overview of the activity used for training judicial officers and staff, and a sample order. The pilot court proved to be successful and has since expanded its docket.

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Training Resource

Training judges and others on domestic violence and child custody (Delaware)

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Challenges identified by Delaware included the failure to identify domestic violence unless a protection order or criminal case was mentioned in the court file, as well as confusion about how to address it effectively once it was identified. Several training sessions of judges and court-related professionals gave these practitioners a better understanding of domestic violence and tools to identify and account for it in custody and protection orders. Please contact any one of the FCEP partners for more information or to inquire about a training in your community.

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Data Collection

Comprehensive baseline data (Delaware)

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The Delaware team decided to gather as much information as possible about the court’s current operations, to determine where changes were most needed and how best to improve the court’s handling of custody cases involving domestic violence. This information was used to formulate a comprehensive list of recommendations for the court. A variety of strategies were used:

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Child Protection/Data Collection

Judicial survey on parenting time in protection orders (Cook)

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Cook County differs from the other FCEP sites in that the court participating in the project is not a family court but a domestic violence court, so its focus in the project is improving the availability of child-related relief in protection order cases. One challenge identified early in the project was disagreement among practitioners, including judges, about the appropriateness of child-related relief in protection orders. To determine the scope of this disagreement, the judges were surveyed in an effort to find common ground for a shared understanding of the purpose and utility of child-related relief in protection orders.

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Data Collection

Data collection on relief sought and granted in protection orders (Cook)

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One challenge identified by the team was a gap in the data available about what relief was requested and provided in protection orders, including child-related relief. To fill this gap and build evidence regarding what services and resources are most needed and helpful, the team created a data collection form and database to track litigants’ experience of the court.

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Screening for Domestic Violence

Help desk screening/triage process

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To improve the availability of child-related relief in protection orders, identification of cases where the parties share children is necessary. By using its already existing help desk, the team developed a screening questionnaire that identified when concerns regarding children were present and referred the survivor to appropriate resources. Also, an alert card was created, to be provided to the survivor, when the parties had shared children; this alert card notifies any others helping the survivor with the protection order process to be aware of child-related issues and the possibility that a request for child-related relief may be needed and appropriate.

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Access to Justice/Community Feedback

Court access for Native Americans (Hennepin)

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Native Americans experience domestic violence at higher rates than any other group in the United States, yet the Hennepin County team found that very few accessed the relief available from orders for protection in family court or tribal court. To meet this need, the team created two positions, a Native Liaison and a Community Outreach Specialist, to build a relationship between the court and the Native population and to provide information about what family court can do to help. Below are some of the materials that were developed as well as job descriptions of the two positions.

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Access to Justice

Procedural fairness: Court user feedback and responses (Multnomah)

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Early data indicated that litigants with cases involving domestic violence did not feel respected or understood and did not believe they were treated fairly in many instances. A list of recommendations to improve litigants’ court experience was developed. These included easy tips that can be easily incorporated using existing resources in every day court interactions as well as more involved policy recommendations. Of course, the ultimate arbiter of whether these efforts have been successful is the survivors themselves, so the site developed an annual survey and comment cards to provide ongoing feedback about how the court is doing and where additional improvements might be needed.

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