Unified Family Courts:

One Court, One Judge, One Family

By: Gregory Scolieri, Esq.

          In New York, it is possible for a family to have multiple cases, pending in multiple courts, in front of multiple judges.  This does not say much about efficiency in the courts of New York.  Additionally, this multiple court syndrome places undue burdens upon families.  For example, a husband and wife can be going through a divorce.  The divorce  action would be in front of a New York State Supreme Court Justice in a New York State Supreme Court.  At the same time, the same family can have a case or matter pending in front of a New York Family Court judge.  For example, a New York Family Court has jurisdiction, inter alia, to issue temporary restraining orders and to hear child neglect and abuse cases.  Additionally, a parent might even find himself/herself defending a criminal action (as in the case of child abuse) in front of, yet, another judge.  Because of this scenario, the time and effort of multiple judges are needed to resolve the disputes among one family.  This current system does work, however, this system is not efficient.  Other states have instituted what are called "Unified Family Courts", and systems that foster an approach where one family is assigned one judge for all family matter disputes.  As defined by the American Bar Association:

A unified family court combines all the essential elements of traditional family and juvenile courts into one entity and contains other resources, such as social services, critical to the resolution of a family's problems. It is a comprehensive court with jurisdiction over all family-related legal matters. The structure of a unified family court promotes the resolution of family disputes in a fair, comprehensive, and expeditious way. It allows the court to address the family and its long-term needs as well as the problems of the individual litigant. Through its insistence on collaboration among court staffs and units, its "team approach," and its outreach to social service providers and local volunteers, a unified family court can provide the highest quality of service to its clients and its community.¹

          A unified family court system ("UFC") is not implemented in New York, nor does it appear that one will be implemented in the near future.  However, other jurisdictions have had plenty of success in implementing such a system.  In 2004, Gregory Scolieri and James W. Bozzomo authored an articled entitled: A Survey of Unified Family Courts: An Assessment of Different Jurisdictional Models published in the Family Court Review.  In this article the authors reported the results of a survey conducted of various courts and jurisdictions that either implemented or experimented with a unified family court structure.  As reported in the article, one survey respondent noted that as a result of a pilot Unified Family Court program, the court had better case management and increased judicial efficiency.²  Another respondent noted that, prior to a Unified Family Court System was implemented, judges had little contact with children, families dealt with multiple judges, there was a great deal of lag-time between contact with the court, and parents were often not represented by counsel.²  However, after the Unified Family Court system was implemented, there was more efficient case management and time lapses between contact with the court had been reduced.²  Essentially, it is my view that Unified Family Courts can provide families with the proper resources to resolve a family conflict in an efficient and amicable manner.  Would it not be great if a custody battle in a divorce action was avoided because a unified family court judge acted as a mediator and provided the family with essential social services?  It is my hope that Unified Family Court systems that have been implemented continue to show great success, and that other jurisdictions learn and follow from the jurisdictions that have taken the lead in this area.

Sources:

1. American Bar Association, What Is a Unified Family Court? available at http://www.abanet.org/unifiedfamcrt/about.html (last visited Aug. 7, 2003) (noting that certain jurisdictions have different needs and traditions that inhibit the American Bar Association from recognizing a definitive unified family court [UFC] model, however, illustrating that certain characteristics are generally recognized as integral to a UFC).  

2. James W. Bozzomo & Gregory Scolieri, A Survey of Unified Family Courts: An Assessment of Different Jurisdictional Models, Family Court Review (January 2004).