How many states have established a unified family court?

This question is difficult to answer with a single number, matrix, or map because "family court" can be defined both as a court structure and/or court function, and no two states that have addressed family case coordination in the justice system have adopted the same solution.

Currently NCJJ counts activity in 37 states. Click here for more detail.

Selected historical views for "Why a Family Court?"
1) Statement by the leader of the first Family Court, Charles W. Hoffman. Click here

2) Dean Roscoe Pound's 1959 Family Court article published alongside the Standards Family Court Act. Click Here

3) Hon. William E. MacFaden's 1969 article concerning the excitement around Family Courts in California, click here, and a link to the view of another California judge, Donna M. Petre, 30 years later, click here.

NCJJ’s collection of Family Court working Documents

Over the last 25 years, family courts have gained and lost momentum in a host of state task forces, commissions, and pilot efforts. The NCJJ libraries store a fair number of the existing state taskforce reports, enrolled legislation and rare independent evaluations of family court pilots. Among the unpublished documents are sources for learning where other states have traveled with the Family Court ideal—from those that have carefully studied the issue, initiated pilots and assessed their impact—to those that have introduced the concept with a decree something like, “Each circuit shall provide a family court restructuring plan by date certain or the state court will impose a plan.” To download an annotated bibliography that catalogs the NCJJ libraries Family Court holdings click here.


Examples of Family Court Federalism

1) The Tulsa District Court's Family Court Vision. Click here
( Large file, may take some time to download. Saving the file to your computer first and then opening it may help in download time.)

2) Link to the California Guide for growing Family Courts at the local level. Click here

3) A 2001 Framework for encouraging the growth of Family Courts by local interest in Ohio. Click here

4) Link to a series of concise newletter articles chronicling efforts to pilot Family Courts in Ohio and develop and consolidate juvenile and family law in a Family Code. Click Here

Courts that have looked at the intact family issue have applied one of three tests: Test One: requires that before visitation can be ordered over the objection of the child's parent in an intact family, the court must find actual harm to the child's health or welfare without such visitation. The best interests of the child in having such visitation are considered only after the court finds harm if visitation is not ordered. Test Two: requires proof of substantial potential danger of harm to the child without grandparent visitation. Test Three: requires the court to apply a totality of the circumstances test and determine whether granting visitation would in be the child's best interest.

Szymanski, L. Grandparent Visitation Rights. NCJJ Snapshot 4(1). Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice, 1999.

What are Divorcing Parent Education programs?

The intent of these programs is to educate parents about the divorce process and its impact on adults and children alike through teaching co-parenting skills and strategies so that parents may continue to parent their children in a cooperative manner. The hope is that such courses will minimize the potential for short-term and long-term detrimental economic, emotional, and educational effects of divorce on children. Courses vary in length, but range from a minimum of 3 hours to a maximum of 10 hours. Most courses are 4 hours long.

Szymanski, L. Divorcing Parent Education Programs. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice, 1998.

Contact the Family Court Resource Center at the National Center for Juvenile Justice at
412-227-6950.