Court improving conflict resolution in cases involving children

“Athletic” and “smart” the 8-year-old boy said, without much hesitation, when the guardian ad litem asked for three words to describe himself. There was a long pause before he whispered the third self-descriptive word. “Scared,” the boy said. “Why are you scared?” the guardian ad litem asked. “Because I don’t know where I’m going to live.”

Hundreds of local children are the subject of custody disputes. All live in a state of uncertainty. Fortunately, as a result of the creation of Pierce County Family Court, the time these children wait to learn where they are going to live has been significantly reduced.

More than uncertainty hurts these children. The duration of family conflict is a major source of reduced well-being among children of divorce. Timely resolutions of conflict, facilitated by a dedicated and well-managed judiciary with specialized training, minimize the pain and damage these children and their families experience.

To address these problems, Pierce County Superior Court conceived a vision of a dedicated Family Court. After collaborative effort with various stakeholders and critical analysis of how this and other courts manage cases involving child custody, a plan for improvement emerged: identify, segregate and prioritize cases involving the custody of children; provide early judicial intervention; provide consistent and timely judicial decision-making with intensive case management, settlement conferences and education to litigants using Impact on Children seminars to speed case resolution and reduce conflict.

The court consists of two judicial departments, three commissioners and a case coordinator. It is a team dedicated to implementing the court plan while putting into practice learned lessons to reduce conflict and timely resolve disputes involving the custody of children.

There are currently 744 pending cases in family court. In 2009 approximately 1,300 new or reopened cases were assigned and the family court team resolved 1,434 cases consisting of dissolutions, parenting plans, modifications of custody, non-parental custody, and relocation matters. Most custody disputes are resolved in less than 12 months. By contrast, cases often languished in the system for years before Family Court was created. The average case age in Pierce County Superior Court (domestic cases in which a guardian ad litem was appointed) has declined from 429 days in 2004 and 451 days in 2006, to 243 days in 2009.

“Family Court provides greatly needed consistency and specific knowledge of the facts, which are invaluable in high-conflict cases,” family law attorney Gina Auter said. “The time the court and commissioners take to become acquainted with families and their needs place children first, providing additional structure to cases which can easily spin out of control. Without the oversight and management that Family Court provides, high-conflict cases can take on a life of their own, which often place children in harm’s way. By making parties accountable and tracking their progress, these cases move forward instead of remaining stagnant or worse yet, go backwards.”

Budget cuts early in 2009 forced elimination of the pro tem judges program. This assisted the court with its high volume of cases, handling dozens of trials and settlement conferences that could not find a home on the court’s crowded dockets.

Fortunately, by April 2009 approximately 40 members of the pro tem judges’ panel volunteered their services at no cost to perform settlement conferences, mainly in family law matters.

To date, 134 cases have been assigned to a pro tem volunteer. Thirty-five families were able to resolve their matters without a trial, and the parents made their own decisions about where their children would live. The generous efforts of these lawyers deserve special recognition.

For every family conflict resolved, there is another family in conflict. A nearly overwhelming number of cases must be handled on a daily basis by a handful of judicial officers. The resources available to assist families provide better parenting are in jeopardy.

Family Court has employed state grant funds to staff and supervise the case management piece of the program. These funds are due to run out in mid-2010, and in these challenging budget times it is not likely that these funds will be extended. The number of litigants who navigate the system without a lawyer is increasing. Their cases require more time and effort from the court, further stretching the court’s limited time and resources.

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