Family Division’s Annual Report Card Scores an A+
Created in July 1998, the Fulton County Family Division, the first and only "Family Court" structure in Georgia, has recently released its first annual report. Chief Judge and Family Division Project Coordinator Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore sums it up, "The quantitative and qualitative data indicate that Family Division cases are being resolved more quickly, and we are successfully matching children, mothers, and fathers to critical services during the difficult times of divorce." Use of Judicial Officers in the Fulton County Family Division (Nov 1999)
By definition, Judicial Officers are part time magistrates who are designated as Fulton County Superior Court judges in the Family Division to supplement the hearing schedule of Family Division Judges. They are attorneys who possess specific skill, aptitude and adeptness at handling complex domestic law issues. However, the role of the Judicial Officer is really more sophisticated than the surface definition would imply. The Family Division Judicial officers are highly oriented toward serving the public and are an integral part of the Family Division team. Their role and purpose in the Family Division is multifaceted and central to the Division’s success. Family Division Family Law Information Center (May 1999)
The Family Law Information Center (FLIC) was developed as a "self-help" center designed to assist people who desire to represent themselves in family law matters or who are interested in learning more about laws related to family issues. FLIC also assists attorneys who have questions about practicing domestic law in the Fulton County Superior Court. Administered by the Family Division, FLIC began operating in July 1998.... Progress Report on the Fulton County Superior Court Family Division (February 1999)
The Family Division was instituted in July 1998 as a "system reform" pilot project designed around the "One Family - One Judge concept. The basic tenets of this concept were to: 1) provide a comprehensive approach to helping families in crisis by using both judicial adjudication and sound service intervention methods, and 2) improve case processing from initial filing to case disposition by consolidating multiple cases involving the same family under one judge, thereby preventing application of fragmented decision-making. The emphasis of the Family Division is on the best interests of children affected by legal proceedings and the family unit affected by the process.... Unified Family Courts
Unified Family Courts are designed to dispense therapeutic justice in an effort to address the personal and social issues that drive families into court. In a unified family court, social service provision is a part of the expansive authority of the judge in the adjudication of the court case. Unified family courts may hear matrimonial, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, child protection, and family crisis cases. The American Bar Association's "Communities, Families and the Justice System" Project, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been assisting state judicial systems with exploring and implementing the concept of Unified Family Courts for the last two years. Project efforts have concentrated on six pilot family courts located in Fulton County Superior Court, Atlanta Ga., Baltimore, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Suburban Chicago (Markham) and Seattle. (Unified Family Chronicle, Spring 1999. ABA Committee on Substance Abuse) |
