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Jurisdiction | Objectives | Services | Information Center | The One Stop
General The Family Division was instituted in July 1998 as a "system reform" pilot project designed around the "One Family - One Judge concept. The One-Family - One Judge concept seeks to consolidate multiple court cases involving the same family under one judge. The basic tenets of this concept are to: - provide a comprehensive approach to helping families in crisis by using both judicial adjudication and service intervention methods, and
- improve case processing from initial filing to case disposition by consolidating multiple cases involving the same family under one judge, thereby preventing 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. The Family Division's role is to provide a comprehensive, non-adversarial approach to solving domestic disputes while simultaneously reducing the use of forced problem-solving via the litigation process. | 
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Jurisdiction
The Family Division has jurisdiction over divorce, separation, annulment, custody and visitation, child support, contempt, modification, paternity, adoption, appointment of legal guardians, abuse and neglect, deprivation, abandonment, termination of parental rights, domestic violence and other intra-family criminal offenses, such as child molestation, delinquency and other general juvenile law violations. |
| Family Division
Objectives | - To address and adjudicate issues affecting the same family in a single court system;
- To screen and coordinate court petitions at the time of filing to promote earlier, more effective resolution of family issues;
- To improve the speed and certainty with which family disputes are resolved;
- To provide intervention services that will help improve outcomes for families including mediation, counseling, parental education, psychological evaluation and testing, services for children and referrals to community based services; and
- To provide user friendly and accessible consultation and information to the public on family law issues.
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Family Division Services
The Family Division provides intervention services to litigants as relevant to adjudicating issues before the court. These services have been instrumental in identifying and remedying certain types of family issues that create obstacles in court proceedings. Services may include: | 
| - counseling,
- mediation,
- psychological evaluation and testing
- supervised visitation
- parental education
- specialized services for children
- referrals to organizations
| | Litigants may also be referred to co-parenting classes, to local community based services that help improve family functioning, i.e. anger management and receive Guardian Ad Litem services. |
Family Law Information Center
A premier service provided by the Family Division is information and referral through the Family Law Information Center (FLIC). | | FLIC was developed to assist individuals who wish to represent themselves in family law matters or wish to educate themselves about family law issues. FLIC provides instructions and legal form packets to assist litigants with filing court petitions, provides free consultations with attorneys on family law issues and provides seminars on various areas of domestic law. FLIC also maintains a reference library to help litigants become familiar with legal terminology and processes. Most services are free, however there is a $2 fee for some of the legal forms. | 
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The One Stop
PURPOSE
The One Stop opened on February 3, 2003. Prior to that time a petitioner seeking a Temporary Protective Order (TPO) from domestic violence or stalking had to navigate from one office to another to take the necessary steps to complete the process. Now the One Stop is open each week day for petitioners to get help through the entire process of obtaining a TPO. FREE ASSISTANCE FROM AVLF AND PADV
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF) and the Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV) provide assistance at no cost to petitioners who qualify for their services. A petitioner can always elect to seek private counsel or proceed without representation or assistance. For more information, call 404/612-0505
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