Foreward

• Jurisdiction: Colorado,United States
• Citation: Vol. 31 No. 10 Pg. 13
• Pages: 13
• Publication year: 2002

31 Colo.Law. 13 Colorado Lawyer 2002.

2002, October, Pg. 13. Foreward

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Vol. 31, No. 10, Pg. 13

The Colorado Lawyer
October 2002
Vol. 31, No. 10 [Page 13]

Children and the Law

Foreward
by Rebecca Love Kourlis

Children hold our future in their hands. In our families schools, neighborhoods, and in our court system, we must address their needs, as well as the needs of the adults in their lives. For the abused child, the child whose life is torn by a lengthy, contentious divorce, or the child who breaks the law, only the most educated and efficient response from the court system and from other involved professionals can suffice

For us, all we need to do is say to ourselves¡Xwhat if it were my child, my family? What kind of a system would I want In the state court system in Colorado, we are trying to make changes that favorably impact children and families. We have good reason to be paying attention because more than 50 percent of all new district court case filings involve families: dissolution, probate, domestic violence, or dependency and neglect. For more than ten years, the state court system has been testing and evaluating different ways of handling those family cases in an effort to improve its performance.

Recently, in January 2001, Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey created the Commission on Families in the Colorado Courts ("Commission"). The Commission comprises thirty-three judges, attorneys, legislators, child advocates, human services officials, elected officials, and non-profit representatives. It is charged with evaluating the way family cases are currently being handled in the courts¡Xincluding the various pilot projects¡Xand reporting back to the Supreme Court, Governor, and General Assembly as to ways in which the courts can improve.

The Commission report, finalized on August 5, 2002, includes seventy-nine recommendations. In general terms, the recommendations fall into six categories:

1. The Commission recommends that the court implement a central case management system for all family cases, which involves case monitoring by court facilitators to avoid multiple or conflicting orders or appearance dates, and assignment to one judge for the duration of a judge¡¦s rotation (to be a minimum of two years).

2. The Commission recommends that the court reduce the adversarial aspects of the court process for family cases.

3. The...