Co‐Parent Court: A Problem‐Solving Court Model for Supporting Unmarried Parents

• Author: Emily H. Becher,Kjersti A. Olson,Alisha M. Hardman,Ebony Ruhland,Mary S. Marczak,Dylan L. Galos
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12145
• Published date: 01 April 2015
• Date: 01 April 2015

CO-PARENT COURT: A PROBLEM-SOLVING COURT MODEL FOR

SUPPORTING UNMARRIED PARENTS1

Mary S. Marczak, Dylan L. Galos, Alisha M. Hardman, Emily H. Becher, Ebony Ruhland,

and Kjersti A. Olson

Co-Parent Court is an innovativeproblem solving court in Hennepin County, Minnesota, which seeks to better meet the needs

of unmarried co-parents who are establishing paternity.A 3 year, mixed method quasi-experimental design evaluationstudy was

conducted on the outcomes of participation in Co-Parent Court with data collected at pre, post and follow-up. Outcomes

examined for this article included child support payments and measures assessing attitudes about the importance of the role of

fathers in a child’s life. Findings included that child-support payments across groups was connected to a father’s ability to pay

at pre-survey and that a majority of both fathers and mothers reported that a father’s involvement in the lives of his children

went beyond an ability to pay child support.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

• Courts-Community agencies partnering to build a quality program for unmarried parents and their children.

• What types of community agencies are critical to provide a network of support for young, under-resourced, unmarried

parents?

• What does it take to get unmarried parents to complete a multi-component intervention (education, case management

and agreed upon parenting plan)?

Keywords: Co-Parent Court;Unmarried Parents;Problem Solving Court;Child Support;Role of the Father

INTRODUCTION

As the percentage of nonmarital births has increased across the country, states have been chal-

lenged to meet the need for innovative judicial interventions given the unique challenges of these

nontraditional families. Since reaching a peak in 2009 at 41% nationally,the percentage of nonmarital

births has since declined to 40.6% as of 2013 (Curtin, Ventura, & Martinez, 2014). Minnesota is

below the national average for percentage of nonmarital births at 30.7% with 14% of birth certificates

with no listed father (Minnesota Department of Health, 2012; Shattuck & Kreider, 2013). When a

father is not on a birth certificate, he can establish paternity in two ways: (1) file for recognition of

parenting jointly with the child’s mother or (2) obtain a court order. If parents are unmarried, even if

a father is listed on a birth certificate, a mother has sole custody until a court issues a custody order

(Minnesota Judicial Branch, Basics of Paternity). Of families needing to establish paternity, most

(81%) establish paternity through a recognition of parenting process with the remaining (19%) using

a court order (Child Support Enforcement Division, 2013).

In larger, more urban counties of Minnesota, the percentage of nonmarital birth increases and is

more comparable to national trends. Hennepin County is the largest metro county in Minnesota with

over 22% of the state’s population. It is also one of the most diverse (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). In

Hennepin County, a third of women (33.2%) who gave birth in 2011 were unmarried, and 16.9% did

not have a father listed on the birth certificate (Minnesota Department of Health, 2012). Family court

systems in Hennepin County were established to work with families going through divorce and

separation with little resources devoted to these younger, unmarried co-parents who were also using

Correspondence: marcz001@umn.edu; bech0079@umn.edu; galos002@umn.edu; a.hardman@msstate.edu; ruhla011

@umn.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW,Vol. 53 No. 2, April 2015 267–278

© 2015 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts