Family Court Enhancement Project: Improving Access to Justice

AuthorMary Madden,Anne K. McKeig
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12388
Published date01 January 2019
Date01 January 2019
FAMILY COURT ENHANCEMENT PROJECT: IMPROVING
ACCESS TO JUSTICE
Hon. Anne K. McKeig and Hon. Mary Madden
In 2013, Minnesotas Fourth Judicial District was one of four courts in the country selected by the U.S. Department of Jus-
tice, Ofce on Violence Against Women to receive a Family Court Enhancement Project (FCEP) grant, a multiyear demon-
stration initiative designed to build the capacity of court systems and partner stakeholders to improve child custody decision
making in cases involving domestic violence. The FCEP enabled the project sites to explore, implement, and assess new and
innovative court and noncourt procedures and practices. This article is an exploration of the outcomes of this project.
Key Points for the Family Court Community:
Courts and family law professionals can identify primary challenges to address barriers and gaps domestic violence
victims and their children face in family court proceedings.
Community-based, trauma-responsive, and culturally specic strategies are benecial in implementing court reform in
matters involving domestic violence.
The use of an interdisciplinary collaboration of community, court, and professional stakeholders are effective for courts
and family law professionals seeking to institute system or practice reforms.
Keywords: Community Collaboration; Custody; Domestic Violence; Family Court Enhancement Project; Family Court
Reform; Family Court Systems Change; Interdisciplinary Stakeholders; and Trauma Responsive.
I. INTRODUCTION
In 2013, Minnesotas Fourth Judicial District (the District)
1
was one of four courts in the
country selected by the U.S. Department of Justice, Ofce on Violence Against Women
(OVW) to receive a Family Court Enhancement Project grant (FCEP), a multiyear demonstra-
tion initiative designed to build the capacity of court systems and partner stakeholders to
improve child custody decision making in cases involving domestic violence.
2
The National
Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) is responsible for coordinating techni-
cal assistance to the four sites through dedicated technical assistance teams composed of repre-
sentatives from each of the projects National Partner organizations: the NCJFCJ, the Center
for Court Innovation, the Battered Womens Justice Project (BWJP), and OVW. The grant has
provided the district with the opportunity to determine how its procedures, practices, and
structures related to custody and parenting time can reduce further violence and trauma and
enhance victim and child resilience and well-being.
3
The FCEP enabled the project sites to explore, implement, and assess new and innovative
court and noncourt procedures and practices designed to improve custody and parenting-time
decision making and overcome existing barriers identied during the assessment phase of the
project.
4
As a demonstration initiative, grant sites shared lessons learned and experiences and
outcomes with other communities so each could benet from the focused work at each project
site. During the course of that work, several themes emerged. Building on those themes in part-
nership with multiple stakeholders at each site, ve fundamental values were identied that
underlie the work and developed a set of Guiding Principles that enable courts and communities
Corresponding: anne.mckeig@courts.state.mn.us; mary.madden@courts.state.mn.us
FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 57 No. 1, January 2019 107117
© 2019 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts

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