Iaals' Honoring Families Initiative: Courts and Communities Helping Families in Transition Arising from Separation or Divorce

• Author: Melinda Taylor,Rebecca Love Kourlis,Marsha Kline Pruett,Andrew Schepard
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12032
• Date: 01 July 2013
• Published date: 01 July 2013

SPECIAL FEATURE

IAALS’ HONORING FAMILIES INITIATIVE:

COURTS AND COMMUNITIES HELPING FAMILIES IN

TRANSITION ARISING FROM SEPARATION OR DIVORCE

Rebecca Love Kourlis, Melinda Taylor, Andrew Schepard, and Marsha Kline Pruett

Keypoints:

• It is time for a national dialogue about the feasibility of creating out-of-court alternatives for separating and divorcing

families.

• Research indicates that separating parents who provide their children with consistency, emotional support, and low

conflict help children successfully adapt in the transition process.

Keywords: Divorce;Effects on Children;Family Law;Financial Impacts of Divorce;Mediation;and Separation.

February 12, 2013

The Institute for the Advancement of theAmerican Legal System (IAALS) is a national, independent

research center at the University of Denver dedicated to continuous improvement of the process and

culture of the civil justice system. By leveraging a unique blend of empirical and legal research,

innovative solutions, broad-based collaboration, communications, and ongoing measurement in stra-

tegically selected, high-impact areas, IAALS is empowering others with the knowledge, models, and

will to advance a more accessible, efficient, and accountable civil justice system.

Correspondence: Rebecca.kourlis@du.edu; melinda.taylor@du.edu; andrew.i.schepard@hofstra.edu; mpruett@smith.edu

The authors thank Jamie Rosen and Lauren Wylie,Hofstra Law School students, for their invaluable help with the research and

editing of this paper.

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol.51 No. 3, July 2013 351–376

© 2013 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts

Honoring Families is an initiative of IAALS dedicated to advancing empirically informed models to

ensure greater accessibility, efficiency, and fairness in divorce and child custody matters. Through

comprehensive analysis of existing practices and the collaborative development of recommended

models, Honoring Families empowers, encourages, and enables continuous improvement in practices

and procedures for divorce and child custody matters.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................352

A. DUE PROCESS–BASED CORE FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

COURT FOR DIVORCING AND SEPARATING PARENTS.....................................353

B. LIMITS OF THE ADVERSARY PROCESS FOR SEPARATING AND

DIVORCING FAMILIES...............................................................................................354

C. PROBLEM-SOLVING AND PLANNING PROCEDURES.........................................354

D. COURT AND COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS TO AID SEPARATING

AND DIVORCING FAMILIES.....................................................................................355

II. SEPARATING AND DIVORCING FAMILIES, COURTS, AND COMMUNITIES:

A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PERSPECTIVE................................................................355

A. AN INCREASE IN SEPARATION AND DIVORCE...................................................356

B. AN INFLUX OF CASES..............................................................................................356

C. AN INFLUX OF SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS................................................357

D. CHANGES IN SUBSTANTIVE FAMILY LAW CREATING MORE

DISCRETION AND CONTENTION............................................................................358

E. RECOGNITION THAT SEPARATION AND DIVORCE CREATES

ECONOMIC, BEHAVIORAL, EMOTIONAL, AND EDUCATIONAL

RISKS FOR CHILDREN...............................................................................................358

F. RECOGNITION THAT CONTINUING CONFLICT BETWEEN PARENTS

EXACERBATES THE RISKS FOR CHILDREN ARISING FROM

SEPARATION OR DIVORCE.......................................................................................359

G. CONFLICTED SEPARATION AND DIVORCE GENERATES HIGH

COSTS TO PARENTS AND BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY.......................................361

III. PROBLEM-SOLVING-PROMOTING PROCESSES AND THE FAMILY

COURT—THE “VELVET REVOLUTION”......................................................................362

A. MEDIATION..................................................................................................................362

B. EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION..............................................................................364

C. PARENT EDUCATION.................................................................................................365

D. TRIAGE AND DIFFERENTIATED CASE MANAGEMENT.....................................365

E. THE VELVET REVOLUTION IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR........................................366

IV. THE DILEMMAS OF THE PRESENT...............................................................................367

V. QUESTIONS GOING FORWARD......................................................................................368

VI. PROPOSED PRINCIPLES FOR COURT AND COMMUNITY

PROCESSES SERVING FAMILIES IN TRANSITION DUE TO SEPARATION

AND DIVORCE...................................................................................................................370

VII. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................371

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Honoring Families Initiative: Mission

The pages that follow will describe the premises and policies for the Honoring Families Initiative

(HFI) of IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. The goal of the

352 FAMILY COURT REVIEW