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Sunday, June 08, 2008

Ind. Courts - New Family Resource Center opening Monday in the Indy City-County Building

Jon Murray reports today in the Indianapolis Star in a story that begins:

The scenario happens too often: A divorce or paternity case languishes in a Marion County court for months. Animosity builds by the day. A judge feels ill-suited to sort out the child's best interest.

The Family Court Project is designed to break such logjams. The project has connected hundreds of low-income families with mediators, who often can defuse such hostility in hours. It also has organized information sharing between courts so that judges can see the entire picture of a family that might have cases in far-flung courts, involving guardianship, domestic violence or other issues.
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On Monday, the 6-year-old project will reach a new milestone with the opening of its new Family Resource Center.

The center -- across from the Marion County clerk's office inside the City-County Building in Downtown Indianapolis -- will give the project a public face. It also will offer computers and other resources to families mired in court cases, particularly those representing themselves in court.

Its opening coincides with a change that moves the filing of new divorce and paternity cases to the center from the clerk's office. Officials hope a new form will flag families that already have active cases.

"We have been inefficient in identifying families that are high-risk," said Marion Superior Court Judge Robyn Moberly, who oversees the project with Circuit Court Judge Ted Sosin.

A judge in a divorce case might not learn for months about a drunken-driving arrest or that the state has taken custody of children, Moberly said. Or, a judge in one case might issue an order that conflicts with one from another judge.

Unlike some large court systems, Marion County lacks a standalone family court.

Divorces get farmed out randomly to about a dozen courts. Others handle domestic violence and protective orders. Paternity cases are split between the juvenile and circuit courts, while the juvenile court takes guardianship cases initiated by Child Protective Services.

The project is intended to smooth the gaps that can trip up families already stressed beyond the breaking point.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 8, 2008 10:32 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts