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OPDV Bulletin: Better Serving Families in Crisis: Integrated Domestic Violence Courts

Judy Harris Kluger, Statewide Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Court Operations and Planning, is spearheading a three-year comprehensive plan to establish Integrated Domestic Violence Courts throughout New York State.

In an effort to better serve families in crisis, New York State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye announced in her 2003 State of the Judiciary a comprehensive three-year plan to create Integrated Domestic Violence Courts (IDV Courts) statewide, beginning this year with the expansion of IDV Courts in each judicial district. The goal of this plan is to change the way the justice system treats families and children – promoting more informed judicial decision-making, consistency in court orders and fewer court appearances as well as providing enhanced services to victims and ensuring offender accountability. These courts, which build on the New York State Unified Court System’s successful history of promoting innovation, respond to a very real problem: the complex structure of the court system, which currently requires domestic violence victims and their families to appear in multiple courts (in front of different judges) to address their criminal, family, matrimonial and other issues. IDV Courts, by contrast, are dedicated to the idea of one-family/one-judge, enabling a single judge to hear related cases involving domestic violence victims and their families.

The IDV Court plan will build upon the success of our pilot IDV Courts now operating in several judicial districts throughout the state. The court expansion will be phased in over the next three years with adoption of statewide protocols and guidelines that promote best practices. Adopting a statewide model will ensure that individual jurisdictions do not have to "reinvent the wheel," and can take advantage of lessons learned from our pilot IDV Courts. The IDV courts will be supported by comprehensive statewide training, planning and technical assistance as well as a plan for assessment and evaluation that will enable managers and policy makers to continue to refine the judicial response to these most demanding cases.

The IDV Court model provides an opportunity to address the myriad of inter-related family problems that may bring a family into the court system in a comprehensive manner while providing integrated service delivery and improving both court efficiency and informed judicial decision-making. The IDV Courts advance the following core goals:

• informed judicial decision-making based on comprehensive and current information on all matters involving the family;
• consistent handling of all matters relating to the same family by a single judge;
• linkage to social services and other resources to comprehensively address the needs of family members;
• promotion of victim safety through elimination of conflicting orders and decisions;
• efficient use of court resources, with reduced numbers of appearances and speedier disposition
• increased confidence in the court system by reducing inefficiency for litigants;
• coordinated response and collaboration among criminal justice and child welfare agencies and community-based groups offering social services and assistance to domestic violence victims and their children.

The expansion of the IDV Courts will in effect operationally merge the courts for families affected by domestic violence. In addition to its impact on the families who come to court seeking justice, the Courts would also achieve significant systems savings, helping courts avoid duplication of resources and realize economies of scale. It is estimated that tens of thousands of cases each year would be treated together with other existing related cases, creating a comprehensive and convenient system for victims and their families and one that would eliminate costly case processing redundancies.

Most importantly, the IDV Courts will enhance victim safety and help facilitate a victim’s immediate access to a range of social services and enhance judicial monitoring of offenders in both criminal and family cases.