The Family Court—Evolving Concepts

The first sixty-eight years of the twentieth century have seen the development of and, in some states, great improvement in the services offered by the juvenile court. At the same time, there began to emerge the so-called family court, dealing in various communities with varying types of husband-and-wife cases. There have been some attempts at consolidation into one integrated family court, more often abortive than successful. There have been, and there still are, differences of opinion about the extent of jurisdiction of the combined court. Questions have been raised concerning whether it should be a separate court or a division of the court of general trial jurisdiction. There is conflict about whether these courts require "specialized" judges. The trend today seems to be toward an all-encompassing family court, with complete jurisdiction in all children's and family matters; a court which might well be a division of the highest court of original jurisdiction; a court which is manned by specialized judges who have the assistance of helping professionals, such as case-workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and marriage counsellors. With the ever increasing incidence of delinquency and family breakdown, this movement is likely to gain additional momentum.