The Nebraska Court Improvement Project received a grant from the Sherwood Foundation to study the creation of a Unified Family Court in Douglas County. A Unified Family Court combines the elements of traditional family and juvenile courts into one entity and includes other resources, such as social services, critical to the resolution of a family’s problems. It is a comprehensive court with jurisdiction over all family related legal matters, such as divorce, custody, child support, domestic violence, delinquency, abuse and neglect.

The grant will allow a team from the University of Baltimore School of Law to examine Nebraska’s current system and offer suggestions for moving forward with a unified family court pilot project.

A team from Nebraska will travel to an existing Unified Family Court site to observe and learn about implementation of the unified family court model.

The grant will culminate in recommendations for implementation presented to the Supreme Court Commission on Children in the Courts at the June 2018 meeting.

Read about Unified Family Courts - University of Baltimore: http://law.ubalt.edu/centers/cfcc/ufc/unifiedfamilycourts.cfm

For Information Contact:
Deb VanDyke-Ries, Director of the Nebraska Court Improvement Project
deb.vandyke.ries@nebraska.gov