Alabama's 2002 Access Visitation Grant Program

• Hold a minimum of one meeting with the Information Subcommittee on Access and Visitation to discuss current status and plan to disseminate the written material(s).

• Hold a minimum of one Advisory Committee on Access and Visitation. Present finalized copy of the written material(s). Request feedback for final approval of Supreme Court Rule or statute for the standardization of a minimum set of standards for parenting education classes.

• Request approval of Supreme Court Rule from the Standing Committee on Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration.

• Disseminate material(s) to participating Judicial Volunteer Program Counties.

• Begin production of the Parenting Plan Video.

• Conduct 20-hour General Mediation training(s) for volunteers as pre-requisite for Domestic Mediation program counties. Training will be conducted through a local partnership with Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama.

• Conduct 16-hour Domestic Mediation training for participating Judicial Volunteer Program counties. Training will be conducted through a local partnership with Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama.

• Conduct domestic violence in-services for Judicial Volunteers in all programs. Training will be conducted through partnerships with their local Domestic Violence Coalition.

• The Administrative Office of Courts’ personnel will monitor and provide administrative support to participating counties across the State of Alabama.

(2) Continue to provide state administrative/research support for the access/visitation program and development of informational materials for statewide dissemination.

The availability of the grants to states for Access and Visitation Grant funding has provided the necessary resources through which a forum for addressing issues concerning access and visitation and the development of more effective policies, procedures, and programs to enhance non-custodial parents’ access to and visitation of their children. Dynamic family law issues warrants the continuous administrative/research support through the Administrative Office of Courts and the Advisory Committee on Access and Visitation. Furthermore, there is a need to continually provide basic information to the general public. Judges and lawyers also benefit from up-to-date information on family law issues, that promote more consistency in custody/visitation decisions among court jurisdictions, and to minimize gender-bias as it applies to decisions relating to custody and visitation.

Within the state, there is a great need for materials and resources to be standardized. Currently, there are some Judges within the state that are ordering parties in a divorce action to attend and complete a mandatory Parenting Education class as a prerequisite for obtaining their divorce. There are no set minimum standards for these classes by statute or court rule nor any current information as to the trainer, program content and effectiveness.

1^st and 2^nd Quarters

• Hold a minimum of one meeting with the Information Subcommittee on Access and Visitation to discuss needs and issues as they relate to Access and Visitation. Begin research and development of related booklets for parents and children. Draft content for review for next meeting. Begin drafting content and script for Parenting Plan Video. Begin bid process to contract for Parenting Plan Video and recruitment of recognizable community leaders for the video.

Hold a minimum of one Advisory Committee meeting on Access and Visitation. Update the committee members as to current status of the program. Survey the members on the need of a Supreme Court Rule for minimum standards for parenting education classes. Request feedback for innovative ideas/programs to address the needs of families within the state.

3^rd and 4^th Quarters

• Regional training conferences may be held to educate judges, attorneys, and other appropriate officials on access and visitation issues.

• Hold a minimum of one meeting with the Information Subcommittee on Access and Visitation to discuss current status of written material(s). Discuss survey results on the need of a Supreme Court Rule for minimum standards for parenting education classes.

• Research and draft Supreme Court Rule authorizing the standardization of a minimum set of standards for parenting education classes. Under the Supreme Court Rule, minimum standards will be outlined for parenting education classes, i.e. definitions, length and nature of the program, program requirements and program evaluation.

Evaluation

In accordance with Section 303.109, the Administrative Office of Courts will provide monitoring services for all county Domestic Mediation Programs to ensure that the programs are providing services authorized in section 469B(a) of the Social Security Act; are being conducted in an effective and efficient manner; are complying with Federal evaluation and reporting requirements; and contain safeguards to insure the safety of parents and children.

With regard to the evaluation, the Administrative Office of Courts will set up initial forms for participants to complete before participation in the Domestic Mediation Program. These forms will be used to gauge any type of domestic violence in the home. In addition, the AOC will utilize evaluation forms for the participants after completion of the mediation session(s). The forms will be designed to collect qualitative and quantitative data to measure the effectiveness of the program.

The Administrative Office of Courts will submit such reports as specified in Section 303.109 or requested by the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Geographic Location

The geographic location for this grant will be the State of Alabama. Programs will be established in rural and urban settings. The bold areas represent those counties where Domestic Mediation Programs already exist.

North Alabama Judicial Circuit Number of Divorces (2000)

Madison County                                  23rd                                                        1,621
Morgan County                                   8th                                                                                 783
Cullman County                                  32nd                                                            519

Central Alabama

Tuscaloosa County                              6th                                                                                 542
Hale County                                          4th                                                         44
Elmore County                                     19th                                                           431
Lee County                                         37th                                                          452

South Alabama

Baldwin County                                    28th                                                           816
Geneva County                                    33rd                                                           71
Dale County                                         33rd                                                          420
Russell County                                     26th                                                                             351

Dissemination of Project Information

The dissemination of materials produced with grant proceeds will follow the plan outlined last year. All copies of published access/visitation materials will be distributed to judges having juvenile and domestic relations jurisdiction, clerks of court, state and local offices of the Department of Human Resources, attorneys representing the Department of Human Resources in Title IV-D cases, to the Alabama State Bar and officers of the Family Law Section of the Bar, and to the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution. Copies of the materials will also be provided to the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, state court administrators, state IV-D agencies, other agencies or states, and state or national organizations with an interest in access/visitation.

The Administrative Office of Courts will make available to interested court systems or organizations any of the working documents or evaluation reports. Notice of the availability of this information will be included in the distribution of the published materials.

Organization Profile

The Administrative Office of Courts is the administrative agency for the Alabama Judicial System. Under the direction of The Honorable Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, and Dr. Rich Hobson, Administrative Director of Courts, the office is charged with providing the centralized, state-level management support for the operation of the state’s courts. This includes the development of improved procedures and systems to increase the operational capacity of the courts and to promote the efficient delivery of judicial services. The Administrative Office of Courts is an agency of the State of Alabama, a tax-exempt organization, and operates under the Federal ID number 63-6000619.