Connecticut’s family court systems have been radically changed through Judge Michael Albis’s bold Triage & Pathways Initiative. This new approach includes early mediation and new court procedures that allow two fit parents satisfying certain conditions to take charge of their parenting plan without hiring lawyers, filing any motions, or arguing in front of a judge.
The approach promotes cooperative child-centered solutions rather than adversarial litigation, which often discourages separated parents from focusing on raising their children. Triage & Pathways procedures encourage parents to learn about co-parenting and parallel parenting of their children in separated households. Parents can use the money they might pay to lawyers and court ordered professionals to benefit their children.
This move was strongly supported in a survey conducted by the National Parents Organization and the Shared Parenting Council of Connecticut. When asked whether children are best served by procedures that allow them to develop a “parenting plan without hiring lawyers, filing any motions, or arguing in front of a judge,” 80% of both men and women said “yes.”
Over 85% of both men and women supported a change in Connecticut law to create “a rebuttable presumption that shared parenting is in the best interest of a child after a parental separation.” And a stunning 94% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who “supports children spending significant, up to equal, amounts of time with each parent following parental separation or divorce.” Eighty-three percent think that awarding sole custody to just one parent increases conflict. Here’s a link to the full survey results.
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