DCRI Initiatives

Court Procedures

• Open Family Court; ensure public trust.
• Hear contempt charges within one week of formal complaint providing and enforcing penalties for those found guilty.
• Open Family Court one night a week for filing motions or contempt hearings.
• Make the process of divorce, property settlement, custody/visitation, and child support in Family Court more efficient in order for families to move past litigation and onto their separate lives.
• Encourage Pro Se Litigant Resource Centers in Kent and Sussex County to match New Castle County's provision of providing 15 minutes with an attorney.

Custody Evaluations

• Standardize regulations and guidelines for all Custody Evaluators and mandate these be followed when evaluating custody issues.
• Ensure Custody Evaluators be educated in Domestic Violence, sexual abuse, and socialization needs of the child.
• Mandate that all custody evaluations are given to the court, attorneys, and litigants in writing before the hearing date.
• For consistency and fairness, mandate a reasonable flat fee for custody evaluations.
• Encourage the Family Court attorneys to broaden the list of Custody Evaluators so litigants have a choice of more than 1-2 evaluators in Delaware.

Children's Rights

• Amend Children's Rights statutes to include the right to receive counseling, dentist visits, medical doctor visits where one parent refuses to allow such activities.
• Advocate for a panel of CASA volunteers to hear issues of medical concerns for children (e.g., when one parent refuses to agree to health care situations) rather than parent pay a "parent coordinator".
• Make it illegal to sanction a parent with loss of custody for reporting child abuse/neglect/spousal abuse to Delaware Family Services (DFS) and/or the Family Court. Advocate for the passage of the Protective Parent Reform Act in Delaware.
• Advocate for children to be interviewed as a normal part of the court process.

Judges

• Ensure judicial accountability for those judges who delay decisions and hold litigants in low regard with their court room behavior (e.g., screaming and demeaning litigants, not enforcing rules of law or rules of evidence).
• Advocate for judicial clarity and specificity in formal decisions rather than the present ambiguous decisions (eg. state summer begins and ends according to the school districts timing, etc.)
• Advocate against case judges hearing requests for their recusal.
• Advocate that judges serve no more than 6 years with a break in service to occur before any reappointment. Judges can become institutionalized over time.
• Advocate for children to be interviewed as a normal part of the court process and record the interview.
• Advocate for a panel of CASA volunteers to hear issues of medical concerns for children (eg., when one parent refuses to agree to health care situations)

Attorneys

• Pass legislation to put a cap on attorneys fees.
• Implement regulations and guidelines for attorneys to protect clients from actions that are detrimental to their case (e.g., dropping clients 24 hours or less before a hearing, not supporting their client's wishes during representation, postponing hearings consistently, etc.).
• End lawyers disciplining lawyers through the Office Of Disciplinary Counsel. Rather, have a panel of lay persons hearing the complaints.