Miami-Dade County

CCJ/COSCA FAMILY JUSTICE INITIATIVE

Demonstration Site Report: Miami-Dade County

MIAMI-DADE DEMONSTRATION SITE REPORT

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Alicia Davis, J.D. Teri Deal, M.Ed. Lydia Hamblin, Ph.D. Paula Hannaford-Agor, J.D. Miguel Trujillo MPP

The Family Justice Initiative (FJI) is guiding courts toward improved outcomes for families, while managing costs, controlling delays and facilitating healthy outcomes. FJI is a partnership of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). It is overseen by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) and supported with a grant from the State Justice Initiative (SJI).

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Background ....................................................................................................................................................................3 Methods and Data .........................................................................................................................................................4 Landscape Data..............................................................................................................................................................4 Site Visit .........................................................................................................................................................................8 Key Players.....................................................................................................................................................................8 Process map (statues, court rules, business practices) ...............................................................................................10 Alignment with FJI Principles and Recommendations.................................................................................................12 Adopt a Problem-Solving Approach (Principles 1-4)....................................................................................................12 Triage Family Cases (Principles 5-8).............................................................................................................................14 Training and Stakeholder Relationships (Principles 9-10) ...........................................................................................16 Data Collection, Evaluation, and Technology Innovations (Principles 11-13) ............................................................16

Miami-Dade County COVID-19 Response

Updated September 30, 2020

The Family Justice Initiative (FJI) worked with the Family Division of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida (Miami-Dade County), due to their established commitment to innovative responses for handling family cases. Prior to participating as one of the FJI demonstration sites, the Court already engaged in practices espoused by the FJI Principles for Family Justice Reform.

For example, through the leadership of Judge Scott Bernstein and court administrator Eugene Carral, the Court had already started implementation of a soft pilot of triage through case management "pods." The Court also had an expedited dissolution process with the option for a final divorce decree to be issued by mail without appearance for the parties before a judge under limited circumstances. The Court already counted with a robust array of tools for problem-solving in family cases, such as an in-house mediation unit, a well-developed Family Court Services Unit, and a Self-Help Center that provides excellent quality legal information to parties in multiple languages.

Along with other jurisdictions across the nation, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida was hard hit by the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the Family Division faced major reductions in court operations, limited inperson appearances, and social distancing guidelines. The Court's committed leaders mobilized to develop solutions to the new challenges, thus continuing services to court users almost with almost zero disruption. The COVID-19 disruption has forced the Court to rethink the way they use their online case management systems, to assist with tasks that were not done electronically prior to the pandemic. The Court also had to find ways to connect with the public in creative ways, as described below.

courtMAP

Prior to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Court used courtMAP, an online management system that provides scheduling, automatic hearing notifications/reminders, and allows judges to create and send orders electronically. courtMAP enables parties to self-schedule case events and send in documentation.

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