King County Superior Court May Soon Lose Family Court Services

How much will eliminating this service save the county?  The King County Family Court Services department is slated for closure if the .2% sales tax increase fails to pass on November 2, 2010.  Shutting down Family Court Services would save $1,202,120 and eliminate 25.75 full-time employees.  This savings is net of $897,525 in revenue that would be lost from fees that are charged for the services.

 

What does Family Court Services do?  In 2009, Family Court Services provided the following services to King County families:

 

·      Screened 2,580 cases

·      Completed 181 mediations

·      Completed 241 evaluations

·      Completed 192 domestic violence assessments

·      Completed 205 CPS status reports. 

 

How will this closure impact King County families?  Social Workers in Family Court Services (FCS) assist clients and the court to settle family law cases safely and promptly with mediation and evaluation services focusing on the best interests of and risks to children.  These services are not mandated and would be eliminated.  Elimination means low income clients and high risk families will not have this resource.  This will result in more cases going to trial, longer wait times and backed up court calendars. The court will no longer have domestic violence assessments, CPS status reports and risk assessments that focus on high risk and lethality issues.  This will compromise the safety of families in litigation.  The early case resolution management program would also be eliminated, as would six of the eight family law facilitator program employees.

 

What options will I have if Family Court Services goes away?  If you need the assistance of a third-party evaluator to resolve your parenting issues, you will need to hire a private Guardian Ad Litem or evaluator.  Their fees range between $150 and $250 per hour and most require an advance fee payment of around $1,500 before starting work on your case.  Here is a link to the approved list of these service providers:  http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/SuperiorCourt/civil/exparte.aspx.  Go to the bottom of this page and click on the link entitled, “Title 26 Family Law GAL Registry.”  This will download a complete spreadsheet of the approved GALs and evaluators.  You may call anyone on the list to ask if he or she is accepting new appointments.  Once you have found someone who will accept appointment, you can ask the court to appoint him or her to your case.