Child Support & Family Law Committee

Overview

The Family Law Committee engages in a broad range of projects related to domestic relations courts and the experiences of families while moving through them. We look at issues of access, as well as efficiency and equity, in the Cook County Courts as well as in the Illinois child support system.

The Committee works on projects aimed to improve the experience of parents, children, families, and divorce litigants navigating the Cook County courts, with a particular emphasis on unrepresented parents and particularly vulnerable children.

In 2013, Illinois’ child support enforcement system (a combination of the courts, the Department of Child Support Services, the Office of the State’s Attorney Child Support Enforcement, and the Department of Health and Family Services) served over 670,000 children, providing their custodial parents over $830,000,000 in support. 96% of the parents who benefit from the receipt of child support are women and more than 50% of the parents are women of color. For the 29% of custodial parents living below the federal poverty line, child support represents, on average, 52% of their annual income. Cook County’s Domestic Relations Division sees roughly 10,000 new petitions for child support not related to divorce actions in a year and about 6,000 new divorce cases which include issues of support for minor children. In 2013, over 40,000 pending cases in the domestic relations division (combined cases of divorces without children, divorces with children, and support/visitation cases without divorce) included at least one unrepresented party. It is critical for these families that the Cook County Domestic Relations courts be efficient, fair and accessible for persons who cannot afford an attorney.

In partnership with Domestic Relations Division Presiding Judge Grace Dickler, the Family Law Committee has worked to consolidate the Domestic Relations Division into a single court handling divorce, paternity, and the support of children, thereby helping to end a centuries-old, “separate but unequal” practice handling custody matters of never-married parents differently than of divorcing parents. Likewise, the Family Courts Committee worked with the court to expand its Hearing Officer Program to courts in Markham and Maywood with the consolidation of the division. The result being a shortened time to resolution for child support, divorce, and parenting matters.

 

Co-Chairs: Joan Colen & Nicole McKinnon

Monthly Meetings: 3:00 PM (CST) every Third Tuesday of the month. 

Click here to learn more about the committee.

 

Current Projects

Hearing Officer Program

  • When the Domestic Relations Division consolidated its Parentage and Domestic Relations/Divorce divisions into a unified docket in 2017, it also restructured the administrative hearing officer program, greatly expanding the range of issues they were empowered to hear. The Child & Family Law Committee is valuating the Hearing Officer Program with the hope to advocate for its expansion throughout Cook County, the state, and nationally

Early Resolution Program

  • Helped launch the Early Resolution Program (ERP) in the Domestic Relations Division, evaluate that program, and determine best practices while also partnering with community organizations to develop outreach and education programs for the public
  • Chicago Appleseed & Chicago Council of Lawyers volunteers observed the ERP pilot program in the Daley Center in May and June of 2019. In those eight weeks, litigants from 92 cases appeared for their ERP appointment. Generally, we found, cases which move through the ERP experience reduced time in court as well as a speedier resolution; the program is benefiting both litigants and the Division

Cook County Child Representative Program

  • Researching the policies and procedures related to the Child Representative Program in Cook County to understand its effectiveness and develop recommendations for improvement as needed

Child Support

  • Created and then updated the Attorneys’ Guide and a community-friendly Users’ Guide to the Administrative Process of Child Support Adjudication

 

Publications