Family Wellness Court
Family Wellness Court is located in the Franklin County Probate and Family Court in Greenfield. This session helps families that have a parent who is struggling with substance use disorder and have a custody, guardianship, divorce and/or visitation case. It is based on the concept that families are systems, and that one member's illness has profound effects on other family members. This voluntary, phased program gives parents, children and their caregivers access to community-based treatment and services. The Family Wellness Court team includes the judge, probation officer, case manager, clinician, and treatment providers.
One of the goals of the program is to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder by helping families understand that substance use disorder is a disease that can be managed.
If the parties agree to participate in the program, the underlying case—custody, guardianship, divorce, and/or visitation—is put on hold while the family gets treatment. The court will provide contact between the recovering parent and the children that is in the children's best interests.
Family Resolutions Specialty Court
The Family Resolutions Specialty Court (FRSC) is located in the Hampshire County Probate and Family Court based in Northampton. The FRSC accepts cases from any of the four western counties: Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire. Families with high conflict divorce, separation, custody and related family law matters are addressed in a therapeutic and child-focused way. It is a voluntary program that gives divorcing and separating parents the chance to resolve their differences in a child-centered way and with less conflict. Parties meet with clinicians who help them understand the effects of parental conflict on children. All cases utilize skilled mediators to assist with resolving contested issues and help parents resolve disagreements. Parents learn new ways to resolve differences to minimize impact on other family members. There are no trials or motion sessions. Instead, the case moves forward through a series of conferences where all members of the team—the parents, their lawyers, and the judge—work together to solve the parents' differences.
Through the FRSC, families are also referred to community support services such as:
- Family and child therapy
- Substance abuse treatment
- Financial planning
- Employment, housing, fuel, and transportation assistance
- Early childhood intervention
- Mediation
The FRSC is available for parents with or without lawyers. Interested parents and lawyers should contact Coordinator Atty. Miriam Bourque at miriam.bourque@jud.state.ma.us.
Family Treatment Court
The Family Treatment Court is located in the Springfield Juvenile Court Department. Family Treatment Courts are specialized sessions which focus on child welfare cases where substance use is a contributing factor in the case. The Care and Protection cases are handled in non-adversarial, collaborative court sessions working with child protective services, substance use and mental health treatment professionals, and community partners to coordinate services with the goals of ensuring that children have safe, nurturing, and permanent homes, parents achieve stable recovery, and that each family member receives needed services and support. Family Treatment Courts are found in many areas of the country and have been shown to improve outcomes for children in families affected by substance use disorder, mental health issues and trauma.
The Trial Court received a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to develop and implement Family Treatment Courts across the state. The first Family Treatment Court in the Massachusetts Juvenile Court opened in Hampden County in December 2023. The next Family Treatment Court is planned for Fall River in Bristol County.
According to the national organization Children and Family Futures (CFF):
- Family Treatment Courts assist parents in entering treatment more quickly, staying in treatment longer, and completing treatment at higher rates when compared with conventional child welfare and dependency court interventions;
- increase the likelihood of reunification of children and parents with no effect on the risk of repeat maltreatment or reentry into the child welfare system; and
- reduce the amount of time that children spend in out-of-home care and the amount of time to get children to permanent homes.
In addition to the recovery/drug courts, mental health courts, Veterans Treatment Courts, and Family Treatment Courts, all of which are described on this website, there are additional special program offerings in the Massachusetts Specialty Courts in some locations.
For more information, contact specialty.courts@jud.state.ma.us.