Child Support
Her Justice and Bill Sponsors Senator Roxanne Persaud and Assemblymember Karines Reyes are advancing legislation to streamline the process for establishing child support orders in New York, so that the system through which parents receive child support are as equitable, empowering, and as efficient as possible.
Child support provides a pathway to economic stability for thousands of single parent households. Currently, getting a fair child support order in New York involves a lengthy and complex pursuit through Family Court – a system facing a tremendous backlog due to the pandemic.
Her Justice is committed to ensuring justice for parents navigating this complex and over-burdened system. That’s why we propose an expedited settlement conference process in Family Court for those pursuing child support that do not need to dispute income. This would alleviate the courts’ backlog and allow parents to establish fair and timely support orders in a fraction of the time it currently takes in Family Court. See below.
Why go through lengthy litigation when there is a more efficient alternative?
Creating an expedited settlement conference process for parents with straightforward child support cases would:
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- Free up the courts’ limited and valuable resources to better serve those that require judicial intervention in litigation.
- Address the backlogs worsened by the pandemic and help parents achieve a fair support order much faster than if they were to wait for their turn to be heard in front of a magistrate in court.
- Provide an opportunity to reach an agreement in one sitting, rather than having to appear for multiple hearings due to inefficiencies in the court system.
The time is now to create better options for parents pursuing child support in New York, making the system more efficient for all.
You can help us advance a fairer justice system for child support.
We invite you to learn more and take action with these advocacy tools about the legislation:
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Child Support Reform One-Pager
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Legislation Fact Sheet
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Template Memo in Support of the Legislation
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Talking Points for Meetings with Elected Officials
For questions and other inquiries, contact Rachel Braunstein, Director, Policy at [email protected].
Report: Towards Justice for Parents in Child Support Courts
Her Justice is committed to ensuring that the system through which parents obtain child support produces the most favorable outcomes for women like our clients, through processes that are as equitable, empowering, and as efficient as possible. Her Justice knows that going to court for child support can be complicated, and for complex cases, without a lawyer, parents come up short – yet, 90% of parents in child support cases appear unrepresented. To us, this is a critical justice issue that greatly impacts women living in poverty like our clients, yet it is a problem that is invisible to many.
In partnership with the New York Community Trust, Her Justice has launched Phase II of the Towards Justice for Parents in Child Support Courts project. Her Justice is now working to advance policy reform so that the system through which parents obtain child support produces the most favorable outcomes for women like our clients through processes that are as equitable, empowering, and as efficient as possible.
This second phase is informed by a 2-year court-watching project conducted by Her Justice, in consultation with the Fund for Modern Courts, in which 89 trained volunteers observed 797 child support case appearances in the New York City Family Courts. Read our report Towards Justice for Parents in Child Support Courts on the findings from this project and recommendations drawn from it. See key findings below or click here to explore additional data from the project.
Key Project Findings
Click here to read or download the full report >