The National Center For State Courts (NCSC) has recently published “ACHIEVING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF REENTRY AND FATHERS’ COURTS“. In it the author, Jane Macoubrie draws parallels between Reentry and Father’s Courts. I found the comparison of interest, especially since I was ignorant as to the existence of “Fathering Courts”. According to the author, there are 81 existing [fathering]courts or closely court-integrated fathers programs” across the U.S. There is even a hybrid Father’s Reentry Court in Washington D.C. The publication points out the significant similarities between Fathers Court and Reentry Court. As the author states, “they both serve individuals who face significant barriers to employment, are unemployed or underemployed, are usually poorly educated, frequently have a criminal background, and may also have physical or emotional illnesses, literacy issues, substance abuse problems, or multiple-partner fertility”.
Significantly, this publication poses an additional question of some importance to the Problem-Solving Court field. Is the accelerated proliferation of problem-solving courts into distinct specialty courts dealing with limited populations an issue that needs to be addressed?
