COURT PROGRAMS AND
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
The N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts’ (NCAOC) Court Programs and
Management Services Division assists our state’s courts to provide justice and
increase access to justice for families and individuals who face civil, dependency,
delinquency and criminal court actions. We accomplish this through specific programs
and services — child custody mediation, interpreting services, drug treatment courts,
unified family courts, juvenile court improvement projects, alternative dispute
resolution services and jury support.
Each day we provide information, advice, support and solutions to problems
to those we assist. Tasks that we perform to this end include:
Providing tools and services to advance the efficient management of
court resources
Promoting and facilitating effective court services / programs based on
research and best practices
Communicating, collaborating and partnering with stakeholders
Advocating for existing and new resources to institutionalize and increase
programs and services to the courts
Providing opportunities to train and develop court officials and other judicial
branch staff to enhance best practices and promote ethical practices
Identifying, encouraging and supporting innovations in court management,
services and programs
Modeling performance measurement and accountability for outcomes of
programs and services
STATEWIDE PROGRAM DATA
State Fiscal Year 2009 – 2010
Child custody mediation
and permanency mediation
9,415 child custody cases mediated
5,982 drafted parenting agreements
135 permanency cases mediated
Foreign language interpreting
 
 
10 NCAOC Spanish court interpreters
80 certified court interpreters
170 contract interpreters
Drug treatment courts
 
2,003 participants
71% participants in treatment
more than six months
41% successful completions
Family courts
 
45,428 domestic cases
83.6% of pending domestic cases
were less than one year old
Alternative dispute resolution
 
3,484 family financial cases
5,373 arbitration cases
10,241 mediated settlement cases
Juvenile court improvement projects
8 project directors
2,591 abuse / neglect / dependency petitions
Ongoing improvements to JWise
information system
Ongoing cross-disciplinary specialized training
WHO WE ASSIST
Court officials
Judges, clerks of court, district attorneys,
magistrates, defense attorneys, parent attorneys,
Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) attorneys
Court staff
Custody mediators, family court staff, drug
treatment court staff, juvenile court improvement
project staff, trial court administrators, trial court
coordinators, judicial assistants, clerks
Contractors
Interpreters, permanency mediators,
parenting educators
STAKEHOLDERS
N.C. citizens, N.C. Department of Health and
Human Services, treatment providers, Treatment
Alternatives for Safer Communities (TASC) staff,
school staff, N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, N.C. Department
of Correction
Assisting court officials and court staff to provide justice and increase
access to justice through court programs and management services.
JURY SERVICE VIDEO
Our new Jury Service video is one way we directly provide service
to citizens of North Carolina. This 15-minute video provides
information about the role of a juror, the N.C. general court of
justice and how it works, and what to expect in the courtroom.
Available at www.nccourts.org.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Child custody
mediation services
Assist district court staff to provide neutral, non-adversarial court-ordered mediation services in cases involving
custody / visitation of minor children and to prepare parenting agreements. Provide mentoring, specialized training,
professional development and mediation coverage as needed to custody mediators. Assist districts to develop and
implement permanency mediation services (provided by contractors) for parties in child abuse / neglect / dependency
cases in order to establish stability for the placement of the child or children involved.
Foreign language
interpreting services
Help facilitate equal access to justice for limited English proficient (LEP) speaking and / or deaf and hard of hearing people
involved in court proceedings. Provide court interpreters for interpreting and translating services for court matters for which
the state is authorized to pay. Administer court interpreter training and nationally recognized certification testing for foreign
language interpreters to ensure that proficient and ethical foreign language court interpreters are provided to the courts.
Drug treatment court Facilitate planning, development and implementation of new drug treatment courts, which provide intensive judicial
supervision to high-risk, high-need chemically addicted adult offenders, juvenile delinquents and parent respondents
in child abuse / neglect / dependency cases. Support existing drug treatment courts through technical assistance,
consultation and problem-solving. Coordinate specialized training of court teams which include judges, district
attorneys, defense attorneys, parent attorneys, drug treatment court staff, probation staff, treatment staff, TASC
staff, N.C. Division of Social Services (DSS) staff and Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) staff.
Unified family court Facilitate planning, development and implementation of new unified family courts, which coordinate the management
of family law cases (e.g. divorce, child custody, equitable distribution, alimony, child abuse / neglect / dependency and
termination of parental rights) to ensure timely and efficient resolution of legal matters within established time standards.
Support existing unified family courts through technical assistance, consultation and problem-solving. Coordinate
specialized training of family court judges and family court staff.
Juvenile court
Improvement project
Facilitate planning, development and implementation of new juvenile court improvement projects, which coordinate
the management of child abuse / neglect / dependency and termination of parental rights cases to ensure timely,
efficient and effective resolution of cases. Support existing juvenile court improvement projects through technical
assistance, consultation and problem-solving. Coordinate specialized training of juvenile court judges, parent attorneys,
DSS attorneys and staff, GAL attorneys and staff, juvenile court improvement staff and clerks. Fund staff who make
improvements to the JWise information system. Fund staff who train JWise users on the application.
Alternative dispute
resolution services
Provide support to judicial staff and clerks in districts with alternative dispute resolution services (family financial
settlement, court-ordered arbitration, mediated settlement conferences and the clerk’s mediation program) which
offer a less adversarial, more expeditious process for settling legal disputes.
November 2010
Learn more at www.nccourts.org
ABOUT COURT PROGRAMS AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES