	Background

The District of Columbia Family Court Act of 2001 (P.L. The act stated that, not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment, the chief judge of the Superior Court shall submit to the president and Congress a transition plan for the Family Court of the Superior Court and shall include in the plan the following:   The chief judge’s determination of the role and function of the presiding judge of the Family Court. However, the plan does not (1) include a request for judicial nomination, (2) indicate the number of nonjudicial staff needed for the Family Court, (3) indicate if the 12 judges who volunteered for the Family Court meet all of the qualifications outlined in the act, and (4) state how the number of magistrate judges to hire under the expedited process was determined. The Transition Plan Includes a Description of the Court’s Plan for Transferring Abuse and Neglect Cases to the Family Court

The transition plan establishes criteria for transferring cases to the Family Court and states that the Family Court intends to have all child abuse and neglect cases pending before judges serving in other divisions of the Superior Court closed or transferred into the Family Court by June 2003. However, evaluation measures listed in the plan are oriented more toward the court’s processes, such as whether hearings are held on time, than on outcomes. In addition, the plan does not include a request that the Judicial Nomination Commission recruit and the president nominate the additional three individuals to serve on the Superior Court, as required by the Family Court Act. However, although specifically required by the act, the transition plan does not state how the court determined the number of magistrate judges to be hired under the expedited process.
What GAO Found

The District of Columbia Family Court Act of 2001 was enacted to (1) redesignate the Family Division of the Superior Court as the Family Court of the Superior Court, (2) recruit trained and experienced judges to serve in the Family Court, and (3) promote consistency and efficiency in the assignment of judges and the courts actions and proceedings. The act requires the chief judge of the Superior Court to submit a transition plan outlining the proposed operation of the Family Court. The plan shows that the Superior Court has made progress transitioning its Family Division to a Family Court, but challenges remain. The transition plan addresses most, but not all, of the act's required elements. For example, the plan identifies the number of judges and magistrate judges needed and outlines an approach for closing or transferring cases from other divisions to the Family Court. However, the plan does not include (1) a request that the Judicial Nomination Commission recruit and the president nominate the additional judges the court believes are necessary, (2) the number of nonjudicial staff needed for the Family Court, (3) information on the qualifications of the judges selected for the court, and (4) information on how the court determined the number of magistrate judges to hire under the expedited process provided for in the act. Although not specifically required by the act, the plan includes information on performance management and enumerates performance measures that are oriented more toward the court's processes than on outcomes. Measures that focus on outcomes for children and families could help to optimize the court's performance. This testimony is based on a May report (GAO-02-534).