Family Court ReviewPub Date : 2026-02-26Epub Date: 2026-01-07DOI: 10.1111/fcre.70039
Gavin Feltman
{"title":"The next frontier of parent–child contact problems-the wild-west of court-ordered reunification therapy","authors":"Gavin Feltman","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70039","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fcre.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The family courts have become deeply muddled in seeking to repair parent–child relationships that go significantly beyond making custody and parenting orders by ordering children and the non-aligned parent to participate in reunification therapy. Absent guidelines on the scope of court-ordered reunification therapy or resources supporting these programs, we have a wild west of judges making vague and overbroad orders that are often overturned as being contrary to the children's best interest. This Note intends to recommend statutory criteria and model proposed orders when reunification therapy is ordered to promote better and safer outcomes for families.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"64 1","pages":"124-138"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147563832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Family Court ReviewPub Date : 2026-02-26Epub Date: 2025-12-31DOI: 10.1111/fcre.70046
Bruce M. Smyth, Michael A. Saini
{"title":"Introduction: Family court review special feature on changeovers, choices, and challenges—Understanding children and young people's between-home transitions after parental separation","authors":"Bruce M. Smyth, Michael A. Saini","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70046","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fcre.70046","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"64 1","pages":"12-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147570296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Family Court ReviewPub Date : 2026-02-26Epub Date: 2026-01-02DOI: 10.1111/fcre.70037
Elizabeth J. Goldsborough, Margaret Lloyd Sieger, Shiyi Chen, Jessica Becker
{"title":"Building the evidence for family treatment courts: Reunification and permanency in an urban court in the southwest","authors":"Elizabeth J. Goldsborough, Margaret Lloyd Sieger, Shiyi Chen, Jessica Becker","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70037","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fcre.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Family Treatment Courts (FTCs) represent a significant advancement in addressing the dual challenges of parental substance use and child welfare system involvement. This study assesses the effectiveness of an FTC program in improving child welfare outcomes, with a focus on the likelihood and timeliness of family reunification, as well as the impact on foster care utilization. Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, this study examined 186 program participants and a propensity score-matched group of 274 foster children who did not receive FTC services. Results demonstrated that FTC program participation markedly enhanced the probability of family reunification and timeliness of reunification, with program participants significantly more likely to reunify with their families in a shorter period than their non-participating counterparts. These findings highlight the FTC's effectiveness in facilitating reunification and supporting families with parental substance use.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"64 1","pages":"100-111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Family Court ReviewPub Date : 2026-02-26Epub Date: 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1111/fcre.70045
Benjamin A. Kenyon
{"title":"Calling an audible: An amendment proposal to the NFL'S personal conduct policy","authors":"Benjamin A. Kenyon","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70045","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fcre.70045","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Domestic violence among professional athletes, specifically NFL players, has become a topic of concern for owners and the league as a whole. Professional athletes occupy a key space as role models for young athletes and kids generally. This note proposes an amendment to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that would create a uniform procedural system of accountability for players accused of domestic violence and other violent crimes. This needed change will create a system of transparency and legitimacy, that maintains the integrity of the NFL, ensures domestic abusers are held accountable, and seeks widespread behavioral change.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"64 1","pages":"139-153"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147567458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interventions to support parenting in military and veteran families: The state of play","authors":"Mollie Elizabeth Shin, Gabriela Misca","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70021","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Military parents face distinct challenges in parenting which can negatively impact overall family functioning, child developmental outcomes, and serving members’ readiness and retention. Over the past decade, several programs supporting military parents have been developed and seem promising, but the existing evidence on their effectiveness has not yet been ascertained. This study systematically examined the overall effectiveness of parenting support interventions for military families. Through systematic searches of literature published between 2010 and 2025, 14 interventions were identified and included in the review. These are analyzed in relation to their approach and characteristics, country, evaluation design, sample characteristics, outcome measures, and key findings and limitations. Conclusions highlight that while many of the evaluations of parenting programs developed so far show promise as to their usefulness and beneficiaries of these programs are largely positive about them, confidence in their effectiveness is hindered by limited evaluations, non-randomized controlled study design, and small homogenous samples, among other limitations. Moreover, it is important to consider how, for example, these interventions developed and tested in North America can be adapted for other countries.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"63 4","pages":"575-600"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fcre.70021","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145449844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why it is important to understand and support military-connected families: An international perspective","authors":"Gabriela Misca, Janet Walker","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70016","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"63 4","pages":"568-574"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145449846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections on a journey from research to impact: Influencing policy meeting the needs of UK Armed Forces families","authors":"Janet Walker, Gabriela Misca","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70019","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines the policy and practice impact of <i>Living in Our Shoes: Understanding the Needs of UK Armed Forces Families</i>, the first comprehensive review commissioned by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) in 2019. Drawing on extensive qualitative and quantitative data, the review identified systemic challenges faced by military families, including frequent relocations, disrupted education, limited healthcare access, and social isolation. The review made 110 recommendations, 106 of which were accepted by the MOD leading to policy changes; and directly informed the <i>MOD Armed Forces Families Strategy 2022–2032</i>, evidencing its strategic influence. The report has been cited in parliamentary debates and consultations across government departments and devolved administrations, used by third-sector organizations to advocate for improved support for military families; and continues to shape policy through the <i>Living in Our Shoes Revisited</i> project (2024–2027). In this article, the two authors of the review reflect on how research can influence and shape policy, share insights to encourage those working with military families to promote evidence-based policy and hold institutions to account. This case study demonstrates how applied social research can drive systemic change, inform national policy, and improve the wellbeing of military families. The review's themes are aligned with global challenges in military family wellbeing, making it a valuable international comparative resource.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"63 4","pages":"728-741"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fcre.70019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145450078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strengthening military families: Evaluating the impact of relationship counseling on UK naval families","authors":"Gabriela Misca, Janet Walker","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70018","url":null,"abstract":"<p>While it is often assumed that counseling interventions can be helpful in resolving relationship difficulties, there is limited research which provides evidence of this being the case in respect of military families, who are facing additional, unique stressors due to the military lifestyle, which can significantly strain couple relationships and family functioning. This study presents the first empirical evaluation of relationship counseling within the context of UK Naval families, addressing a significant gap in the literature on military family dynamics and wellbeing. Employing a pre-test/post-test mixed methods design, the research draws on data from 187 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel and their families who accessed counseling delivered by a civilian provider through a programme funded by a leading UK naval charity. Quantitative findings, derived from validated individual and family outcome measures, indicate statistically significant improvements in mental well-being, resilient coping, family functioning, and couple communication. Qualitative data further illuminate the complex relationship challenges faced by military families, underscoring the nuanced role of counseling as a supportive intervention. The study highlights the need for targeted mental health support and effective triage systems when military families seek help for relationship difficulties. It also identifies the potential of counseling as a preventative measure to mitigate the relational strain of military life, with implications for family stability and military personnel retention. This research makes an original contribution to understanding the role of counseling interventions in enhancing the wellbeing of military families and informs future policy and practice in community support services for military-connected families.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"63 4","pages":"619-639"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fcre.70018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145450079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Military culture awareness and competence in counseling: Insights from counselors, supervisors and UK navy and marine beneficiaries of counseling","authors":"Gabriela Misca, Janet Walker","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70017","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Military cultural competency (MCC) is increasingly recognized as essential for building trust and delivering effective care to military-connected individuals. Unlike the US, in the UK context military families receive support from practitioners who do not have formal training in military cultural competence and military identity is not systematically captured or considered in service provision. This structural difference creates a unique opportunity to study how military families engage with civilian services in a system that does not routinely recognize or accommodate their military status. This paper discusses the findings on culture awareness and competence of UK civilian professionals offering counseling to military families, from multi-informant perspectives of military beneficiaries of counseling (<i>n</i> = 40), counselors (<i>n</i> = 64) and supervisors (<i>n</i> = 14), using a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative survey data using an adapted version of the <i>Military Cultural Competence Assessment Scale</i> (Nedegaard & Zwilling, 2017), with structured qualitative evaluations. The findings highlight the importance of counselors having specific knowledge of the military population. This is the first study of this kind in the UK, thereby addressing important gaps in knowledge, policy, and practice regarding the effective provision of counseling to military families. The UK context provides a “natural experiment” for considering the importance of MCC in delivering therapeutic outcomes and as such, the study makes a significant contribution to international debates on culturally responsive care for military-connected populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"63 4","pages":"670-684"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fcre.70017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145450080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sixth roundtable on nonmarriage and the law: Introduction","authors":"Albertina Antognini, Naomi Cahn, Kaiponanea T. Matsumura, Aníbal Rosario-Lebrón, Gregg Strauss","doi":"10.1111/fcre.70028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.70028","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51627,"journal":{"name":"Family Court Review","volume":"63 4","pages":"742-744"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145449897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}