[Ed. Note: This article is reprinted from the October 2012 Pundit with some edits.]

Judicial skills, which are honed, tested, and used daily are essential to the idea of advancing justice.  But where can a court turn for help in dealing with administrative problems related to performance, specifically in a Friend of the Court (FOC) office? One of the fundamental responsibilities of the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) is to provide management assistance to judges and FOC offices. One of the best ways that SCAO delivers is through a management assistance project (MAP).

A MAP is a report for the court that contains recommendations on how the court may administer its work more effectively. MAPs are available for all administrative aspects of court operations, including FOC office operations. All MAPs are initiated by a request from the chief judge of the circuit court to the SCAO Regional Administrator. The request should specify the type of assistance that the court needs. SCAO then establishes a team of analysts and begins work on the first of three phases.

In an FOC office MAP, phase one includes gathering data to develop a statistical profile of the FOC office. This statistical profile compares the FOC office to other, similarly-sized offices. The study team assigned to the project also reviews the FOC’s policy manuals to develop an understanding of the office’s practices.

During phase two, the study team visits the FOC office. At that time, the team interviews family division judges, FOC staff, other court staff, prosecuting attorney staff, and local attorneys. Phase two may also include additional reviews of policy manuals, case files, and other documents that are related to the FOC’s operations.

In the final phase, the analysts prepare a report that summarizes results found by the study team and the report makes recommendations to the chief judge. The report may also suggest that the court try to implement innovative processes that have been found to be successful in other FOC offices.

Overall, a MAP report assists judges and FOC offices in improving their performance and provides support to the FOC office in meeting its mandated and nonmandated duties. The MAP process is designed to fulfill SCAO’s goal of being available to provide support to courts in improving their performance – particularly to courts that cannot spare staff to conduct analysis on their own because they are busy with their daily work.

If judges or FOC directors or administrators have questions about SCAO’s MAP process, they should contact the court’s regional administrator.