The Crisis in our Courts

Our family court systems are making life-altering decisions about children without understanding the profound psychological impact of their rulings.

Key Statistics: When family courts fail to assess children's mental health.

The Assessment Gap in Family Courts

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• Current State of Mental Health Assessment

  • Only 35+ courts nationwide have undergone trauma assessments out of thousands of family courts (NCJFCJ, 2019)

  • 61% of children in court systems have experienced at least one form of violence, yet most courts lack systematic trauma screening (NCJFCJ, 2009)

  • Courts make decisions in a vacuum without mental health professional input in the majority of custody cases

Mental Health Consequences When Assessment Is Missing

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Immediate Impact on Children

• Children in high-conflict court cases show 1.5 to 2 times increased risk for:

  • Academic difficulties and school problems

  • Disruptive behaviors and conduct disorders

  • Depression and anxiety symptoms

  • Social relationship problems (PMC, 2018)

Trauma Symptoms in Court-Involved Children

• High levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) develop in children from high-conflict family court cases (Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 2021)

• 25% of children will experience at least one traumatic event by age 16, yet family courts rarely assess for trauma history (NCTSN, 2018)

Long-term Mental Health Outcomes

• System-induced trauma creates lasting psychological damage that could be prevented with proper assessment

• Children subjected to court decisions without mental health evaluation show:

  • Higher rates of substance abuse in adolescence

  • Increased risky sexual behaviors

  • Greater likelihood of their own relationship instability as adults

  • Elevated risk for mental health disorders throughout life

The Cost of Not Assessing

• $748 billion annually in healthcare costs related to childhood trauma that proper court assessment could help prevent (CDC, 2025)

• Up to 500,000 families per year affected by high-conflict court cases where children's mental health goes unassessed (Court Statistics Project, 2020)

What Happens Without Professional Mental Health Input

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Decision-Making Without Critical Information

• Judges make life-altering custody decisions without understanding:

  • Children's existing trauma history

  • Psychological impact of proposed arrangements

  • Signs of developing mental health problems

  • Risk factors for future psychological harm

Preventable Harm

• Every court decision made without psychological insight potentially alters a child's life trajectory forever

• Mental health problems that develop from poor court decisions often require extensive treatment that could have been prevented

• "System-induced trauma" - psychological damage directly caused by court processes and decisions made without mental health consideration

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Sources:

• National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. (2019). Trauma-informed Courts.

• PMC. (2018). Parental divorce or separation and children's mental health.

• Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma. (2021). Parental Conflicts and Posttraumatic Stress of Children in High-Conflict Divorce Families.

• National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2018). School Personnel Resources.

• CDC. (2025). About Adverse Childhood Experiences.

• Court Statistics Project. (2020). National Center for State Courts annual case filings data.