Helping Families Navigate Divorce
An interdisciplinary project creates vital co-parenting tool for Rhode Island Family Court.
![Michael Forte, chief judge of R.I. Family Court, stands at a podium to address a room full of people.](/sites/default/files/styles/660x371/public/news-article/article-image/Family%20Court%20header%20photo.jpg?itok=C-t2xzlc)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. 鈥撯 Ruth Nwauche L鈥22 wishes that when her parents were divorcing, they had had access to more resources to support their family through the challenging process.
鈥淧arents should know that your children should be your priority, and you shouldn鈥檛 be arguing in front of them or saying bad things about the other parent to them because it鈥檚 not going to be good for them emotionally,鈥 said Nwauche, who shared her personal experience in 鈥淧arenting Together: Do It for the Kids,鈥 a video showcasing best parenting practices for families involved in Rhode Island Family Court.
The 20-minute , appearing on the R.I. judiciary website with versions in English and Spanish, is an interdisciplinary, community-engaged project between 澳门六合彩鈥檚 Legal Studies and Psychology programs, along with added collaboration from a Journalism student. Funded by a generous grant from the Hassenfeld Family Initiatives, faculty and students worked over several years to research and create the video resource.
Each year, between 3,500 and 3,800 new cases are filed in R.I. Family Court; the majority are divorces, while other cases involve parties who are unmarried but share children. In addition to new cases, the court sees many parties who routinely return for further court guidance, said Lori Giarrusso, director of mediation for R.I. Family Court and an adjunct professor at 澳门六合彩 Law. That means the video, which is available for anyone to view, will help many more families than just those going through new court divorce proceedings in any given year.
In April 2022, 澳门六合彩 President Ioannis Miaoulis and Michael Forte, chief judge of R.I. Family Court, hosted a premiere of the video at the university鈥檚 Providence campus. Featuring interviews with Family Court staff, mental health professionals, and testimonials from children affected by divorce, the video highlighting effective tools for coparenting through divorce will be shown to parents during the court process.
![People watching the "Parenting Together" video](/sites/default/files/Family%20Court%20photo%202.jpg)
鈥淭he video is trying to educate parents on how they can protect their children. It鈥檚 something that we know will make a huge difference,鈥 said Tricia Martland L鈥00, professor of Legal Studies at 澳门六合彩 and a juvenile law expert. 鈥淲e鈥檙e so glad students can be a part of that.鈥濃
After Giarrusso expressed a need for this video, Martland, Lisa Newcity, professor of Legal Studies, and Bonita Cade, associate professor of Psychology, enlisted students from across their programs, who spent hours researching how divorce can negatively affect children, how parents can minimize those effects, as well as how judges make custody decisions.
To ensure they developed a teaching tool that 鈥渨ould speak to a wide variety of parents from different cultures and experiences,鈥 Cade said she and Kirstin Barber 鈥20, a Legal Studies and Psychology double major, researched the effectiveness of other types of parental trainings to make theirs effective and inclusive.
Morgan Clark 鈥20, who double majored in Legal Studies and Psychology and is now a second-year law student at UMass Dartmouth, said taking a child psychology course aided in her research for the video. 鈥淭hat was a big help to know different things that children can go through,鈥 she said. 鈥淧sychology really meshes well with Legal Studies.鈥
The project also solidified her career path. 鈥淚 had an interest in it but wasn鈥檛 sure if I really wanted to do it,鈥 said Clark, who now aspires to practice family law.
Undergraduates had a unique learning experience and opportunities to network with judges, child advocates, and others, said Martland. 鈥淢ost students at the courts are law students, so this was awesome for undergrads.鈥