Our Digital Justice Initiative offers practical tools that address gaps in the Family Court’s online resources—enabling litigants to navigate the court system on their own, without an attorney. Every tool Family Legal Care creates can be accessed on a smartphone or tablet.
Digital Justice Initiative
Effective, easy-to-use tools...no computer needed
Family Law Explained: Digital Shorts to Help You Navigate Family Court
Our Family Law Explained videos are a series of 12 digital shorts, in English and Spanish, designed to help parents and caregivers navigate New York Family Court by presenting complex information in an easy-to-understand format that’s familiar to them. These 2-3 minute videos explain complicated family law topics in plain language with fun, approachable animation that’s accessible to people with different learning styles, including visual or audio learners.
Family Law Navigator: A First Step to Address Your Family Matters
With the Family Law Navigator, parents and caregivers answer questions about their family law topic and are given a detailed, customized report with next steps they should take. The finished reports provide definitions of key terms, links to the forms and petitions they need to fill out, and a list of relevant resources from Family Legal Care—including our Legal Resource Guides and Helpline.
Guided Court Forms: User-Friendly and Accessible to All
Many of our clients access the web exclusively from their mobile device. Unfortunately, mobile devices are ineffective interfaces for downloading, filling out, and submitting PDF documents and other forms the court requires. For thousands of New Yorkers affected by the digital divide, this poses a significant technological barrier to accessing justice.
Our Guided Court Forms allow users to answer easy-to-understand questions in plain language. Their answers are mapped onto the fields of the form, generating a completed document in the PDF format accepted by the court’s electronic portal—making completing and uploading essential court documentation possible from any web-connected device.
Other Digital Tools and Resources from Family Legal Care
Family Legal Care offers additional technology-based tools and resources to support self-represented parents and litigants, including:
- Legal Information & Tech Hubs
Our Brooklyn, Queens, and Bronx Tech Hubs can help you attend virtual Family Court hearings, download and submit Family Court forms, and navigate online court systems with tools like computers, internet, printers, scanners, and more. - Legal Resource Guides
Family Legal Care has created more than 60 unique guides in nine languages that provide step-by-step information on New York State family law and Family Court procedures. - Video Library
Our video library has resources like Know Your Rights workshops, webinars on New York Family Law, and information on child support, custody and visitation, Family Court procedures, and more!
At Family Legal Care, we believe that everyone deserves a fair chance, regardless of their circumstances. Our Digital Justice Initiative connects pro se litigants to crucial tools and information they need to navigate the New York Family Court system. Equal access to these resources breaks down barriers, which ultimately is what we all are striving to do.
– Jessica Stadmeyer, Director of Legal Resources and Digital Justice