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Program Descriptions

Statewide Uniform Statistical Reporting System (SUSRS)

Introduction

The Statewide Uniform Statistical Reporting System (SUSRS) was designed to be an authoritative source of state-level data on contested child custody cases. Spanning the broad range of family court services, SUSRS provides information about case volume and complexity as well as long- and short-term outcomes for families. These data are used to spotlight statewide trends and regional issues and permit courts to view themselves from a comparative perspective, exchange information, and pinpoint programs that work.

Please click here to view SUSRS publications.

SUSRS Services

Following a collaborative research model, the research priorities of the SUSRS are guided by regular input and feedback from court personnel. The research is geared toward the concerns and information needs of the family court service administrators in their program planning. The information provided by these studies helps administrators, along with mediators, evaluators, investigators, and counselors, meet the needs of family court clients. A task force made up of court personnel advises on research content and methods and consults on the interpretation of the research findings.

SUSRS Research

The goal of this program is to provide rigorous, balanced data designed to meet the practical information needs of a broad range of users. These users include the judiciary, the Legislature, the media, attorneys, mediators, court administrators, other family law professionals, and family court clients.

The SUSRS consists of a network of discrete but interlocking studies that provide a statistical database consisting of representative and longitudinal data from nine data collections involving over 18,000 child custody cases. The cornerstone of the SUSRS is the Snapshot Series described below.

  • The 1991 Client Baseline Study sampled 1,699 family court sessions across the state, collecting extensive information from 2,504 mothers and fathers who received mediation services. The sampled sessions represented 83 percent of all family court services sessions conducted during the two-week study period.
  • The 1992 Default and Uncontested Dissolution Matched Sample Study gathered information about 696 fathers and mothers who resolved custody and visitation matters without the use of court-based dispute resolution services. Comparison with the 1991 Client Baseline Study participants illustrates differences in the prevailing experiences of those who use different methods to determine child custody.
  • Conducted in 1993, the 1991 Client Follow-Up I interviewed 1,532 parents up to two years after their participation in the 1991 Client Baseline Study. Parents reported on family outcomes over time, such as the viability of custody arrangements, and reflected on their experiences with the legal system in resolving custody matters.
  • The 1991 Client Follow-Up II, conducted in 1996, interviewed 867 parents in a five-year follow-up of the 1991 cohort that focused on sources of risk and resiliency for the children.
  • The 1993 Client Baseline Study sampled 2,735 family court sessions across the state (87 percent of all sessions conducted during the two-week study period), collecting extensive information from 4,088 mothers and fathers who received mediation services. Comparison with the 1991 Client Baseline Study helped to identify possible trends in case characteristics and case management in an era of rapid change in court environments.
  • The 1993 Client Follow-Up I, conducted in 1995–96, interviewed 2,263 parents up to three years after their participation in the 1993 Client Baseline Study and covered much of the same area as the 1991 cohort’s first follow-up, but with more detail about subsequent court experience and family changes.
  • The 1996 Client Baseline Study sampled 2,810 family court sessions across the state (77 percent of all covered types of sessions conducted during the two-week study period). Extensive information was collected from 4,407 mothers and fathers who received mediation services and from an additional 178 mothers and fathers who were part of a focused investigation/evaluation. In addition, information was collected about 63 comprehensive investigation/evaluation cases and 45 guardianship cases, and evaluations of parent education/orientation sessions were collected from 673 mothers and fathers.
  • The 1999 Client Baseline Study collected information about 3,038 family court sessions (79 percent of all covered types of sessions conducted during the two-week study period). Extensive information was gathered from 4,518 mothers and fathers who received mediation services and from parents included in 158 partial evaluations/investigations. Information was also collected about 17 full evaluations and 51 guardianship cases.
  • The 1991 Client Follow-Up III, continuing the focus on children begun in the second follow-up, is conducting interviews with the children now 16 and older who were the subjects of custody and visitation orders in 1991. The parents are also being interviewed and have given permission to interview their minor children.

The four client baseline studies have all used the same basic methodology: during a designated two-week study period, information is collected about every family court service conducted in every court statewide. Since child custody and visitation mediation is the most frequently offered service, it is the major object of the data collection. For each mediation session conducted during the study period, information is collected from the parents and the mediator. The client follow-up studies are telephone surveys of the families who participated in mediation sessions included in the client baseline studies.

SUSRS Training

CFCC’s research program and individual research projects are strongly linked to the needs of the courts and court services providers. In general, the research helps identify areas and topics of concern that should be addressed in the extensive training for court-based mediators, investigators, and evaluators that CFCC provides. The results of these studies are incorporated in CFCC trainings.

Please contact CFCC@jud.ca.gov for more information.