Massachusetts Chapter  

Members in the News

Judge Paula M. Carey Named Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court by
Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan

         Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan today announced the appointment of Judge Paula M. Carey of Burlington as the new Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court for a five-year term, in accordance with G.L. c211B, §5. Judge Carey succeeds Chief Justice Sean M. Dunphy, who will retire on September 30, 2007, after 29 years of exemplary service. Chief Justice Dunphy has served with distinction as Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court since 1997.                                                                                                                                                                  
         Chief Justice Mulligan said, "I am very pleased to announce the selection of Judge Paula Carey to succeed Chief Justice Sean Dunphy as the next Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court Department. Judge Carey brings a high degree of intelligence, experience and leadership skills that render her extremely qualified to lead the Probate and Family Court. She is highly respected for her extraordinary energy, work ethic and depth of knowledge in the area of Family Law. She will contribute significantly to the management reform efforts underway in the Massachusetts Trial Court through her commitment to the continuous improvement of access to justice for families across the state." 

         Chief Justice Mulligan said that he was presented with excellent candidates for the position of Chief Justice. He also commended Chief Justice Dunphy as a thoughtful, intelligent dean of the Trial Court Chief Justices and said that he would miss his cheerful and wise counsel.     

         Judge Carey has been a Probate and Family Court judge since her appointment to the bench in 2001. She currently sits in Norfolk County and serves as a member of the Child Support Guidelines Task Forces.                                                                                                                                                           
         Judge Carey said, "I would like to thank Chief Justice Mulligan for his confidence in my abilities and for providing me with this wonderful opportunity. I would also like to thank Chief Justice Dunphy for his commitment to our Court and the system over the last 29 years, specifically the last 10 years as Chief. I will miss his guidance and support. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the staff of the Probate and Family Court at a time when our Court is undergoing great positive change with the introduction of time standards, Mass Courts, and increased performance accountability measures. I am mindful of the challenges we face and am committed to providing leadership and accountability in ensuring access to justice in all of our Courts.  

       In 2006, she received the Daniel J. Toomey Excellence in Judiciary Award and in 2004 the Probate and Family Court Division of Massachusetts Judges Conference presented her with a Judicial Excellence Award.                                                          
         In 1989, she co-founded the firm Carey and Mooney, PC, a family law practice. While in private practice, she chaired the Family Law Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association and served on the Family Law Steering Committee of the Boston Bar Association. Judge Carey graduated magna cum laude from the New England School of Law.  

         The Probate and Family Court Department is comprised of 14 Divisions with 51 judges across the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Trial Court includes seven court departments with 380 judges who deliver justice in 110 courthouses across the state. Comprehensive management reform is underway in the courts to increase efficiency, accountability and transparency in this large, complex organization that delivers access to justice to thousands of people daily. 

 

 

OVERCOMING BARRIERS (FORMERLY BREAKING BARRIERS): AN EXCITING AND INNOVATIVE  PROGRAM FOR ALIENATED AND ESTRANGED CHILDREN

     After struggling for years with some of the most difficult and heartbreaking post-divorce family situations – where a child has rejected one of their parents - three AFCC members designed, funded and conducted an innovative and intensive clinical approach to work with families called “Breaking Barriers Camp”. Five families participated in three and a half days of psycho-educational groups, strategic interventions, and enjoyable family camp activities this summer at CommonGround Center in Starksboro, Vermont.  Families (including both the parent(s) the children live with, the “rejected parent and all children) came from Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Toronto, Canada.  

      In four of the five families, one parent (either mother or father) had had no contact with a child for at least 6 months and some up to two years.  Most parents had been involved in litigation for years and only spoken with each other in the Courthouse.  After this intensive program these initial results were noted:

     Breaking Barrier’s camp began with a brainstorming group in MA, and, true to the tradition of AFCC innovation, included judges, attorneys and mental health professionals.  Peggie Ward (MA) and Robin Deutsch (MA and AFCC current President) quickly recruited Matt Sullivan (CA) to join the clinical team.  We knew that we would only have a successful program if: all members of a family system participated in the program, the program was “off-site” with over night accommodations for each “group”, included intensive group work for parents and children, offered many recreational opportunities for children and parents to participate, and offered a tremendous amount of support for every small step taken toward reunification between rejected parent and children.  Common Ground Center Family Camp provided the complement to the clinical aspects of the program with a breathtakingly beautiful site, rustic cabins that slept up to six people for parents (divided by gender, mixed as to family “role”), cabins for children and an incredibly skilled, dedicated and charismatic staff who did projects and activities during the day, and slept in the cabins with each group at night. 

 

     Camp days began at 6 AM with Yoga and continued through campfires and song until 9 PM.  Groups were assigned: Matt led the West Group (parents who had little to no relationship with their children); Peggie led the East Group (parents who played various roles in keeping the children aligned to them and away from the other parent) and Robin ran the “Common Ground” group (for all the children and adolescents).  Groups ran for 3 hours in the morning followed by afternoons with structured, strategically planned camp activities.  Peggie, Robin and Matt took every opportunity available from noon until 9 PM to intervene with constellations of family members to create bridges for children and parents or parents and parents to connect with one another.  The families, after their work in the morning groups, were remarkably open to all interventions and actively engaged with staff to support the goals of the camp.  Communication and coordination was key and the camp director (Carole Blane) was the communication link between camp staff and clinicians.  Peggie, Robin and Matt met each morning before group to incorporate any needed changes to the group program and at lunch to plan the afternoon “interventions”.  Dinner provided yet another opportunity for clinicians to regroup and plan evening interventions.  The camp in July ran from Wednesday evening until Saturday at 1 PM, followed by exit interviews for all.  No one left without a clear roadmap for follow-up work with professionals in their home towns.  By Saturday afternoon Peggie, Robin and Matt as well as the entire camp staff were both elated and exhausted as the families made their emotional departures.  Staff debriefing was essential and planning for next year ended mid-day Sunday. 

 

     We were encouraged by the positive impact that many of the conceptual innovations of the camp program provided to these extremely difficult family relationship issues.  The program brought highly conflicted co-parents and their children together to work on identified issues and placed in working groups run by skilled leaders. The camp provided a rich array of activities and opportunities for connection and communication between family members, and clinical interventions were delivered wherever and whenever opportunity presented.  We helped build bridges to more positive relationships where only alienation and estrangement had existed. The aligned parents learned the importance of the other parent in their children’s lives and their interactions with all of the parents helped them understand other points of view. The rejected parents were grateful to be able to see their children, interact in more constructive ways with each other and learn other parent’s experiences. The children not only felt heard, but found a group of peers with similar experiences where none had existed in their lives before.  They all left reporting that they felt more “normal” and more hopeful.  By the end of the camp many of the children thought that future programs should focus on helping the parents communicate and co-parent more effectively. 

 

     It wasn’t easy – but initial feedback suggests it was successful.  We plan to do follow-up with the families at the 6-month point and to build on this pilot program next year (July 20 – 25) for five ½ days (every family wanted it to be longer).  Robin, Matt and Peggie, as well as the Common Ground Staff will all return.  We have areas where we need improvement – but we have the successful scaffolding on which to build.  One challenge that emerged was the difficulty in obtaining commitments from those families who did not have a court order to attend.  After, interviewing 25 families, four of the five families who attended did so with a court order.  While not all family members referred were accepted, conversations with the AFCC custody evaluators and Parenting Coordinators helped our decision making process. 

 

     Many of these families would not have had the opportunity to attend had it not been for the terrific support of AFCC members who not only provided informed and thoughtful referrals, but provided the initial funding that allowed this program to proceed.  This was very much an AFCC supported project.

 

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