(a) In General.(1) The judges of the Family Court in each county are authorized and encouraged to develop litigant education programs of the following types:
(A) Orientation of litigants to court procedure in order to aid their understanding of the litigation process. (B) Orientation of litigants to the benefits and availability of mediation and other methods of alternative dispute resolution; provided that, when domestic violence is involved in an action, the litigants shall not be required to attend such an orientation program. (C) Education concerning the legal and social aspects of the substantive matters underlying certain types of litigation, such as that involving parental rights and responsibilities or domestic violence. (D) Orientation and referral to available community and social services. (2) All Family Court litigant education programs should have the basic goal of rendering the courts and the legal system more accessible and more humane in their effect on litigants and others affected by litigation and should respond to the particular needs of the population of the community and region in which each court sits. (b) Assessment and Evaluation. There should be a method for ongoing assessment and evaluation of the program and its effect on litigants, with provision for annual summarization of the results in reports to the Court Administrator. (c) Local Advisory Committee. In each county, the Family Court should establish a local advisory committee on litigant education programs with representatives of the community at large, organizations representing groups who are affected by the programs, the local bar, and community social service agencies. The function of the advisory committees is to assist the judges and case managers of each court in devising programs that satisfy the criteria of subdivision (a)(2) of this order. (d) Waiver of Attendance. Each program should contain appropriate provisions permitting the court to waive any requirement of attendance on a showing by a litigant of a constitutionally protected interest that would be invaded by participation in a particular program, a personal disability or vulnerability that would render participation onerous or dangerous, or other good cause. (e) Fees. Litigants may be charged fees for participation when necessary to meet the cost of a program, but provision must be made to permit attendance by individuals who cannot afford the fees. (f) Sanctions. The court may require attendance at a program when appropriate, but the sanctions for nonattendance by an individual who is not granted a waiver may not include dismissal or default or other sanctions that materially impair rights at stake in the litigation or prevent the proper presentation of a claim or defense.
Vt. R. Fam. Proc. 14
Added February 17, 1995, eff. March 20, 1995; May 30, 2012, eff. July 30, 2012.
