Family Court Professional Coalition

Professionals Working Together for Families

The Family Court Professional Coalition (FCPC) brings together professionals from across the family-law and family-service community to support the work of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, serving Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto Counties.

FCPC was founded on a simple but important idea: families navigating the court system often need more than legal representation alone. They may also need mental-health expertise, financial guidance, parenting education, specialized evaluations, and other professional resources. By bringing professionals from these disciplines together, FCPC creates opportunities for collaboration, education, and innovative approaches to the complex issues facing families in transition.

Our membership includes attorneys, mental-health professionals, financial professionals, parent educators, members of the judiciary, and members of the business community who share an interest in improving the experience and outcomes of families involved with the court system.

A History of Collaboration and Innovation

Throughout its history, FCPC members have contributed to programs and initiatives designed to address practical challenges faced by families and the courts. Among those initiatives are:

Parenting Plan Evaluation services for indigent families
Social Study and Parenting Plan Facilitation programs
Social Investigation and Parenting Plan Evaluation services
Community education initiatives, including the METV Community Education Project
Development of Basic, Long Distance, Safety Focused, and Highly Structured Parenting Plans
Parenting Coordination programs
Tiered Mental Health Evaluation programs
Divorce Parent Education programs
A Court-Approved Professionals Committee
The Next Step Program, addressing the needs of young people transitioning out of foster care
Professional education and annual conferences
The FCPC website as a resource for community and professional information

FCPC has also played a role in the development and advancement of parenting-plan resources within the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. The Circuit’s parenting-plan materials were developed before significant changes to Florida law in 2008 and contributed to the broader discussion and development of parenting-plan resources used within Florida’s family courts.

Why Join FCPC?

Family law is rarely confined to one profession. The most challenging cases often involve legal, financial, psychological, parenting, and educational issues simultaneously.

FCPC provides a place for professionals with different areas of expertise to connect, learn from one another, and contribute to the broader family-court community.

Membership offers an opportunity to:

Build meaningful professional relationships with colleagues in complementary fields
Learn about developments affecting families and the family court system
Participate in professional education and community initiatives
Exchange ideas and perspectives across disciplines
Become familiar with resources available to families in our community
Contribute your professional knowledge and experience to conversations about improving family-court services

For established professionals, FCPC offers a way to deepen connections within the family-law community. For newer professionals, it provides an opportunity to meet experienced colleagues and develop a broader understanding of the many professionals involved in family-court matters.

Be Part of the Conversation

The challenges facing families in the court system continue to evolve. Addressing those challenges requires professionals who are willing to look beyond their individual disciplines and work together.

FCPC is a community of professionals committed to collaboration, education, innovation, and service to families in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit.

If you work with families involved in divorce, parenting disputes, financial issues, mental health matters, child welfare, or other family-court-related concerns, we invite you to learn more about FCPC and consider becoming a member.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead

Interested in becoming a member? Contact FCPC to learn more about membership and upcoming programs.

Our History

An Idea Becomes a Movement

In 2000, two people shared an idea: What if the professionals who serve children and families in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit came together to share their knowledge, identify unmet needs, and develop better ways to serve the community and the courts?

Under the leadership of the Hon. Scott Brownell and Dr. Debra Carter, that idea became a grassroots, interdisciplinary organization built around communication, collaboration, education, and innovation.

The effort was especially meaningful because, at the time, legal and mental-health professional groups in Manatee and Sarasota Counties had traditionally operated as separate organizations, despite serving families within the same Twelfth Judicial Circuit.

The new group created a forum where professionals could work across disciplines—and where ideas could move from conversation to action.

From Conversation to Collaboration

During its first several years, the group met approximately every other month at New College. Members focused on identifying the needs of the circuit and establishing priorities for new programs and services.

By 2002, the organization had grown enough to establish its own identity. It became known as FLAP—Family Law Professionals, modeled in part on the successful interdisciplinary Association of Family Law Professionals (AFLP) in Florida’s Twentieth Judicial Circuit.

The energy and collaboration generated tangible results.

Among the early initiatives were a low-fee Custody Evaluation Program and Mental Health Evaluations for the court, including Tier I and Tier II evaluations. These programs established research-based protocols and procedures intended to promote quality, consistency, and reliable work product for both the court and legal professionals.

The organization was demonstrating what could happen when professionals with different expertise came together around a common purpose.

An Evolving Organization

As the needs of the circuit and the organization continued to evolve, the group adopted a new name in 2004: ADEPT—Attorneys, Divorce Planners, Educators, Psychologists & Therapists.

Then, in 2005, an important opportunity arose at the state level.

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Pariente initiated FLAG—the Family Law Advisory Group, a statewide court-improvement initiative, and directed each of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits to establish such a group.

Because the Twelfth Circuit already had an active interdisciplinary organization focused on family-court improvement, the group was a natural choice to serve in that capacity.

At the same time, members recognized the importance of maintaining the organization’s independence and ability to continue developing innovative ideas and programs. That consideration led to the organization’s formal incorporation in early 2006.

Working in cooperation with the Supreme Court-mandated Family Law Advisory Group and under the guidance of the Hon. Lee Haworth, the organization strengthened its governance by establishing a Board of Directors and Committee Chairs and formally adopted its mission.

June 12, 2006

Mission: To use the multi-disciplinary resources of the legal, accounting, and mental health professions to research, develop, and propose innovative programs and procedures which will facilitate the peaceful disposition of volatile legal issues, enhance the reliability of in-court expert testimony, and minimize the trauma of litigation on the family.

That mission captured what had been at the heart of the organization since its beginning: bringing professionals together to find practical, innovative ways to help families and improve the work of the family court.

Keeping the Focus on Families

As membership grew and collaboration became more formalized, the objective remained consistent—to bring together family-law professionals and other interested individuals to develop programs and services that could help the court serve families effectively, efficiently, and affordably.

The organization recognized the profound impact that prolonged and unresolved family conflict can have on children. Its work was driven by the belief that, even when families face difficult circumstances and conflict cannot always be avoided, professionals can work together to reduce the unnecessary harm that litigation can cause.

The goal was—and remains—to keep the focus on the children and families at the center of the process.

2009: A “Think Tank” for Family Court

By 2009, the organization’s work had earned recognition from within the Twelfth Judicial Circuit.

The 2009 FCPC Conference Brochure described FCPC as a “think tank for the Twelfth Circuit Family Court,” noting that the organization had sponsored initiatives that improved judicial services and provided high-caliber educational programs.

The Honorable Lee E. Haworth, then Chief Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, further recognized FCPC as a source of new ideas and praised the dedication of its members to working with the courts in the best interests of families.

That recognition reflected something larger than any individual program: the value of bringing committed professionals together to listen, learn, question, create, and collaborate.

A Legacy Built on People

FCPC’s history is ultimately a history of people who believed that professionals could accomplish more by working together than by working in isolation.

What began in 2000 as an idea shared by two individuals grew into an interdisciplinary organization connecting professionals from different fields around a common commitment to families and the family court system.

The names and structure of the organization evolved over time. The purpose did not.

Come together. Share expertise. Develop ideas. Create solutions. And keep families at the center of the conversation.

That is the foundation on which FCPC was built—and the legacy that continues to shape its future.