The End of Family Court rejects the foundational premise that family court can do good when intervening in family life and challenges its endless reinvention to survive. Spinak proposes concrete steps toward abolishing the court, and calls for strategies that center trusting and respecting the abilities of communities to create and sustain meaningful solutions for families.

Jane M. Spinak is the Edward Ross Aranow Clinical Professor of Law Emerita at Columbia Law School. Spinak co-founded Columbia Law School’s clinics focused on representing families and children. Spinak most recently directed the Adolescent Representation Clinic, which represented teenagers and young adults aging out of foster care. From 2001 to 2006, Spinak served as the Law School’s director of clinical education.

Before joining CSSW, Brenda Jones Harden was the Alison Richman Professor for Children and Families at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She directed the Prevention and Early Adversity Research Laboratory, where she and her research team examined the developmental and mental health needs of young children who have experienced early adversity, particularly those who have been maltreated or have experienced other forms of trauma.