Judge Lawless retires after 18 years on the bench

The Hon. Janelle A. Lawless, Judge of the 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County, will hold her final Family Recovery Court session today.  Judge Lawless, who is retiring from the bench after 18 years as a judge at the end of December, will preside over the hearings at Lansing’s Veterans Memorial Courthouse with parties attending by Zoom.

Judge Lawless inaugurated the Circuit Court’s first Family Dependency Treatment Court (now called the Family Recovery Court) in 2007 as a way to address substance abuse issues in child protection cases.  The underlying philosophy of this specialty docket is that drug and alcohol abuse issues in families where there has been neglect or abuse of children need to be addressed in order to truly guarantee child protection.

Not only has Judge Lawless been a trailblazer in recognizing the need to address substance abuse to secure child protection, her Family Recovery Court has been objectively successful:

• There have been 142 participants supported by Judge Lawless and the Family Recovery Court since October 2007; of the 142 participants, there have been 121 families involved in programming.

• 343 children have received services and benefitted from their parents’ involvement in Family Recovery Court; this program has helped provide these children permanency in their lives.

• Judge Lawless has helped facilitate 71% of all the successful graduates having their children returned to their care in a safe, sober home. 

• 24% of successful graduates never had their children enter the foster care system in part due to Judge Lawless and the Family Recovery Court; they were able to participate in services which allowed them to safely have their children remain in their care while they helped achieve long term sobriety.

• Upon completion of the Family Recovery Court, 51% of the participants who have successfully graduated have improved their employment status. 

Judge Lisa McCormick will continue the 30th Circuit Court’s Family Recovery Court starting in 2021.