“Thank You for Your Automated Concern”: When Family Courts Answer Systemic Failures with Self-Help Links

Yesterday, I sent a letter to the Cook County Domestic Relations Division expressing concerns that should alarm any public institution charged with protecting families. I described a troubling pattern in which court-ordered parenting time was repeatedly denied — 78 days’ worth, to be exact — without a single enforcement action by the court. I also raised the issue of court-appointed Guardians Ad Litem (GALs) who, despite their mandate to represent the best interests of children, remain unresponsive and unaccountable.

Within 24 hours, I received a reply — not from a judge or a staff member involved in the case, but from an attorney in the Chief Judge’s Office. The response did not engage with the systemic concerns I raised. It did not express interest, alarm, or even curiosity about the issues presented. Instead, I was informed that court staff cannot offer legal advice, and I was directed to a list of self-help resources and procedural guides — as though the problem I raised was simply a matter of filing the correct form.

This kind of response is not just inadequate — it’s emblematic of a deeper institutional failure. When a court ignores violations of its own orders, when those charged with advocating for children’s interests fail to engage, and when the public’s concerns are dismissed with boilerplate replies, the legitimacy of the system begins to erode.

The letter I sent did not request special treatment. It asked whether the family court is prepared to examine why enforcement is so often absent and why oversight of GALs is so minimal. It asked whether a parent’s right to see their child — once affirmed in a courtroom — is worth more than a piece of paper.

That the reply came so quickly, and so generically, only underscores the problem: there is no formal mechanism for addressing institutional concerns. The structure of the court is designed to move cases forward, not to look inward. For families like mine — and for many others across Cook County — this means a revolving door of court dates and filings, without meaningful intervention when one party chooses to ignore the rules.

What’s at stake here is not simply personal. It is systemic. And it affects children most of all.

A family court system that fails to enforce its own orders does more than inconvenience parents — it destabilizes the very foundation upon which families rely for safety, structure, and resolution. When accountability is optional, trust evaporates. When oversight is nonexistent, harm multiplies.

It should not require relentless litigation to compel basic compliance with court orders. Nor should public concern be met with procedural detachment. If internal accountability is unavailable, then external oversight must follow — from legislators, journalists, watchdogs, and the public itself.

Children deserve better than a system that looks the other way.

Elizabeth Sterling is an advocate for family court reform in Illinois.