Judge Kluger

Welcome to the Problem-Solving Courts website.

With the third largest population in the nation, the New York State Unified Court System serves the needs of nearly 19.5 million people. To meet this challenge, New York State has approximately 1,300 judges, 2,300 town and village judges and 17,000 non-judicial employees working in over 300 state courts and 1,300 town and village courts, spread throughout 62 counties in 13 judicial districts.

In 2009, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman appointed Hon. Judy Harris Kluger as Chief of Policy and Planning for New York State Courts. As the policy-making body of the New York State Unified Court System, the office works with judges statewide to study and develop new strategies to improve the delivery of justice in New York. In addition, the Office of Policy and Planning provides guidance, support and comprehensive training programs to problem-solving courts statewide.

Under the leadership of Hon. Judy Harris Kluger, problem-solving courts have become a part of the fabric of our justice system with nearly 300 operational courts and more in various stages of planning. Problem-solving courts take different forms depending on the problems they are designed to address. Drug and mental health courts focus on treatment and rehabilitation. Community courts combine treatment, community responsibility, accountability and support to both litigants and victims. Integrated youth courts utilize the full array of family court and criminal court remedies to improve outcomes for adolescents entering the courts and for their communities. Sex offense, domestic violence and integrated domestic violence courts employ judicial monitoring and the use of mandated programs and probation to ensure compliance, facilitate access to services and remove artificial barriers between case types.

On our website you will find information regarding each of the problem-solving courts and related initiatives. We hope that you find this information helpful and interesting.

Hon. Judy Harris Kluger
Chief of Policy and Planning
New York State Courts

For further information on Problem-Solving Courts or if you would like to schedule a court visit, please contact the Office of Policy and Planning at ProblemSolving@courts.state.ny.us.