Changes in court administration pertaining to matters of family law following amendments to Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure

This mixed-methods, descriptive policy analysis assesses the various aspects of change in court administration that occurred in Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas following the April 1999 Child and Spousal Support Guideline Amendments. Consideration was given to the actions of court administrators following such implementation including changes to personnel and physical resources. Inquiry was conducted to determine if such actions were associated with specific guidelines and if the actions were conducted using predetermined and recognized decision-making styles.; The research determined that changes in court operations related to the personnel and physical resources were made, without the benefit of state budgetary allocation. The issue of increased support obligations mandated by the guideline amendments was the primary factor among and related to these changes.; Decision-making was influenced by specific needs of individual courts, typically not implemented by changing overall, preexisting court decision-making structures; rather, it was conducted to satisfy specific needs as encountered. In essence, court change was conducted in ways that would be predicted by contingency theory. Courts utilized various decision-making styles which were appropriate to the internal and external environments of the counties. Such change was initiated in order to abide the policy mandates of the guideline amendments while acquiring or balancing the necessary resources to provide proper judicial service and typically maintaining the individual, pre-existing court administrative structures.