A working group from the New York City Bar Association and the Fund for Modern Courts on Friday released a report on how COVID-19 affected access to justice in New York City Family Court, urging the court to follow a series of immediate recommendations that “will not simply make the system more efficient but are essential for equal access to justice.”

The report found that a lack of investment in the court—which experiences heavy traffic on a daily basis—ahead of the pandemic, such as staffing shortages and a failure to transition to electronic filing, led to new challenges when COVID-19 reached New York.