Mothers for Judicial Accountability (MJA) is a non-profit legal advocacy and educational organization dedicated to providing direct, free legal services to mothers involved in contested custody litigation, raising awareness of the need for family court reform, and providing training and education to family court professionals to be more responsive to the needs of children and families.

MJA is committed to ensuring access to appropriate legal representation and supportive legal services by establishing a legal defense fund for mothers to cover the full cost of litigating their contentious family court cases. MJA will provide mothers, on a case-by-case basis, with pro-bono attorneys and funding to cover fees for mediators, psychological experts, and the services of other court professionals for the duration of their cases. Through this legal defense fund, mothers will have the financial support necessary to effectively litigate their custody case on behalf of their children from start to finish. Mothers will also be provided with funding to cover the cost of supervised visitation with their children, if so ordered by the family court in their case.

In addition, the MJA seeks to facilitate the application of best practices in family court cases through sponsorship of educational seminars, trainings, and workshops for court professionals (judges, attorneys, mediators, social workers, etc.) that focus on critical legal and custody issues affecting children. This educational component of MJA’s mission seeks to ensure the appropriate adjudication and handling of child custody cases by keeping court professionals abreast of new developments and specialized trainings in various areas of family law needed to provide for the best interests of children.

Part of MJA’s vision is to promote and support family court reforms that focus on judicial accountability, training and education, and to effectively address problems in the family court system by pursuing collaborative efforts with communities, organizations, and government to facilitate meaningful and substantive policy changes that better serve the needs of children and families.