Family Justice Courts Therapeutic Justice Model (TJ Model)

The Therapeutic Justice Model (TJ Model) was launched on 21 October 2024 by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. It seeks to provide a framework within which all participants in the family justice ecosystem can work together to better serve the needs of families and children.

• The TJ Model (PDF, 473 KB)
• The TJ Model (Abridged Version)  (PDF, 76 KB)
• The TJ Model Practice Directions
  • Part IIIA, Family Justice Courts Practice Directions 2015.  (PDF, 218 KB)
  • Part 7I, Family Justice Courts Practice Directions 2024.  (PDF, 220 KB)

   

About the Therapeutic Justice Model 

Taking ownership to resolve family disputes

Court users in family disputes are encouraged to take ownership of their decisions, work closely with other family members to resolve issues and move on together to better times.

Anyone faced with family disputes can benefit from applying TJ principles as they seek to bring about hope and new beginnings.

How you can help to diffuse and resolve family disputes

• Let’s focus on their future: We can put children first
  Children are the future. Even in challenging times, the well-being and best interests of children must remain the priority.
  
  
• Let’s build bridges, not barriers: We can make lasting solutions
  Building connections and relationships require time and consistent effort. It takes everyone involved to work together to solve the problem and make lasting solutions.
  
  
• Let’s find solutions: We can solve problems
  It is often said that there is  a solution to every problem. Families in disputes should not allow themselves to get sidetracked as it is counterproductive. Focus on what is important – the way forward to a more hopeful future for the family.
  
  
• Let’s respect and understand one another: We can work together
  Respect goes both ways. When families in disputes engage each other in solving problems, they work as a team, playing different roles but sharing a common goal. Respect and understand each party’s views – acknowledge different ideas and work together to select the option with the best outcome possible.

• Let’s find peace in the process: We can choose to be calm
  Keeping our composure and staying calm is the first step to a clearer solution and a brighter way forward. Being angry complicates matters and makes any issue more challenging to resolve.

• Let’s see the big picture: We can build better tomorrows
  At times, it is easy to get caught up in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture. It is important to never lose sight of the big picture - a better tomorrow for the family. 
  

Similar to a jigsaw puzzle, families in disputes may piece the 6 steps above for a roadmap to improve relationships going forward.

Youth Courts Therapeutic Justice Model (YC TJ Model)

• Youth Courts Therapeutic Justice Model  (PDF, 342 KB)
• Youth Courts Therapeutic Justice Model (Abridged Version)  (PDF, 1656 KB)

The extension of Therapeutic Justice (TJ) to the Youth Courts was announced on 23 July 2025 by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. In the Youth Courts, TJ is about helping a child or young person who needs guidance, protection and/or rehabilitation move towards his or her best possible future through appropriate interventions. It involves a judge-led process where the Court, the Panel of Advisers, the child or young person, the parents or guardian of the child or young person and stakeholders in the youth justice eco-system, come together to find appropriate solutions for the child or young person within the framework of the law.

The YC TJ Model articulates existing practices in the Youth Courts that embody TJ principles, and introduces new initiatives to further integrate TJ within Youth Courts processes. The YC TJ Model is to be read in conjunction with the FJC TJ Model.

The Youth Courts’ new TJ initiatives encompass enhancing case management, supporting youth rehabilitation, and introducing therapeutic support to children and young persons in Youth Courts proceedings and their families. These include adopting, for case management, the “One Family, One Team” approach, which assigns a dedicated multi-disciplinary team to handle all Youth Courts proceedings relating to a family as far as reasonably practicable, and the Collaborative Teams approach that seeks to coordinate concurrent Youth Courts proceedings and Family Court proceedings relating to the same family. The framework also introduces the School Reintegration Network to help at-risk children and young persons resume education in schools, and Care Conferences within Youth Courts proceedings. Additionally, tools like the Visionary Map and written Promise for Change are used to promote self-reflection and positive behavioural change among children and young persons.

“One Family, One Team” – this describes the approach adopted to provide more customised and holistic support to families with multiple Youth Courts proceedings. Under this approach, when a family has two or more Youth Courts proceedings, a single multi-disciplinary team will be assigned to all of those Youth Courts proceedings, as far as reasonably practicable.

Collaborative Teams – when any Youth Courts proceedings involve a family with an ongoing case in the Family Court (or the Family Division of the High Court) that is under the Teams Track (e.g. divorce application), the Youth Courts team and the Family Court team will work together to facilitate the efficient and effective management of the related matters.

School Reintegration Network – the Youth Courts are working with the Ministry of Education, through the activation of student welfare officers or suitable school staff, towards the primary goal of facilitating the reintegration into a school setting of a child or young person (especially one who has been continuously absent from school). 

Care Conferences - Care Conferences may be conducted in suitable family guidance applications and youth offender cases, where the court family specialist and the judge are of the view that additional engagement with the child or young person, his or her parents or guardian, and relevant stakeholders, will benefit the child or young person, by recognising the crucial role of family support in the child’s or young person’s rehabilitation journey. 

Visionary Map and written Promise for Change – In family guidance applications and youth offender cases, the Visionary Map presents the child or young person and/or his or her parents or guardian with a series of guided questions to encourage deeper reflection on the child’s or young persons’ past doings and, more significantly, insights for the child’s or young person’s future after the Youth Courts proceedings. The child or young person will also be encouraged to make specific, measurable commitments in the form of a written Promise for Change, and to translate his or her insights from the Visionary Map into a concrete action plan for change.

Summary of the application of TJ initiatives to Youth Courts proceedings

Resources