2006 New York Code - Findings.

 
    §  141.  Findings. This act defines the conditions on which the family
  court may intervene in the life of a  child,  parent  and  spouse.  Once
  these  conditions  are  satisfied,  the  court  is given a wide range of
  powers for dealing with the complexities of  family  life  so  that  its
  action  may  fit  the particular needs of those before it. The judges of
  the court are thus given a wide discretion and grave responsibilities.
    The people of the state of New York have concluded that legal training
  and experience should be required  before  any  person  may  assume  the
  office  of  family  court  judge  and  so  provided  in  section twenty,
  paragraph a, of the judiciary article of the constitution of  the  state
  of  New  York.   Judges of the family court should also be familiar with
  areas of learning and practice  that  often  are  not  supplied  by  the
  practice of law.