§ 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.