FRANCES Q.F. WONG     Area of Expertise Location     Family/Matrimonial     All neutrals on the DPR Panel are willing to travel to the neighbor islands and the mainland. If you have any questions, please contact DPR at (808) 523-1234
	FRANCES Q. F. WONG is a retired judge of the First Circuit (Oahu) of the State of Hawaii. She was appointed as a per diem family district judge of the Family Court in 1982, a full-time family district judge in 1986, and a Circuit Court judge in 1992. She was the Senior Judge of the Family Court and a Deputy Chief Judge at the time of retirement in 2009. She obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law in 1977, her baccalaureate degree in special education from the University of Hawaii in 1973, and her high school diploma from McKinley High School in 1969. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Wong was in private practice. Judge Wong has presided over all types of cases in Hawaii’s “unified” family court system, which includes a widely diverse number of subjects, including: juvenile law violators and status offenders, divorce proceedings (both custody and property issues), domestic violence (both civil protection orders and criminal cases), child protection cases, criminal cases involving families, paternity, adoption, guardianship of persons, civil commitment of the mentally ill, abuse of elderly and other vulnerable adults. She was the Senior Family Court Judge (administrative judge) from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2000 to 2009. As a Circuit Court judge, she was also assigned to the Criminal Division from 1994 to 2000 and presided over felony criminal jury trials, the master calendar felony motions docket (pretrial motions, motions for supervised release, and civil forfeiture cases for 10 trial judges), and the Oahu Drug Court. The Judge has also published numerous articles, some of which include: “Parenting Arrangements After Domestic Violence”, Journal of the Center for Families, Children and the Courts, Vol. 6, 2005; Navigating Custody and Visitation Evaluations in Cases with Domestic Violence: A Judge’s Guide, co-authored with Clare Dalton, LL.M., and Leslie M. Drozd, Ph.D. 2006. Judge Wong has worked on various National Projects throughout the years including: Member, Advisory Committee of the State Justice Institute’s Project to Develop A Judge’s Guide to Navigating Custody and Visitation Evaluations in Domestic Violence Cases (2004-2006); Member, The National Advisory Committee for Safe Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Grant Program (2003-2006); Member, National Advisory Committee for a Judicial Benchbook, Domestic Violence and the Consideration of Cultural Factors in Criminal and Civil Court Cases, published by the Family Violence Prevention Fund in 1999; Member, Domestic Relations Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) (2003); Invited Participant, The Johnson Foundation’s Wingspread Conference on Domestic Violence and Child Welfare: Integrating Policy and Practice for Families, June 1994 and Invited Participant, The Johnson Foundation’s Wingspread Conference on Domestic Violence and Family Courts, February, 2007. With her many years of judicial experience in the family court system, the Judge has developed, in collaboration with other Judges, numerous Family Court Programs, some of which include: Family Drug Court (a special court designed to assist substance abusing parents on the child abuse and neglect docket); Ho’omakua Program (designed to provide significant assistance to foster youth who will “age-out” while in foster care); Girls Court and Girls Programming; Alternative Dispute Resolution initiatives throughout the family court; Custody Investigation Unit (developed a unit of court officers to provide custody evaluations for indigent parties in divorce and paternity cases); One Family/One Judge Initiative; Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (with major assistance from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Office of Youth Services, and the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council); Zero to Three Court (with major assistance from the Zero to Three Foundation); Family Court Symposia and other training opportunities for statewide Family Court judges covering many different topics. The Judge has served on a variety of professional committees, and at the time of retirement they included: Member, Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council- A Governor-appointed group to administer funds received through the federal Office oF Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and to assist the State on juvenile justice issues and programs; Member, Juvenile Justice Information Committee (JJIC) - A statewide, inter-agency committee to oversee the administration of the Juvenile Justice Information System (an integrated data management system); Chair, Permanent Committee on Family Court Rules; Chair, Committee to Evaluate Qualifications of Per Diem Judges in the First Circuit; Member, Kapolei Courthouse and Detention Center Planning Committee; Chair, Ka‘ahumanu Hale Advisory Committee; Chair, Child Support Guidelines Re-evaluation Task Force. In addition to the professional activities noted above, Judge Wong also served on the following: President, Hawaii State Trial Judges Association (1997-1999); Member, Advisory Board of the Child-at-Risk Evaluation (CARE) Program, promoting comprehensive medical and forensic evaluations for abused/neglected children; Member, The Honolulu Waldorf School’s Board of Trustees; Member, The American Judicature Society’s Hawaii Chapter Board of Directors; Vice-President and Board Member, The Bobby Benson Center and the Bobby Benson Foundation (1996-2002), residential adolescent drug treatment center; Board Member and Officer, The Movement Center (1998-2000), a non-profit dance and performing arts program; Member, Intermediate Sanctions Steering Committee (2000-2001). Judge Wong has received numerous Awards including: The 2000 Peace Seeker Award from the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline; The Hawaii Women Lawyers’ 2002 Outstanding Judicial Achievement Award (inaugural recipient); The Hawaii State Bar Association’s 2009 President’s Award for distinguished service and outstanding achievements that best exemplify the mission of the HSBA - to unite and inspire Hawaii’s lawyers to promote justice, serve the public, and improve the legal profession; Judiciary’s 2009 Jurist of the Year. Judge Wong is currently a member of the Church of the Crossroads’ Coordinating Council as the immediate past Moderator (President of the Congregation) and member and Secretary of the Taiko Arts Center’s Board of Directors.