New Jersey Court & Family Education Guide
Information for anyone navigating a court order, custody case, or probation requirement in New Jersey that involves anger management, parenting, co-parenting, or substance-abuse education.
What does Clearway offer?
People are sometimes ordered or referred to an educational program as part of a family-law, custody, probation, or other New Jersey court-related matter. The type of program required can depend on the circumstances of the case and the exact wording of the court order.
Clearway Institute offers four self-paced online courses: anger management, parenting, co-parenting, and substance-abuse education. Not every course is appropriate for every court order, and completing an online course does not automatically mean a particular New Jersey court, probation department, or agency will accept it — always read your order carefully and confirm the required program with the court, probation officer, attorney, or other referring agency when you're not sure.
Which type of class do you need?
Start with whichever matches your order or situation — each course page has the full curriculum before you enroll.
What if a New Jersey court ordered it?
New Jersey's Prevention of Domestic Violence Act lets a court build counseling into a final restraining order. N.J.S.A. 2C:25-29(b)(5) allows an order requiring the defendant to receive professional domestic violence counseling from a private or court-appointed source, and the court may order the defendant to pay for it. Outside a restraining order, the sources reviewed identified no statewide statute requiring a specific anger-management or batterer-intervention class after an assault conviction, so any such requirement is set in the individual case.
On the civil side, a final order that requires counseling cannot be dissolved until the defendant has completed all required attendance, and the same section lets the court address parenting time and temporary custody. In ordinary custody cases, N.J.S.A. 9:2-4 lists the history of domestic violence among the factors a court weighs. Requirements differ by court and by order, so confirm exactly what your own order or judgment requires before enrolling in any course.
What's the difference between classes?
Parenting vs. co-parenting. Parenting covers general child-development, discipline, and communication skills, and comes up in a wide range of family cases. Co-parenting is built specifically for separated or divorcing parents — coordinating two households, handling custody transitions, and keeping kids out of the middle — and is the more common requirement in a custody or divorce order.
Anger management vs. a certified intervention program. Many states, New Jersey included, treat general educational anger-management coursework as legally distinct from a state-certified batterer intervention, family-violence intervention, or abuser-treatment program ordered specifically in a domestic-violence case — see “What if a New Jersey court ordered it?” above for how that distinction works here. If your order names a specific certified program by name, an educational anger-management course usually isn't an automatic substitute — check with your court.
Where can I verify requirements?
The most reliable answer always comes from whoever issued your order — the court clerk, your probation or parole officer, your attorney, or the agency that referred you. Below are free, New Jersey-specific places to start if you need legal help, counseling, or crisis support along the way.
Legal reference material
For anyone who wants to read the underlying statutes for themselves, here is the reference material this guide is based on — New Jersey civil and family-law sections first, then criminal law.
Civil & family law
Custody best-interest factorsN.J.S.A. 9:2-4
In deciding custody, New Jersey courts weigh a list of factors that includes the history of domestic violence, the safety of the child and of either parent from physical abuse by the other parent, and the fitness of the parents. A parent is not treated as unfit unless the parent's conduct has a substantial adverse effect on the child.
Final restraining orders and reliefN.J.S.A. 2C:25-29
After a hearing, a court can grant any relief needed to prevent further abuse, including restraints, parenting-time terms, temporary custody, counseling, and a psychiatric evaluation. When temporary custody is awarded, the court presumes the child's best interests are served by placing the child with the non-abusive parent.
What counts as domestic violenceN.J.S.A. 2C:25-19
The domestic violence law covers listed acts such as assault, harassment, stalking, terroristic threats, criminal mischief, and cyber-harassment. They must be committed against a protected person, such as a spouse, a former spouse, a household member, a parent of one's child, or a dating partner.
Criminal law
Simple and aggravated assaultN.J.S.A. 2C:12-1
Simple assault is generally a disorderly persons offense, and a lesser petty disorderly persons offense if it happens in a fight entered into by mutual consent. Aggravated assault is graded by injury, mental state, and weapons, and includes domestic-violence provisions, such as a second-degree crime for obstructing a victim's breathing or blood circulation.
StalkingN.J.S.A. 2C:12-10
Stalking is a fourth-degree crime when a person purposely or knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or suffer emotional distress. It rises to a third-degree crime if it violates a court order, repeats against the same victim, or occurs while on parole or probation.
Contempt of a domestic violence orderN.J.S.A. 2C:29-9(b)
Purposely or knowingly violating an order under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act is a fourth-degree crime if the conduct could also be a crime or disorderly persons offense. In other cases it is a disorderly persons offense. Orders under certain relief paragraphs are excluded from these grades.