State requirements / Connecticut
Connecticut parenting class requirement
Judicial Department contract only
Connecticut requires any party to a family case involving a minor child to complete a parenting education program, unless the parties agree otherwise with the court's approval or the court finds it unnecessary. The automatic orders set the deadline at 60 days, and programs run six hours.
The requirement at a glance
| Who must attend | Any party to a family action before the Superior Court where a minor child is involved, unless the parties agree with the court's approval not to participate, the court determines on motion that participation is unnecessary, or the parties select and complete a comparable program. No party is required to participate more than once. |
| Hours required | Statute caps the programme at 10 hours. The 6 hour figure is practice, not statute [verify] |
| Deadline | Within 60 days of the return day, or within 60 days of the filing of the application. This comes from the automatic orders that attach to a Connecticut family case. |
| Authority | C.G.S. 46b-69b |
| Fees and waivers | The total cost may not exceed $200 per person, indexed annually to inflation, and the current program fee is lower. Nobody may be excluded for inability to pay, and provider contracts must include a fee schedule with indigency provisions. |
| Our price | $25 for one parent, $50 for both parents on the same case. Scholarship seats are funded by donors, so no parent is turned away for money. |
| Our registry status | We are not pursuing this state yet, and we would rather tell you than let you wait. It either requires the class to be delivered live and in person, which our self-paced course cannot be, or it has no route for a new provider at all. Use your court's own list. If that changes, this page changes with it. |
What the law actually says
“The total cost for such program shall not exceed two hundred dollars per person. Such amount shall be indexed annually to reflect the rate of inflation. The program shall not exceed a total of ten hours.”
Conn. Gen. Stat. 46b-69b(d)Quoted from the official text. Read it yourself at the source below.The part nobody explains
Filing your certificate
A four-part court form travels with you. The clerk completes the order, you complete your section, you hand the form to the provider who completes the completion certificate and returns it to Family Services, and Family Services certifies the result to the Superior Court.
If the deadline passes
The parenting education requirement rides on the automatic orders, and failure to obey those orders may be punished as contempt of court.
Who approves providers in Connecticut
The Judicial Department makes the program available by contract with service providers, and an advisory committee advises on provider qualifications and selection. Providers must also provide safety and security for participants, including victims of family violence. There is no self-certification route: entry means winning a Judicial Branch contract. Participants may attend any approved program in the state, so approval is statewide rather than district-locked.
What you get from us
- The full course, start to finish, on a phone or a laptop, with your progress saved. Lifetime access, no thirty-day expiry and no extension fees.
- Your certificate the moment you finish, by email, free. A mailed paper copy is optional.
- Free instant verification for your court. A clerk or judge confirms the certificate at our verification page with no account and no phone call.
- Our acceptance guarantee: if your specific court declines this certificate, you get a full refund, no processing fee and no deadline to claim it.
Check us on the law
Every fact on this page traces to an official source. Read them yourself.