Petitioning for an Order
Contact YWCA NorthEastern NY at 518-374-3394 and press ‘0’ to connect with our front desk. Indicate you are seeking an Order of Protection and you will be connected with an advocate who will help you draft and file a petition for an OOP in Virtual Court. If you are asked to leave a message, someone will respond to your call shortly. Please leave a safe contact number for an advocate to get in touch with you.
Upon reaching us, you’ll be given the option to connect with an advocate via phone or by any other face time media. Together, you will draft the petition and the advocate will then e-file it through remote portal or instruct you on how to file it independently.
Please click one of the below links to download the petition. They can also be found by following the instructions below.
8-2 Family Offense Petition Word Document
8-2 Family Offense Petition PDF
If you are going to file yourself you can go to: http://ww2.nycourts.gov/forms/familycourt/index.shtml
On the left hand side of the web page, there is a list of options. Click on “Family Offense”. Scroll down to 8-2 Petition (Family offense) and click on the word document. Once completed, the form can be printed and mailed or faxed to Schenectady County Family Court. Petitions can be filed until 4:00PM Monday through Friday.
Mailing Address: Schenectady County Family Court, 620 State Street, Schenectady, NY 12305
Fax Number: 518-393-1565
After Filing the Petition
On the same business day that your YWCA NENY advocate files your petition, the Court will contact you with details on when your case will be heard. This typically happens within a few hours of filing. Make sure to keep your phone close all day to avoid missing the call.
During this phone call, you will be given a specific time for your hearing.
Please contact your YWCA NENY advocate to inform them of the court hearing.
Serving the Order
Once the judge issues the Temporary Order of Protection (TOP), you will receive a copy of the order by mail. PLEASE REMEMBER: The TOP must be physically served to your abuser for it to be valid. If your abuser does not have notice of the fact that you filed a temporary order of protection against them, they can’t be arrested for violating it!
You may register to be notified when your Order of Protection is served at https://oopalert.ny.gov/oopalert/
**Please check back daily with updates as this information may change based on COVID-19 restrictions and how that impacts our staff as well as the county courts.**