The additional jurisdiction of a family court division of Circuit Court shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes, which are as follows:
(1) To strengthen and preserve the integrity of the family and safeguard marital and familial relationships;
(2) To protect children and adult family members from domestic violence and abuse;
(3) To promote the amicable settlement of disputes that have arisen between family members;
(4) To assure an adequate remedy for children adjudged to be dependent, abused, or neglected, and for those children adjudicated as status offenders;
(5) To mitigate the potential harm to the spouses and their children caused by the process of legal dissolution of marriage;
(6) To make adequate provision for the care, custody, and support of minor children of divorce and for those children who have been born out of wedlock; and (7) To provide a level of proceedings, when necessary, that is more appropriate to a family court division of Circuit Court.