Family Law Issues Child Maltreatment Prevalence Figure in PowerPoint Categories what type of abuse led you into the system Red Agency Blue Self Report o Found by asking behaviorally i e Have you ever been hit hard enough to leave a mark vs Have you ever been physically abused Child neglect is the one that gets the most attention of child protection services o At least double any of the other rates Psychological is the one that gets most self reported A substantial amount of kids will have experienced more than one form of victimization Legal Action As soon as a child needs to be taken out of the home becomes a legal issue Initial intention is to stabilize the situation so that the child can return home Parents with a drug addiction is the hardest case to get a child back into the home If you can t within a certain amount of time get the child into the home you have to find a permanent plan for the child because foster homes are temporary o Either give guardianship to somebody else or gives child up for adoption Adoption terminates the right of the parents while guardianship does not Guardianship leaves door of parents to regain custody open Not a lot of research on which decision is best Child protective services involves very little criminal court o Sexual abuse is most likely to go to criminal court of the chart reasons Child Custody Frequency of Evaluations o 50 Uncontested Divorce Don t need to get involved with the court o 30 Settled but Contested Not in agreement but they get settled o 11 Settled with Mediation A step further than settled but contested o 5 Settled after Assessment Had to go to court about it Child custody evaluations are the hardest ones to do o Already a hostile situation o Need to evaluate everyone involved o Need to have a wide range of expertise specialized training Parenting Adult development Role of mental health in parenting Child development o Hired by the court have to remain neutral o Cannot be the service provider for anyone involved Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act Current and future best interests of the child Wishes of the child Wishes of the child s parents The relationship between the child and parents siblings and significant others that interact with the child Child s adjustment at home school and community The physical and mental health of the parties Ranked in the order in which they matter Custody Types Physical Custody o Who do you live with o For how many days o Visitation Legal Custody o Who is responsible for making decisions for the child Custodial Arrangements Sole Custody Joint Custody o One parent has both physical and legal custody o Both parents retain legal decision making rights for their child o Doesn t necessarily mean a 50 50 split for where the child lives or spends o Tends to be the best outcome for the kids kids do better their time Split Custody o Siblings get split o Rare Joint custody is the most common legal custody arrangement and the mother most commonly gets physical custody Joint Custody Issues Even interaction between the child ren and each parent More parent interaction and demands for cooperation More alterations in care giving arrangements e g more separations and reunions with parents Evaluating Child Custody Same evaluations for both parents Need to connect mental health issues to their parenting ability Have to observe the parent and the child interacting o Give the child something that s too hard for them to do and see how the parent handles the frustration Evaluate each parent and each child Get information from outside parties o School o Pediatrician o Etc Time consuming and laborious Have to take into account the developmental perspective Parental Alienation Syndrome PAS PAS a disturbance in which children are obsessively preoccupied with depreciation and or criticism of a parent In other words denigration that is unjustified and or exaggerated B S no scientific evidence Richard Gardner