Agenda

This session will delve into the information gathering process and explore relevant versus irrelevant information. Specific strategies for interviewing children and adults forensically will be reviewed. Differences between diagnosis and assessment of parent functional behaviors and coparenting will be explored.

This session will examine screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) and discuss the impact of IPV on families and the child custody evaluation process. A multifactorial model for resist-refuse dynamics and assessment considerations will also be presented.

This session will explore the current research literature on the effects of divorce on children, issues with high conflict parents, and gatekeeping.

This session will focus on current research literature on young children, parental mental health, and substance misuse within the context of child custody.

This session will provide an overview of best practices for developing effective, supported, and developmentally appropriate parenting plans. Implementation problems related to transitions and long distance, as well as step-up parenting plans, will be discussed.

This session will examine ethnic, cultural, and diversity issues that may arise when conducting child custody evaluations. Unique considerations related to religious perspectives, ethnic and racial diversity, and same sex couples will also be shared.

This session will explore hypothesis testing, articulate the importance of developing multiple hypotheses, and provide instruction on how to do so. Use of decision trees will also be described. The problems associated with heuristics will be explored, along with further explanation of various types of cognitive biases.

This session will explain the place of psychological testing in child custody evaluations, including when and how to use testing. Numerous psychological tests will be described, including objective tests such as the MMPI-2 and STAXI, projective tests such as the R-PAS, parenting tests such as the PAM and CAPI, and child assessments such as BASC. The appropriate use of computer-generated reports will also be reviewed.

This session will explore challenging issues occasionally encountered in child custody evaluations such as relocation and sexual abuse allegations. The unique considerations of working with families with special needs children will also be addressed.

This session will provide an overview of the parts of a report, including an explanation of the importance of providing well-articulated analysis and synthesis. A primer in drafting recommendations that are well-supported and specific will also be shared.