Family Court Review

Publisher:: Wiley
Publication date:: 2021-02-01

ISBN:: 1744-1617

Issue Number

No. 61-4, October 2023

Latest documents

Guest editors' introduction to the 2023 special issue on parenting plan evaluations
Returning to the child welfare system: Understanding the wellbeing, health, education, and placement of children who return
Using longitudinal archival Child Welfare System (CWS) data, this study describes child health and wellbeing at their initial entrance into the CWS and subsequent returns. Associations between child wellbeing, health, placement stability, and frequency of returning to the system were also investigated. Results indicated most children were healthy and developmentally on target. In addition, emotional distress, behavioral concerns, and number of placements in the CWS were significantly correlated with placement stability. Future work should utilize the use of developmental assessments to systematically and reliably document the concerns for children in the system, and investigate factors contributing to stable placements.
Sweet dreams are made of this: The need for narrowly tailored statutory protection for documented dreamers
The growing backlog of immigrant visa petitions and legal permanent resident adjustment applications is a harsh reality of the American dream. Dependent children of immigrants can wait decades for their parents' visas to become current, only to age out of dependent status before stepping foot on American soil. Dependent children of nonimmigrants seeking to become legal permanent residents age out before their parents' adjustment application is approved – leaving them at risk of removal. This Note proposes a temporary visa status for these dependents, allowing them to maintain legal status in America and remain with their parents.
How I met your mother: Mitigating forced marriage in the United States
Forced marriage in the United States is a hidden issue for a growing number of children and young people. Being trapped in a marriage severely impacts a person's well‐being, with long‐term psychological and physical ramifications. Forced marriage increases the likelihood of domestic violence and sexual abuse, depriving victims of autonomy. To lessen the number of forced marriages, this Note proposes emulating a United Kingdom statute. The statute provides a comprehensive approach with tailored programs and services to serve the needs of victims of forced marriages. Adopting this statute will create uniform law, making forced marriages illegal federally.
Practice tips for managing challenges in parenting capacity assessments in child protection court
Courts frequently rely on parenting capacity assessments to make decisions about visitation and case progress in child protection court. Although these evaluations can provide valuable information to courts, they often involve assessing areas of human behavior that are not clearly defined in the literature. For example, mental health professionals are often tasked with identifying risk and protective factors for child maltreatment while identifying factors that can impede progress towards reunification. Although some of these factors may be easy to identify and assess (e.g., symptoms of mental illness or substance abuse), others may be more challenging. For example, factors such as denial and minimization about risk factors and maltreatment, a parent(s)’ ability to protect their child(ren) from future incidents of maltreatment, the parent(s)’ potential for change, and the consideration of what is in the best interest of the child are hard to assess. This article will provide a summary of the research in these areas, provide tips for managing these areas, and highlight directions for future investigation that will help inform parenting capacity assessments in child protection court.
Models and methods of cost‐effective child custody evaluation
Child custody evaluations (CCEs) are often seen as a necessity by the legal system when caregivers cannot find a resolution to their child custody disputes. In many instances, these evaluations are quite costly for the litigants and cost can act as a barrier to equal access to justice. Affluent families are better able to access private evaluators while families with lesser means may encounter delays in receiving services or be unable to afford an evaluation at all. This can, in turn, prolong resolution of league disputes, increasing the emotional toll on families, and hamper courts in making decisions in the best interests of the children involved. This article examines models of providing CCEs outside of an isolated individual provider private practice format. It examines the benefits and considerations for lower‐cost evaluations, while discussing how to maintain high quality services that adequately assess family systems. Broader issues that impact the courts and overall access to justice through offering cost effective evaluations are also discussed.
Judicial decision‐making in family court involving children with autism spectrum disorder
The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children and adolescents has increased over the past decade. Consequently, the courts and experts are more likely to be exposed to these children whose needs are highly heterogeneous. The present study aims to document judicial decision‐making about children with autism spectrum as well as the parenting recommendations made by experts involved in these cases. There were 104 court decisions reviewed in Quebec over the past ten years. The results show that 85.6% of the decisions included a child custody assessment and that judges are more likely to order primary care to mother (56%). However, shared parenting (27%) and primary care to the father (17%) were also ordered in disputes involving an autistic child. Bivariate analyses revealed that challenges with parental monitoring and supervision were associated with court‐ordered parenting arrangements. The present study revealed that a child custody assessment as well as father custody are more often observed than in the general population. This study highlights the need for further research to shed light on the best interests of children with ASD following the separation of their parents.
October 2023
The admissibility and persuasiveness of expert evidence
Parenting plan evaluators are expert witnesses who offer their opinion. Courts in common law jurisdictions generally do not accept evidence of an opinion as it is not considered to be reliable evidence from which to establish a fact. An exception to that general principle is expert opinion evidence. In short, an opinion from a person with specialized knowledge or expertise about the area in which they are an expert may be sufficiently reliable to form an evidentiary basis from which to make a finding of fact, provided the opinion meets certain criteria. These criteria will be discussed in this article, as well as what is relevant, reliable and persuasive evidence. The relevant legal principles will be examined in an historical and contemporary, theoretical and practical context. The authors reflect on their considerable experience as consumers of expert evidence and apply this to parenting plan evaluations, as well as considering future challenges in the field.
The utility of trauma evaluations in judicial decision‐making in child sex trafficking cases: A qualitative analysis
Youth coerced into trafficking experience multiple forms of abuse, and are deprived of basic human rights associated with liberty and self‐determination, all of which can adversely affect mental and psychological well‐being (Ottisova et al., Behavioral Medicine, 44(3), 234‐241.). This study uses a qualitative approach to exploring how judges use trauma‐related information to make decisions about how to adjudicate cases involving minors who have been sexually trafficked. Additionally, the study identifies barriers to receiving data, the court resources needed to effectively respond, and potential remedies to address gaps in effective case management. The study uses data from 82 juvenile and family court judges from around the USA 27‐item structured interview was used to determine the availability and utility of trauma services, needed resources, and solutions to overcome gaps in effective case adjudication. Themes emerged related to lack of access to and timing issues that limited the utility of reports, lack of congruency between recommendations and available resources and child and family resistance to disclosures. Solutions to overcome barriers are related to increased cross‐disciplinary collaboration, awareness and responsiveness. Legal remedies such as Safe Harbor laws can only be realized if the systemic context is aligned and appropriately resourced toward responsiveness.