July 2020

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12503
• Author: Barbara A. Babb,Marsha Kline Pruett
• Published date: 01 July 2020
• Date: 01 July 2020

EDITORIAL NOTE

JULY 2020

This special issue of Family Court Review focuses on parenting coordination, a form of dispute

resolution, case management, support, and intervention for high conflict parents. AFCC twice has

produced guidelines for parenting coordination practice through an interdisciplinary task force.

A 2019 project has resulted in updated guidelines and the collaboration for this special issue.

As highlighted through the eight articles that comprise this special issue, we have made significant

strides in understanding parenting coordination, begun in the 1980’s, including its uses, its limitations,

and the elements that constitute a high standard of care. Simultaneously, harnessing the effectiveness

of parenting coordination to reduce conflict and increase coparents’and children’s well-being remains

largely elusive, rendering it an intervention with promise and potential, but one that is not yet bearing

full fruit.

Special issue editors Debra Carter and Linda Fieldstone are pioneers in parenting coordination

since its inception. Through the AFCC Guidelines and the seven articles, they bring a full bounty

of information and awareness to the FCR table. Any reader wanting to know the nuts and bolts and

the intricacies and delicacies underlying provision of the model cannot leave this special issue hun-

gry. Debra and Linda have compiled articles, summarized in their Guest Editorial, which offer a his-

tory and description of parenting coordination –what it is, how it has evolved, and how it functions

statutorily, through rules, or informally across the U.S. and in Canada. The balancing act between

children’s best interests and parental rights, along with due process concerns inherent in the prac-

tice, are deftly explained and centered by several of the articles. The articles also take us through

the functions of parenting coordination, with special emphasis on the scope of authority and its lim-

itations. Practical advice from soup to nuts about what kinds of cases are most appropriate, how

courts appoint parenting coordinators and/or order parenting coordination, how to define the scope

of practice, qualifications needed for competent service provision, and termination rules takes the

readers through the practice thoroughly, highlighting all issues to consider in this thorny work that

in the past has not been “served up”fully prepared. The introduction of models that show promise

for strengthening coparenting skills, which lie at the heart of the process, offers insights into what

may further improve parenting coordination effectiveness for parents and children. Finally, the arti-

cles also touch on important aspects of the parenting coordinator role that require additional atten-

tion: domestic violence issues, children’s voice in the process, and global differences in practice.

The issue leaves no stone unturned to orient readers to the advances in practices, its benefits, and

the challenges that remain in making parenting coordination an intervention that benefits a majority

of high conflict families.

The July 2020 issue of FCR also includes three articles on topics of great importance to our

readers. Bari Weinberger addresses the subject referred to by practitioners and scholars as the civil

death penalty in “Termination of Parental Rights in New York: Why Such a Variation by County?”

The article documents discrepancies in termination rates and proposes possible explanations.

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 58 No. 3, July 2020 639–640

© 2020 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts