A Multidisciplinary Perspective on the Role, Functions, and Effectiveness of Parenting Coordination

• Published date: 01 July 2020
• Author: Robin Belcher‐Timme,Michael Saini,Daniel Nau
• Date: 01 July 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12506

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE, FUNCTIONS,

AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PARENTING COORDINATION

Michael Saini, Robin Belcher-Timme, and Daniel Nau

Based on a survey conducted in 2018 in collaboration with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’(AFCC) Task

Force on Parenting Coordination, this paper explores issues related to the process and perceived outcomes of parenting coor-

dination for families post separation and divorce. The views expressed emerge from a diverse and multidisciplinary sample

(n= 289) from legal, mental health, and conflict resolution backgrounds. Almost half of all participants (46%) were mental

health professionals (psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker), followed by attorneys (28%), family mediators (17%) and

judges (5%). Over half of all participants identified as a parenting coordinator (PC) (53%). Based on the results, participants

had the highest level of agreement that the goal of parenting coordination should be to assist in sheltering the children from

parental conflict and to help the coparents reduce interparental conflict. Participants assigned greater success to parenting

coordination when there was demonstration that coparenting conflict decreased. Several differences were noted among profes-

sional disciplines and specifically between legal and mental health professionals. Mental health professionals rated higher on

the effectiveness of PCs to help children adjust and limit their involvement in the parental conflict, while legal professionals

focused on PCs’ability to help families resolve legal disputes. The implications of the results are discussed, including how

best to measure the success of parenting coordination and to prioritize outcomes related to the success of parenting coordina-

tion across disciplines to create greater consistency in the field.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

The role and functions of parenting coordination varies across jurisdictions.

There remains a lack of agreement on the use of standard and objective outcomes to measure the effectiveness of par-

enting coordination.

There are various types of interventions and approaches used by PCs to assist families post separation and divorce.

PCs with mental health backgrounds tend to focus on helping children adjust to parental conflict, while PCs who are

legal professionals are more likely to focus on the PCs’ability to help families resolve legal disputes.

Despite recent calls to involve children within the parenting coordination process, children largely remain excluded

from the process.

The current study is important because it responds to the calls for empirical evidence to examine the process and out-

comes related to parenting coordination and demonstrates the need for additional research.

Keywords: Conflict Resolution; Cross-Discipline; Experiences; Family Law; Legal Professionals; Mental Health Profes-

sionals; Parenting Coordination;Separation and Divorce; Survey.

I. INTRODUCTION

Parents who remain in high conflict post separation and divorce struggle to problem-solve and make

joint decisions without the assistance of third party professionals. Each parent’s past experiences and

negative relationship patterns contribute to the intractable nature of their ongoing conflict

(Demby, 2016). For the small percentage of parents who remain stuck in high levels of conflict, the

exposure to chronic conflict can have devastating consequences on their children’s short and long-term

adjustment and can negatively influence children’s mental, emotional, physical, and social needs. With

the potential harm created by higher levels of conflict, the field of dispute resolution has been evolving

Corresponding: michael.saini@utoronto.ca

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 58 No. 3, July 2020 658–672

© 2020 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts