SETTLEMENT BY EVALUATION AND ARBITRATION

• Author: Alison Taylor,Harriet Bing
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1994.tb01080.x
• Date: 01 October 1994
• Published date: 01 October 1994

1994

MEYER ELKIN ESSAY CONTEST WINNER

SETTLEMENT

BY

EVALUATION AND ARBITRATION

A New Approach

for

Custody and Visitation

Disputes

Alison Taylor and Harriet Bing

Child custody studies have been done for many years in family courts and

jurisdictions to provide the judges with reliable information regarding the

families’ and the children’s best interests. This article will describe a new

pilot program at Clackamas County Family Court Service that is based on a

two-part model of evaluation and settlement of

the

dispute by a panel of

arbitrators following an informal settlement hearing.

WHY

DO

THIS

PROJECT?

Family Court Service in Clackamas Courts has historically not provided

custody studies

as

do other jurisdictions and court services in our state.

Evaluations for those bound for court have been available through private

practitioners, many of whom provide excellent, comprehensive evaluation of

parents and children.

We have relied on mediation

as

the primary dispute resolution mechanism

for these family problems, seeing that the active involvement of the parents

in their own decision making is preferable in most cases,

as

well

as

conserv-

ing time and money for the family and our agency. Mediation in our county

is voluntary rather than mandatory but is actively encouraged by the attorneys

and judges.

There have always been cases, however, that were either inappropriate for

mediation to even begin or where such mediation efforts were not sufficient

to help the parents sort out what was best for the children and make mutually

acceptable decisions.

In

our

system, when we saw such barriers to mediated agreements, all we

could do is refer these cases back to attorneys for their negotiative help and

Authors’

Note:

Correspondence

should

be

addressed

to

Cluckamas

County

Family

Court

Services,

704

Main

St.,

Ste.

200,

Oregon

Ciiy,

OR

970451888,

to

the

anention

of

Harriet

Bing.

FAMILY

AND

CONCILIATION

COURTS

REVIEW,

Vol.

32

No.

4,

October

1994

432-444

Q

1994

Sage

Publications,

Inc.

432