Family Court

Family Court is concerned with the Best Interests of children in child custody matters.  The Court is not concerned with who is the best parent, but rather with the time sharing arrangement which will foster the child’s positive development and reinforce the child’s relationship with both parents.  Occasionally I carry out “Brief Focused Assessments” which address a specific question for the court (e.g., parental substance abuse or mental health disorders which may impair one’s parenting.)  Other times a more comprehensive evaluation is carried out.  Parents are asked to provide relevant background and parenting information according to an outline which I provide.  I will conduct three different types of reviews to identify areas which appear to be relevant to the individual case.  Subsequently, I will meet with each parent for a semi-structured interview for clarification and elaboration of information, as well as the administration of a personality screening instrument.  Next I meet with the child(ren) individually.  Following the individual sessions with the child(ren), I usually observe the child(ren) interacting with each parent (and their significant other).  Each parent will be interviewed again to explore issues which came up during the interviews and for additional clarifications.  The evaluation usually includes all individuals living in each home, as well as other individuals who may provide incremental information.   Additional procedures and interviews will be carried out as necessary for a given case.  In the interest of cost containment, I constantly re-evaluate the information I have and whether additional information will provide relevant incremental  information.  Each case is different and the facts of each case will determine the nature and the scope of the evaluation.