There is a long history of dissension among legal and mental health professionals about the value of child custody evaluations. Despite frequent use by the courts, the lack of adequate empirical research impedes the ability to validate the efficacy of child custody evaluations. This study investigated the overall value of court-ordered child custody evaluations by surveying a diverse, national sample of judges to gather data regarding the usefulness, and validity of child custody evaluations. Two hundred and sixty-eight judges from 42 states completed an anonymous survey. The results indicated that judges find information voiced by the child in question, data obtained from the parent–child observations, and collateral data obtained about the litigants as most useful. Survey findings suggested judges perceived there to be a shortage of trained evaluators and also consider child custody evaluations too expensive and too time-consuming. Overall, judges find child custody evaluations useful and clearly desire experts to include recommendations on legal custody and parenting time schedules in their reports.

中文翻译：

---

儿童监护权评估对家庭法法官有益吗？司法视角的研究

法律和心理健康专业人士对于儿童监护权评估的价值长期以来存在争议。尽管法院经常使用，但缺乏足够的实证研究阻碍了验证儿童监护权评估有效性的能力。本研究通过调查不同的全国法官样本，收集有关儿童监护权评估的有用性和有效性的数据，调查了法院下令的儿童监护权评估的总体价值。来自 42 个州的 268 名法官完成了一项匿名调查。结果表明，法官认为有关儿童表达的信息、从亲子观察中获得的数据以及获得的有关诉讼当事人的附带数据最有用。调查结果表明，法官认为缺乏训练有素的评估人员，并且还认为儿童监护权评估过于昂贵且耗时。总体而言，法官认为儿童监护权评估很有用，并明确希望专家在其报告中纳入有关法定监护权和养育时间表的建议。