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Whether you've tied the knot shouldn't matter: Anyone, regardless of marital status, should be permitted to adopt in New York if it is in the child's best interests Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-19 Melissa Struck
New York Domestic Relations Law Section 110, which outlines who can adopt, precludes married petitioners from adopting without their spouse joining in the adoption petition, even when all parties involved support the adoption, and it is in the child's best interests. Some judges have prioritized the child's best interests and granted adoptions in such cases, while others have rigidly construed the
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Delaware County, Ohio, domestic relations court programs designed to reduce family conflict and reach agreements Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-14 Randall D. Fuller, Amy Armstrong
Families experiencing separation and divorce often find it difficult to provide emotional stability for children as the parents struggle with financial, parenting, and relationship decisions. The effect on children can be especially precarious. Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are risk factors that potentially affect children for the rest of their lives. Parental separation and divorce are identified
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The Children's Justice Clinic: Ensuring high‐quality legal representation for children through clinical legal education Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-12 Katherine P. Hazen, Michelle Paxton, Abigail L. Herzfeld, Eve M. Brank
Juvenile and family law uniquely require interdisciplinary education and experience to balance children's and families' legal rights with their best interests. Clinical legal education provides third‐year law students with advanced and applied experience in a specific area of law to prepare them for legal practice. Recent developments in clinical legal education advance this experience by integrating
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The birth of femtech lays fertile grounds for pregnancy discrimination in the workplace Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-08 Filza Siddiqui
Femtech refers to electronic devices, software, or other technology relating to women's health. Employers are contributing to the rapid growth of femtech by adopting femtech products for workplace wellness programs. Due to a lack of federal laws or regulations, employers can access the personal, intimate information their employees record in these femtech products which can subject employees to pregnancy
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A structured rubric for evaluating the many systemic variables that can contribute to parent–child contact problems (PCCP) Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-08 Benjamin D. Garber
Parent–child contact problems (PCCP) are among the most vexing and intractable matters encountered in contemporary divorce and post‐divorce litigation. These complex and incendiary family dynamics can confound even the most experienced evaluators, investigators, and jurists, fueling opposing confirmational biases, and sparking a destructive tug‐of‐war between the aligned parent's allegations of abuse
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Why's it gotta be so complicated: New York's regulation of compensated traditional surrogacy agreements creates a constitutional violation Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-07 Michelle J. Katz
New York's Child–Parent Security Act (CPSA) legalized compensated gestational surrogacy and created a simpler way for parents to establish their parental rights when utilizing assisted reproductive technology (ART). While this was a substantial step forward from past antiquated law, the CPSA continues to heavily regulate compensated genetic, otherwise known as traditional, surrogacy making it challenging
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Family Court Review: A love letter, and little a bit of history Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-07 Peter Salem
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Revolutionizing family courts: Catalysts for reform and the transformative role of technology Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Tom Altobelli, Erin McKenna, Isabel Suh
This article examines the multiple inter‐connected and interacting catalysts for past, current and future family court reform. We then, with deep humility and quiet ambition, contemplate the next 50 years and hypothesize about future court reform which we predict will focus on technology. We observe how what was once a fanciful idea for family courts (such as electronic filing and online court events)
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International family justice as collaborative justice Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-02-29 Sundaresh Menon
Globalization has fueled the rise of international family disputes, which raise difficult legal issues that cannot be addressed by any court or jurisdiction working alone. These challenges require a considered and coherent response on the international front, supported by the willingness of individual family judges to communicate and cooperate to identify and implement practical solutions. To meet
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Here's to you, Peter Salem! Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-02-29 Barbara Babb, Robert Emery, Janet Johnston, Marsha Kline Pruett, Andrew Schepard
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International judicial symposium on family court reform: Final report Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-02-26 Barbara A. Babb, Amy G. Applegate
On May 30, 2023, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) co‐sponsored an international symposium to explore the subject of family court reform. Twenty‐eight judges representing eight countries and including numerous North American states and provinces met in Los Angeles, California, to identify the most pressing
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Intimate partner violence in the LGBTQ+ community: Implications for family court professionals Family Court Review Pub Date : 2024-01-28 Lindsey Sank Davis, Emily E. Crain
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) individuals likely experience more intimate partner violence (IPV) than their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts. Though the research on IPV among LGBTQ+ individuals is lacking in quantity, available evidence suggests LGBTQ+ individuals have unique risk factors for IPV victimization and perpetration, express
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Protection for pets and people: The critical need for increased federal funding for pet-friendly domestic violence services Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-28 Rachel November
The research linking pet abuse with domestic violence is overwhelming. Pet abuse is a significant indicator that a human family member is suffering too. Further, victims are likely to become abusers themselves, perpetuating the intertwined cycles of pet abuse and domestic violence. Most women in domestic violence shelters report that their pet was also victimized. However, since few domestic violence
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Are child custody evaluations beneficial to family law judges? A study from the judicial perspective Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-27 Tammi Axelson, Jennifer Gentile
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
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Parent-child contact problems: Family violence and parental alienating behaviors either/or, neither/nor, both/and, one in the same? Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-25 Matthew J. Sullivan, Marsha Kline Pruett, Janet R. Johnston
This article argues that in order to intervene effectively and ethically with children who are manifesting Parent–child contact problems (PCCPs) after parental separation, we begin by being mindful of what is normal about divorce transitions and use developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive analysis to rule out children's common transitory reactions. It is then important to concurrently
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Remolding the court: The need for forward-thinking evidentiary and sentencing practices in domestic violence cases with battered women Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-25 Dorothy Caccioppoli
Domestic violence is a danger faced by women across the United States. When a woman suffering from battered woman syndrome (BWS) harms their abuser, they are often left with no defense to criminal liability. At trial, they may rely on expert testimony about BWS, but outdated judicial standards could prevent its admission to the jury. To protect these victims from facing life sentences as punishment
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A call for early, effective, and scalable parent education programs for high-conflict separated/divorcing parents: A synthesized perspective from prevention science and family law Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-17 Karey L. O'Hara, Bruce R. Cohen
Conflict between parents is stressful for children living in the midst of parental separation or divorce. Although some level of post-separation/divorce conflict is understandable in an emotionally-charged separation/divorce, it undermines the extent to which parents can protect their children from short- and long-term problems. In this article, we weave together a synthesized perspective informed
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Defining points and transformative turns in family violence, parenting and coparenting disputes Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-13 Michael A. Saini, Robin M. Deutsch, Leslie M. Drozd
Family violence is a multifaceted issue encompassing various harmful behaviors within familial relationships. This paper explores the definitional problems presented in this special issue on family violence and its impact on parenting and coparenting. By examining the shifts and expansions of concepts related to family violence over time, we highlight the transformative turns in this special issue
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Mitigating the impact of intimate partner violence in pregnancy and early childhood: A dyadic approach to psychotherapy Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-13 Carolyn Ponting, Rachel C. Tomlinson, Ann Chu, Alicia F. Lieberman
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is often considered an adult problem despite profound consequences for the children who are exposed toviolent relational patterns. About a third of children and adolescents report past exposure to parental IPV, and a majority were first exposed as infants. Exposure to IPV during pregnancy through the first 5 years of a child's life has consequences ranging from adverse
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Coparenting and intimate partner violence Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-10 Jennifer L. Hardesty, Brian G. Ogolsky, Tanitoluwa D. Akinbode
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health issue across the globe due to its associations with health and wellbeing, especially among mothers and children. These associations are often more pronounced following separation or divorce, which can compromise safety given that women and children are at heightened risk during these transitions. Thus, it is critical to understand the implications
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Implications of intimate partner physical violence and substance misuse for parenting Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-10 K. Daniel O'Leary
Approximately 35%–45% of young married adults engage in intimate partner violence (IPV), and it is possible to reliably distinguish between general IPV and clinically significant IPV in a manner accepted both by DSM-V & ICD-11. IPV and alcohol misuse have been associated in many research designs, and experts now argue that alcohol misuse causes IPV. While less research exists on other substances like
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Engaging fathers who commit family violence: Issues and challenges for family courts Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-10 Robert Nonomura, Dan Zamfir, Katreena Scott, Peter Jaffe, Shaz Bukhari, Lisa Heslop
Intervention with fathers who commit family violence is an essential but often overlooked part of effective family court proceedings. This article provides an overview of how evidence-informed engagement with fathers around family violence can complement family court efforts to achieve safe and healthy outcomes for children. The focus on fathers is not based on bias against fathers, men, or masculinity
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Justice metamorphosis: Moving from reactive to proactive strategies to remotely protect families from intimate partner violence Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-06 Alicia Davis, Sarah Vandenberg Van Zee, Conor Geiger
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote access to courts through e-filing and virtual hearings. Concurrently, courts experienced an increase in intimate partner violence cases due in part to heightened stress during the pandemic. Virtual technology became crucial for individuals seeking relief from harm when traditional support systems were limited. However, remote proceedings lack the personal
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Remove the condom and you remove consent: Why the U.S. should adopt Australia's initiative as a guide to criminalize stealthing Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-05 Gianna Amore
Stealthing, or non-consensual condom removal, has become a dark reality for many people, posing risks such as unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and negative mental health effects. Although stealthing has received prior media coverage, it continues to fly under the legal radar in all but one U.S. jurisdiction. With blogs listing their top 10 tips on stealthing, and memes making light
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The lived experiences of children/young people in the Aotearoa-New Zealand family court system Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-03 Kath Orr, Annette Dickinson, Elizabeth Smythe
This qualitative study explores the experiences of young people with professionals as they traverse the family court in Aotearoa-New Zealand. A hermeneutic phenomenological lens, based on the writings of Heidegger, Gadamer, van Manen and Buber, explored this phenomenon, which was embedded in the notion that young people need to have agency, the ability to act, to speak and to share their thoughts in
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Intimate partner violence screening for separating or divorcing parents: An introduction to the Mediator's Assessment of Safety Issues and Concerns-Short (MASIC-S) Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-12-03 Fernanda S. Rossi, Amy G. Applegate, Claire Tomlinson, Amy Holtzworth-Munroe
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a leading cause of separation and/or divorce. IPV may not stop after separation, as parents who use IPV can continue intruding in the lives of parents who experience IPV due to unsafe parenting arrangements that allow continued frequent contact and thus risk further abuse. Therefore, it is critical that separating/divorcing parents be assessed for IPV and ongoing
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Training parenting plan evaluators: Looking towards the future Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 Robert L. Kaufman, Robin M. Deutsch, April Harris-Britt
Standards of practice for parenting plan evaluations continue to evolve, informed by advances in research and the development of innovative, evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention. Parenting plan evaluators are asked to inform the court, parents, and other professionals on how to address the complex needs of increasingly diverse families amid reorganization, high conflict, and crisis
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Best practices for structuring a family court parenting plan evaluation under the 2022 AFCC Guidelines Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-21 David A. Martindale, Leslie Ellen Shear
Evaluation appointment orders provide enforceable scaffolding for conduct of family court parenting plan evaluations, and use of the evaluator's reports, feedback, file, and testimony. Unlike a contract, a stipulated or adjudicated appointment order is directly enforceable by the family court. It unambiguously positions the evaluator as the family court's appointee – answerable directly to the court
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The utility of trauma evaluations in judicial decision-making in child sex trafficking cases: A qualitative analysis Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-13 Ginny Sprang, Sarah Ascienzo, Chelsea Atwater, Jennifer Cole
Youth coerced into trafficking experience multiple forms of abuse, and are deprived of basic human rights associated with liberty and self-determination, all of which can adversely affect mental and psychological well-being (Ottisova et al., Behavioral Medicine, 44(3), 234-241.). This study uses a qualitative approach to exploring how judges use trauma-related information to make decisions about how
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To recommend or not recommend: That is still the question Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-13 Lawrence Jay Braunstein, Jeffrey P. Wittmann
The boundaries around what parenting plan evaluators should and should not say in their reports to Courts has been debated in both mental health and legal circles for decades. The controversy about whether parenting plan evaluators should make specific recommendations to Courts regarding access plans and decision-making rights revolves around varied views of the limits of mental health professionals'
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Hybrid processes within parenting plan assessments: Rationale and an illustrative model Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-12 Robert A. Simon, Arnold T. Shienvold
Parenting plan Assessments, also known as child custody evaluations, are forensic psychological investigations into the needs of children, the parenting capacities of their caregivers, and the resulting fit between the children's needs and caregiver capacities. Typically, they result in recommendations that are, in the opinion of the assessor, formulated to meet the best interests of children regarding
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The future of parenting plan evaluations: A view from the trenches Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-09 Kathleen McNamara, Mary Lund
As expectations rise for parenting plan evaluators to be well-trained, skilled, and knowledgeable in numerous subject areas, and scrutiny of evaluators' work intensifies, the pool of qualified evaluators is shrinking nationwide. The future of parenting plan evaluation as a forensic subspecialty relies upon the availability of competent and committed professionals to do this challenging work, yet few
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Judicial decision-making in family court involving children with autism spectrum disorder Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-09 Emilie Lahaie, Karine Poitras, Rachel Birnbaum
The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children and adolescents has increased over the past decade. Consequently, the courts and experts are more likely to be exposed to these children whose needs are highly heterogeneous. The present study aims to document judicial decision-making about children with autism spectrum as well as the parenting recommendations made by experts involved in
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When I grow up… I don't want to be broke: The problems with child actor trust fund requirements Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-09 Leah Gaydos
Child actors have consistently been treated as typical minority laborers, with all of their earnings legally belonging to their parents. After many child actors were left with scraps at the end of their minority, Coogan's law was enacted in California to require parents of child actors to withhold some of their earnings in a trust. However, almost a century after Coogan's law was passed, there are
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Why is it taking so long to move down the road?: Creating a regional border agreement in the DMV as an alternative for the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-07 Katriina Rose Juntunen
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is an agreement between all 50 states and the District of Columbia governing the process of placing a foster child out of state. Notorious for its long wait times and system backlog, the ICPC presents a host of problems for children attempting to move mere minutes across state lines to be with a relative or kin placement instead of state foster
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Identifying and managing evaluator biases in parenting plan evaluations Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Lindsey Sank Davis, Philip M. Stahl
Psychologists and other professionals are often appointed by the courts to assist families in resolving post-separation disputes and to assist judges in making orders on behalf of the best interests of the child(ren). Although these evaluations provide valuable information to the court, they require assessing areas of human behavior that are imprecisely defined or lacking professional consensus. As
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Models and methods of cost-effective child custody evaluation Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-05 Aaron Robb
Child custody evaluations (CCEs) are often seen as a necessity by the legal system when caregivers cannot find a resolution to their child custody disputes. In many instances, these evaluations are quite costly for the litigants and cost can act as a barrier to equal access to justice. Affluent families are better able to access private evaluators while families with lesser means may encounter delays
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Practice tips for managing challenges in parenting capacity assessments in child protection court Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-09-03 Krissie Fernandez Smith, Phillip C. O'Donnell
Courts frequently rely on parenting capacity assessments to make decisions about visitation and case progress in child protection court. Although these evaluations can provide valuable information to courts, they often involve assessing areas of human behavior that are not clearly defined in the literature. For example, mental health professionals are often tasked with identifying risk and protective
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The emperor has no clothes: A systemic view of the status and future of child custody evaluation (CCE) Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-08-31 Benjamin D. Garber
For all of the time, effort, and money invested in child custody evaluation (CCE) and for all of evaluators' emphases on collecting empirically sound data, CCE is not itself an empirically robust process. The reliability, validity, efficacy, and efficiency of CCE has never yet been adequately demonstrated. The science has yet even to define and measure the variables that constitute a healthy family
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The admissibility and persuasiveness of expert evidence Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-08-31 Thomas Altobelli, Bruce Gordon Smith
Parenting plan evaluators are expert witnesses who offer their opinion. Courts in common law jurisdictions generally do not accept evidence of an opinion as it is not considered to be reliable evidence from which to establish a fact. An exception to that general principle is expert opinion evidence. In short, an opinion from a person with specialized knowledge or expertise about the area in which they
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How I met your mother: Mitigating forced marriage in the United States Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-08-29 Maisha Imam
Forced marriage in the United States is a hidden issue for a growing number of children and young people. Being trapped in a marriage severely impacts a person's well-being, with long-term psychological and physical ramifications. Forced marriage increases the likelihood of domestic violence and sexual abuse, depriving victims of autonomy. To lessen the number of forced marriages, this Note proposes
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Returning to the child welfare system: Understanding the wellbeing, health, education, and placement of children who return Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-08-29 Megan Suzanne Irgens, Keren-Or Givol, Claire S. Tomlinson, Ryan Davidson
Using longitudinal archival Child Welfare System (CWS) data, this study describes child health and wellbeing at their initial entrance into the CWS and subsequent returns. Associations between child wellbeing, health, placement stability, and frequency of returning to the system were also investigated. Results indicated most children were healthy and developmentally on target. In addition, emotional
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Sweet dreams are made of this: The need for narrowly tailored statutory protection for documented dreamers Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-08-28 Emily Fontanetta
The growing backlog of immigrant visa petitions and legal permanent resident adjustment applications is a harsh reality of the American dream. Dependent children of immigrants can wait decades for their parents' visas to become current, only to age out of dependent status before stepping foot on American soil. Dependent children of nonimmigrants seeking to become legal permanent residents age out before
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It's just so difficult to get anything done: Teen mental health in the family court setting Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-22 Leslie Ellen Shear
Navigating the family court setting to protect teen mental health, meet teens' mental health needs, and promote resilience and coping skills is challenging. We have tools that can help us meet that challenge. That toolkit includes: expanding who is involved in the work to develop a parenting plan or treatment plan; not reducing the case to a one-dimensional fact pattern; restructuring family court
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Conclusion: Mental health and legal responses to the adolescent mental health crisis: Raising the bar on best interests and promoting family connectedness in divorcing families Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-20 Amy E. Wilson, Marsha Kline Pruett
We are currently facing an unprecedented increase in adolescent mental health problems resulting in alarmingly high levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Significant mental health problems among youth pose unique challenges to families in the process of separation and divorce, as well as to family law professionals across all disciplines. The current adolescent mental health crisis calls
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Managing children's and adolescents' medical complaints amid parent conflict: Strategies and tools for professionals Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-14 Lyn R. Greenberg, Kathleen McNamara, Betsy E. Weisz, Justice Thomas Altobelli, Frank Davis
Children and adolescents who are having difficulty coping with stress often present with complaints of physical discomfort. Effective treatment approaches exist for many of these issues. Among high-conflict parents, however, children's medical issues can become another canvas for conflict, with parents focused more on blaming one another for the child's distress than on options for assisting the child
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Navigating adolescent depression and anxiety in the context of parenting plan evaluations Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-14 Chioma Ajoku
This article touches upon theories accounting for the rise in adolescent anxiety and depression and how the prevalence of adolescent anxiety and depression affects how we navigate parenting plan evaluations. This article also discusses the importance of screening youth for depressive and anxious symptoms and assessing family, parental, and youth risk and protective factors related to adolescent depression
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July 2023 Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-08 Marsha Kline Pruett, Barbara A. Babb
Welcome to our readers! The July 2023 issue of Family Court Review features an immediate and highly concerning problem discussed in scholarly circles, in practitioners' fora, and among all professionals involved with families inside and outside the legal system. Adolescent mental health has taken a hard hit from both COVID-19 and all of the social and psychological forces impacting families at the
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Parent coordinators: Effective interventions in adolescent mental health Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-09 Mindy Mitnick
The mental health system in the US was not meeting the increasing needs of teens before the pandemic started in 2020. The pandemic served to stress adolescents and their parents while significantly limiting the availability of services. Separated parents may have disputes about whether adolescents have mental health care needs, what services the child needs, where those services will be obtained, and
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The red herring of adolescent mental health Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-08 Jessica P. Greenwald O'Brien, Yael Osman, Danielle K. Sample
An increase in adolescent distress and mental health symptoms has been clearly documented since the COVID-19 pandemic, as has increased exposure to adverse childhood experiences. Layer on top of these stressors being a youth of divorcing or separating high conflict families, and adolescent symptomatology can suddenly become a flashpoint for parental attention, division and conflict. Approaching cases
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Lowering the age of consent: Legal, ethical, and clinical implications of adolescent-directed therapy Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-08 Kathleen McNamara
This article discusses a recently enacted Colorado law that aims to reduce the youth suicide rate by lowering the age of consent for psychotherapy from age 15 to age 12. The author discusses the challenges therapists face when young adolescents seek therapy without parental consent in cases involving interparental conflict. Suggestions for managing adolescent-directed therapy are offered.
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Comparing targeted intervention modalities for high conflict co-parents: A quasi-experimental study Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Jennifer A. Dealy, B. S. Russell, J. L. Robinson
High conflict co-parents engage in recurrent litigation that significantly strains the court system and exacerbates their conflict. Given barriers to their engagement in service delivery (e.g., level of conflict, transportation, child care), it is vital to evaluate targeted interventions and to examine different intervention modalities (e.g., online, hybrid). This study compared court involvement and
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All hat and no cattle: How house bill 2926 paves the way for progress in the reinstatement of parental rights, but falls short of providing parents with an accessible resource Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-06 Heather Coffee
Texas' foster care system is overpopulated, underfunded, and doing a grave disservice to the children in its care. Specifically, the foster care system is violating the constitutional rights of children regarding how they must be taken care of while in the State's custody. Parents whose custodial rights were involuntarily terminated now have a clear path for petitioning to regain their rights thanks
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Attorneys, tell your clients to think before they post: Social media data may influence how evaluators view their parental fitness Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-06 Ashley C. T. Jones, Ashley B. Batastini, Michael J. Vitacco, Rheanna L. Standridge, Sean B. Knuth
Information from social media is used in evaluations of parental fitness with some regularity. Yet, research is lacking on perceptions of this information and no research has examined how social media data impacts forensic evaluators' opinions related to parental fitness. This study compared forensic evaluators' perceptions of data trustworthiness, usefulness, and initial opinion of parental fitness
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The development and pilot testing of a family treatment court best practices assessment: The model standards implementation scale Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-06 Margaret H. Lloyd Sieger, Jessica Becker, Kelly Earles, Karin Thompson-Wise, Kaitlin Hagain
In 2019, the family treatment court (FTC) best practice standards (the Standards) were published to clarify attributes of FTC programs associated with superior child, parent, and family outcomes. The Standards cover the breadth of FTC operations including program structure and leadership, substance use treatment and complementary services, and behavioral responses to participants. This study aimed
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Popular post-separation parenting smartphone apps: An evaluation Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-04 Bruce M. Smyth, Jason L. Payne, Michelle Irving, Genevieve Heard
In recent years a bewildering array of smartphone applications (“apps”) has emerged to support separated parents' communication. Post-separation parenting apps vary in cost and features; they typically comprise a messaging tool, shared calendar, expense tracker and a means to export records for legal purposes. A key challenge for separated parents and family law practitioners alike is knowing which
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Parent–child contact problems and family intensive interventions: The crisis of adolescent suicidality and the role of social media Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-01 Marcy A. Pasternak, Sharon Ryan Montgomery
Although clinicians, educators and parents have been alarmed by the decline in the mental health of children and adolescents commensurate with the Covid-19 pandemic, statistics indicate there has been a downward spiral over the last decade. This has been evident in the overall increase in suicide rates for young people. For legal and mental health professionals working in the Family Court system, this
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Like bringing a knife to a gunfight: Why IRC Section 2036 is not the right weapon to combat abusive family limited partnerships Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-01 Nicholas J. Trotta
Family Limited Partnerships (“FLPs”), which were once a great estate planning technique, have now become victim to Section 2036 assertions made by the IRS. Over the years, the IRS has struggled to find a means to combat abusive FLPs until the courts began to embrace Section 2036 as a weapon for them to use. Different courts, however, have maintained different rules and have now subjected both abusive
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There’s an app for that: Modernizing domestic violence support through the creation of new technologies, tools, and services Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-06-01 Nicole Case
With domestic violence (DV) at an all-time high, police departments are drastically underutilizing technology to combat DV. Currently, New York police departments complete a “Domestic Incident Report” at the scene of domestic incidents but fail to adequately facilitate support services. New York State should mandate a services component into police DV protocols, specifically by commissioning: (1) an
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Save the kids: The need for regulation of cryptocurrency to protect adolescents from fraud Family Court Review Pub Date : 2023-05-30 Evan Ryan
Cryptocurrency has become the new hot investment for young investors. Everyone wants to get in on the next cryptocurrency bubble, and there are those that want to exploit this excitement and exploit children. Influencers who have young audiences are pushing cryptocurrency investments onto their audiences and not fully educating them on the risks. To avoid this exploitation, The Securities and Exchange