Anatomy of a Child Custody Evaluation

Florida’s Family Law Rules allow for psychologists to evaluate parents and children in custody cases. However, the problem is that some reports are hard to understand and there’s no set way to do the evaluations. Psychologists can’t just do whatever they want, but there are right and wrong ways to conduct the evaluations. The goal of this article is to help people understand the standards and procedures for custody evaluations. Custody evaluations must be done by psychologists with special training and experience in assessing families and children. They should also know the laws about custody in their area. Evaluators must be impartial and not have any personal relationships with the families involved. If you want to challenge the results of an evaluation, you can ask the psychologist about their qualifications and experience. Simply ask the psychologist if they have any publications or research on child custody or related topics, and request copies if they do. If they can’t remember the citations, ask them to send them later. If they can’t cite any references, it may affect their credibility. Also ask how many custody evaluations they have done and if their recommendations typically favor the mother or father. They are required to keep records for at least seven years, so it’s reasonable to ask them to review their records and provide answers. If they don’t have the information during the deposition, you can follow up with a written request later. Sometimes evaluators can have biased opinions about certain behaviors or individuals, like homosexuality or child abuse. If these biases are discovered, it can affect their conclusions and recommendations. For example, if an evaluator believes that children never lie about sexual abuse, it can impact a custody case involving abuse allegations. It’s important to challenge the findings if biases are uncovered. When hiring a psychologist for a family law case, it’s important to make sure they understand family law and its procedures. If they don’t, it could make their testimony less reliable. For example, in Florida, there’s a rule that says a psychologist’s report can’t be considered by the court until it’s properly admitted into evidence. Some psychologists don’t know this rule, and if they submit their report to the court, it could cause problems. The judge might have to recuse themselves, or the psychologist’s testimony might not be given much weight by the court. So, it’s important to make sure the psychologist knows the law in family law cases. In order to be a good psychologist for custody evaluations, it’s important to know and follow the ethical standards for psychologists. If a psychologist doesn’t know these standards, it’s not good and can cause problems. A custody evaluation should involve both parents and the child, and the psychologist should observe their relationships and talk to other people who are important. If the psychologist doesn’t do these things, they shouldn’t make recommendations about custody. Also, most psychologists use psychological tests and look at records as part of the evaluation. The evaluator’s job is to make sure everyone is treated fairly and given equal time and opportunities in a custody case. They conduct interviews with both parents to understand their perspectives and assess their abilities as parents. It’s important for the evaluator to take detailed notes and keep records of everything they do. Attorneys may review these notes to look for any mistakes or lack of detail. It’s also good to know that there are different types of psychological tests used in custody evaluations. Objective tests are well-researched and reliable psychology tests that use controlled responses, such as true or false answers. Examples include the MMPI-2 and MCMI-III. These tests are favored in legal cases because they have validity scales to measure honesty and have little room for subjective interpretation. They have strong research backing and are consistent in their results. It’s important for psychologists to use tests with validity, reliability, and a strong research base to support their opinions in legal cases. Projective tests like the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test are used in custody evaluations, but they can be unreliable and open to interpretation. Intelligence tests may not be directly relevant to custody issues, and it’s best to have a psychologist review the test data if possible. It’s a good idea to get a psychological consultant to help with the evaluation and prepare for questioning in court. If the custody evaluator is not available, the attorney should ask them to explain what tests they used and why, and what the results mean. Sometimes psychologists use fancy language, but the attorney can make them explain things in a way that anyone can understand. Psychologists do this with their clients, so they can do it in court too. When it comes to choosing tests for a custody evaluation, it’s better to use objective tests rather than projective tests. Objective tests have been researched a lot and their validity and reliability are well-established. But projective tests, like the House-Tree-Person Test and Thematic Apperception Test, don’t have good research supporting them. There are no reliable scoring systems or normative data for these tests, so it’s easy to challenge the conclusions drawn from them. If a psychologist used projective tests in your case, ask for research showing their validity and reliability, as well as their use in custody cases. Most likely, there won’t be much data to support these tests in a custody evaluation. So, it’s best to stick to objective tests for these kinds of evaluations. Basically, when it comes to using tests in custody cases, they need to be reliable and valid. There are some specialized tests that have been developed for custody issues, but they have limitations and are often challenged in court. The reports from these tests should focus on the data and basis for the opinions, rather than using a lot of fancy words. It should also include information about who was involved, when the evaluation happened, and what procedures were used. A good report about your parents should be fair. It should talk about both their strengths and weaknesses, and give equal coverage to each of their concerns. Any recommendations about custody should be based on facts and what is best for you, and they should be practical. The report should also explain any limits to the evaluation, like if one parent took a test and the other didn’t. And remember, the plan for where you live and when you see each parent may need to change as you get older, because what’s best for you will change as you grow up. Child custody cases can have a big impact on children and families. If the court orders a custody evaluation, the psychologist’s findings will likely be important. Attorneys need to know the rules for these evaluations to help their clients. Some guidelines are in place to help with these evaluations, and psychological testing can also be used to help make decisions.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/anatomy-of-a-child-custody-evaluation/