FROM INFANTS TO ADOLESCENTS A Developmental Approach to Parenting Plans

Divorce and the resultant process of child custody decision making impact heavily on the lives of children. Increasingly, parents and professionals have realized the importance of encouraging shared responsibility in child rearing following separation and divorce. This shared responsibility must continue throughout a child's life and into young adulthood. This article introduces a comprehensive child-and family-focused model of decision making. The goal of this model is to assist professionals in their work with parents and to help parents formulate parenting plans that reflect the ever-changing developmental needs of each child and that specify how each parent will meet the particular needs of each child in the family. Through the use of educational parenting seminars and the completion of a Needs Assessment for each child, flexible parenting plans are created and positive co-parenting skills develop.     

INTERPARENTAL CONFLICT AS A RISK FACTOR FOR CHILD MALADJUSTMENT: Implications for the Development of Prevention Programs

This article reviews research on the effects of interparental conflict on children and examines its implications for divorce education programs designed to reduce conflict after divorce. Basic research indicates that prevention programs for parents will be most effective in fostering children's adaptation to divorce if they can reduce the level of destructive conflict that children are exposed to, foster good parent–child relationships, and keep children from being caught in the middle of parental tensions and disagreements. Programs for children are likely to be most helpful if they help children learn ways to cope with situations in which they feel pressured to side with one parent against the other and avoid feeling responsible for parental problems. Although psycho-educational programs are widely available and often court-mandated, evaluation studies are rare and support for their efficacy is mixed.     

WHEN JAIL FAILS: AMENDING THE ASFA TO REDUCE ITS NEGATIVE IMPACT ON CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires states begin termination proceedings when a child resides in foster care for fifteen out of the last twenty‐two months. Many states interpret this to mean that an incarcerated parent is unfit when they leave their child in foster care just because they are separated from their children. Parents and children can still have meaningful relationships even when separated. Thus, parental unfitness should depend on many factors such as the relationship with the child, age of the child, and ability to provide support for the child—not just the time spent away from the child. This Note advocates for the amendment of ASFA to include factors courts should consider when terminating the parental rights of incarcerated parents and encouraged states to focus not on a time frame for termination, but rather consideration of circumstances relevant to each individual family. States should incorporate the factors into their state laws. Further, states should actively work with prisoners and their children to help maintain contact and if possible, reunify families after incarcerations. These services will help prevent the need for termination after a parent completes their sentence and will help to reduce recidivism.     

A study of families in high-conflict custody disputes: effects of psychiatric evaluation

Each year approximately 2.5 million people divorce, subjecting more than 1 million children to the losses of familial breakup. Hostility in families can be greatly exacerbated by parents' repeated failures to negotiate an altered lifestyle for the family which provides for the children's best interests. Interventions with highly conflictual parents and their children must necessarily address the interface between the mental health and legal professions. How families experience this process must be carefully studied in order to create new strategies for change, not only within the families, but also to facilitate the legal system's cooperation with mental health professionals. To date, little research has been conducted which assesses the efficacy of methods used by mental health professionals to intervene in contested child custody cases. This paper describes a program at the Isaac Ray Center, Inc., designed to help parents settle their custody disputes out of court. The article presents findings based on an 18-month follow-up questionnaire and court records for 45 parents. Data concerning custody settlement, relitigation, and parents' satisfaction with the evaluation process, their attorneys, and the custody outcome are presented and discussed.     

PARENTAL REACTION TO THE DISABLED CHILD:

The special needs child demands adept and flexible care. This becomes harder to provide when the child resides in two homes or when the parents are in conflict about the child's diagnosis. To secure effective intervention, parents must become mini-experts in their child's condition, advocating tirelessly to secure necessary educational, financial, and medical assistance. These parents, confronted with the reality of their child's diagnosis, must also face the reality of a different future than the one they had imagined for their child and themselves. This can trigger a complex and fluid grieving process that is different for every parent. Understanding the role of grief in custody proceedings can provide a useful lens for viewing the vastly dissimilar opinions these parents often present. Failing to recognize the distorting effect of grief places family law professionals at a distinct disadvantage in dealing with these complex issues.     

Unintended and Unavoidable: The Failure to Protect Rule and Its Consequences for Undocumented Parents and Their Children

Parents without immigration status in the United States regularly face the threat of deportation and separation from their children. When an undocumented parent is brought to the attention of law enforcement through the child welfare system, they also face the potential of the loss of legal custodial rights to their children. The child welfare system and immigration enforcement mechanisms operate independent of one another with little regard for how actions in one can impact a parent's legal rights in the other, often permanently separating children from their parents. This article examines the particular issue of undocumented parents who are charged with the failure to protect their children from witnessing or otherwise experiencing abuse committed by a third party. It explores how such a charge, whether founded or unfounded, can result in loss of eligibility for immigration relief to which the undocumented parent would otherwise be entitled, as well as deportation of the parent and permanent separation of parent and child. These issues are situated within the larger context of the normative guideposts of both family and immigration law, namely, the best interests of the child and family unity. It identifies issues for further academic inquiry as well as tips for practitioners who may represent undocumented parents in either the family or immigration systems.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• Learn about the potential consequences under family law and immigration law when an undocumented parent's child is abused by a third party
• Gain strategies for planning with undocumented parents to avoid the loss of the custody of their children in the event of a sudden deportation
• Be able to identify and address particular concerns for clients who are undocumented victims of domestic violence

     

ASSESSING AND MANAGING ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

This article examines the procedures involved in the assessment and management of allegations of child sexual abuse in courts exercising custody and access jurisdictions. The author discusses the various options available to the court when confronted with such allegations, noting that, in the contex: of access disputes, the issue for the court is not whether a parent has sexually abused a child but whether, in all the circumstances of the case, access should take place or custody should change. In all matters involving access between parents and children, the overriding principle is the paramountcy of the welfare of the child. It is also argued that supervised access, although an increasingly popular alternative for the court when faced with allegations of abuse, is problematic and may not be in the best interests of the child. The author suggests that the emphasis must be on children's rights find parental responsibilities.     

Trauma‐Informed Interventions in Parent–Child Contact Cases

Parent–child contact problems may arise in the context of high conflict separation/divorce dynamics between parents. In cases where there are parent–child contact problems and children resist or refuse contact with one of their parents, there may also be incidents of child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, or compromised parenting that can be experienced by a parent or child as traumatic. The circumstances around separation and/or post‐divorce often result in intense stress for families. In this paper we distinguish between the stressful circumstances that may arise as a result of high interparental conflict and pulls for alignment from a parent, and the real or perceived trauma as a factor which contributes to resistance or refusal of a child to have contact with a parent. Interventions to address both trauma responses and the resist‐refuse dynamics are differentiated and discussed. After screening and assessment, the intent is to treat trauma responses with short‐term, evidence‐based therapy, either before or concurrent with co‐parent and family intervention.     

Exposure to domestic and community violence in a nonrisk sample: associations with child functioning

Limited data exist on the unique, additive, and interactive effects of exposure to domestic and community violence on children's functioning, particularly in community samples. This study examined relations between children's violence exposure, at home and in the community, and symptoms of externalizing and internalizing problems. Parents reported on domestic violence in the home, and children reported on community violence. Concurrent child functioning was measured through parent and teacher reports on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and child self-reports on the Children's Depression Inventory. A multi-ethnic sample of 117 children, aged 8 to 12 years, and their parents and teachers participated. Community violence was related to all measures of children's adjustment, whereas exposure to domestic violence was related only to CBCL externalizing problems. Teacher reports of child aggression were predicted by child age, community violence, and the interaction of community and domestic violence. Implications for research and clinical intervention are discussed.     

Responsibility and Rights: Children and Their Parents in the Youth Justice System

Responsibility is one of the key themes to emerge from the reformsto the youth justice system that have taken place since 1998.Now, the child and his parents are responsible for the offendingbehaviour of the child. This article explores the nature ofchild and parental responsibility in the youth justice system.In particular it analyses the type of responsibility demandedof both child and parent, drawing on the work of Hart and Caneto provide a conceptual analysis of responsibility in youthjustice. It goes on to consider the impact on the rights ofthe child and his parent of the mechanisms used to require responsibilityfrom parents for their child's offending (such as parentingorders, bind-overs, and the payment of fines and compensation).It suggests that there has been a lack of conceptual clarityin government policy and that if the current scheme for demandingparental responsibility continues then better attention needsto be paid to the rights of both parent and child.     

PARENT EDUCATION IN THE DOMESTIC RELATIONS COURT

This multisite assessment of five, court-affiliated parent education programs incorporates information from 3,000 exit surveys by attendees, 602 telephone interviews with willing parents six months later, comparisons with 145 divorcing parents who did not attend a program, and reviews of court activity. Parents report high levels of satisfaction with the programs and credit them with helping to sensitize them to their children's needs and making visitation more successful and enjoyable. Although attendees report better compliance with divorce decrees, comparable proportions of parents in treatment and comparison groups report conflict over child custody and access, and a review of court files shows identical litigation patterns for both groups over a four-year period of time .     

Who should pay for bad genes?

Parents have long been able to influence the genetic composition of their children through their choice of a reproductive partner, if only very approximately. They are, however, increasingly able to determine the genetic make-up of their children in other, more precise ways, such as by selecting a particular gamete or embryo or by genetically modifying an embryo prior to artificial implantation. This Article discusses parents' obligations to their children and other members of the community stemming from their children's genes. In a just state, it argues, parents would be responsible for redressing any genetic disadvantage their children suffer as a result of parents' voluntary actions. Within the context of a liberal egalitarian account of distributive justice, this responsibility might most fairly be discharged through a compulsory insurance plan that provides compensation to genetically disadvantaged children when they might have had non-disadvantaged children instead would in some circumstances incur greater liability, because they could not fairly push the cost of their choices off on other members of the insurance pool. The Article also asks whether parents wrong a child by allowing it to be born with a genetic impairment when, had they taken steps to remove the impairment, the unimpaired child they had would have been a different person from the genetically disadvantaged child because the better-off child's capacities and experiences differed considerably from those that the disadvantaged child would have had. Contrary to many people's moral intuitions, the Article argues that parents do not wrong such a child. Nevertheless, parents remain morally obligated to bear any added costs occasioned by the child's impairment. Any other approach would allow them unjustly to shift the burden of their choices to other parents. Finally, the Article takes up the much debated question of whether parents harm a child by allowing it to be born with a life not worth living when they could have prevented its birth. It suggests that the answer to this question should be irrelevant to parents' legal liability. Acting on behalf of the parental insurance pool, the state may nonetheless adopt a variety of measures to help potential parents avoid giving birth to such children, which one can assume virtually all would prefer.     

The relationship between parents and adult children in the economic culture of rural Netherlands, 1880–1910

This study examines the complexity of contradictory interests in the relationship between parents and adult children among agricultural wage laborers in rural Netherlands about 1900. One important potential issue of conflict was the marriage of children. In the case of wage laborers, Hajnal's independent livelihood theory is not really helpful in explaining regional differences in age at marriage. Marriage is viewed as a problem of balance and competition between the livelihood problems of parents and children. Two main issues of wage laborers are dealt with: the help adult children give to elderly parents and the control of the earnings of unmarried adolescent and adult children by their parents. Regional variations in children's help and parental control are measured and explained using four independent variables: extent of property ownership by wage laborers, extent of their production for the market (and need for unpaid family labor), wage level, and percentage who belonged to traditional religions in the village. Statistical analysis suggests that the property of agricultural wage laborers was most important in explaining variation in parent–child relationships. Wage level and religion also showed considerable explaining power, particularly for wages earned by unmarried children.     

Judicial Oversight of Parental Visitation in Family Reunification Cases

This article explores the issue of visitation between a child and parents in the context of child protection proceedings, addressing the following areas: 1) the importance of visitation in the context of family reunification; 2) the results of an informal study of visitation practices in several jurisdictions; 3) the law relating to visitation in child protection proceedings; 4) some best practices that have been identified by commentators; 5) the role of the judge regarding visitation issues; and 6) some recommendations for judges and court systems regarding visitation. The article concludes that visitation between a child and her parents often occurs too infrequently; as a result, the relationship between the child and parents can be damaged, the child can suffer further trauma, and the chances for successful family reunification may be reduced. Finally, judges and social service agencies can and must improve both the quality and quantity of parent‐child visitation.     

1‐800‐Skype‐Me

It is increasingly common that children of divorce are geographically separated from one of their parents. This article considers the challenges that arise from that reality by exploring this problem from a variety of perspectives and by providing practical tips to minimize the impact of the distance. A review of the Ontario caselaw and Arizona Guidelines reveal that certain factors are important in the resolution of these disputes, including: the age of the child, mode of transportation between homes, distance, prior contact, and feasibility of virtual access. Court‐ordered access may include remedies that, absent the distance issue, may be considered extreme, including moving to overnight/extended access periods for young children, permitting children to travel unaccompanied, favoring the nonresident parent for holidays and vacation time, allowing children to decrease contact with the nonresident parent, and decreasing or terminating child support. Where distance dictates the in‐person and virtual access schedules, creative solutions are critical to the successful resolution of these cases. Forward thinking family law professionals can meaningfully help parents to achieve better outcomes for children.     

Intervention

When a child is sexually abused there are two immediate and strong reactions; the abuser must be punished, the child must be helped. If the abuser is a stranger, there is no problem. The child and her family can be worked with and the abuser can be sent to prison with no one else hurt, except of course for the abuser's own wife and children. But if the abuser is a parent of the child, a choice may have to be made. Either treat the child or punish the abuser, usually not both. If the abusing parent is put in jail, the abused child will feel guilty, a parent who may be otherwise a valuable member of the family is gone, the family loses a paycheck, its standard of living tumbles, the abused child may be blamed by the rest of the family. The best treatment requires the whole family, the abuser and the abused, the mother who may be an enabler, the other children who are necessarily involved. Without the abuser, the treatment circle is not complete, the problems cannot be fully resolved, the children may yet grow up to be abusers themselves. If, as is usual, the abuser is part of the family constellation, a policy decision must be made, and early: to punish the abuser or to have adequate treatment. The sooner treatment can be started, the more effective it will be. Conversely, the sooner the abuser is jailed and charged, the fresher the evidence will be.     

STATEWIDE SPECIAL EDUCATION SURROGATE PARENT PROGRAMS: ENSURING QUALITY ADVOCACY TO ALL FOSTER CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) protects foster children's rights to have a special education decision maker. For foster children who do not have a natural or adoptive parent or a responsible adult in their life to take on this role, IDEIA requires that a special education surrogate parent be appointed by appropriate procedures. Under IDEIA, these procedures are delegated to the states. Each state must ensure that local education agencies (LEAs) delineate methods for recruiting and maintaining a pool of available special education surrogate parents. Due to differing state laws and LEA procedures, there are many discrepancies in the quality and availability of special education surrogate parents. To combat these problems, this Note proposes principles for administrative regulations establishing statewide special education surrogate parent programs by examining existing statewide programs. Administered through a state's Department of Education in collaboration with child welfare agencies, statewide special education surrogate parent programs guarantee well‐qualified decision makers who will advocate for all children eligible for special education services.     

Children's Lie-Telling to Conceal a Parent's Transgression: Legal Implications

Children's lie-telling behavior to conceal the transgression of a parent was examined in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1 (N = 137), parents broke a puppet and told their children (3-11-year-olds) not to tell anyone. Children answered questions about the event. Children's moral understanding of truth- and lie-telling was assessed by a second interviewer and the children then promised to tell the truth (simulating court competence examination procedures). Children were again questioned about what happened to the puppet. Regardless of whether the interview was conducted with their parent absent or present, most children told the truth about their parents' transgression. When the likelihood of the child being blamed for the transgression was reduced, significantly more children lied. There was a significant, yet limited, relation between children's lie-telling behavior and their moral understanding of lie- or truth-telling. Further, after children were questioned about issues concerning truth- and lie-telling and asked to promise to tell the truth, significantly more children told the truth about their parents' transgression. Experiment 2 (N = 64) replicated these findings, with children who were questioned about lies and who then promised to tell the 'truth more likely to tell the truth in a second interview than children who did not participate in this procedure before questioning. Implications for the justice system are discussed.     

COMMENTARY ON "FAMILY BRIDGES: USING INSIGHTS FROM SOCIAL SCIENCE TO RECONNECT PARENTS AND ALIENATED CHILDREN" (WARSHAK, 2010)

This commentary reviews the goals, structure, and content of the intensive educational intervention described by Warshak (2010); raises concerns; considers the meaning of "success" in child alienation cases; and makes suggestions for future research. Titled Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships, the program is a rigorous and disciplined approach designed to help participants repair severely derailed parent–child relationships. Family Bridges uses evidence-based instruction principles to maximize learning and create a safe atmosphere enabling the alienated child(ren) and rejected parent to be, and work, together. The multimedia materials selected for the 4-day program draw from social science research and focus on multiple and universal processes by which distortions of perception, memory, and thinking occur; negative stereotype formation; the impact of high conflict on children and parent–child relationships; effective communication and dispute resolution; and parenting skills training. Based on a small and diverse sample of families, Family Bridges demonstrates considerable promise as one type of intervention designed for these severely troubled relationships. Concerns include the cost of the intensive intervention, the absence of a parallel program for the favored parent, and whether the program can be replicated effectively. The family psychology and law fields would benefit significantly from research that evaluates Family Bridges and other educational and therapeutic interventions designed to help alienated children repair and strengthen balanced relationships with both parents.     

Building and Enhancing Efficacious Coparenting in Parenting Coordination

Parenting coordination is a dispute resolution process to assist the subset of separating/divorcing parents who remain entrenched in high conflict coparenting post‐separation/divorce. Based on factors known to impact positive child outcomes, its goals include assisting parents to protect children from their conflict and implementing a framework that will assist the child to have a good relationship with both parents. Despite significant efforts, parenting coordination often falls short of achieving its intended goals, which include not only healthy child adjustment but also efficacious coparenting, which is itself an important mediator and moderator of child outcomes. This article raises questions and concerns about the extent to which child outcomes may be limited if the goals of parenting coordination are limited to establishing and implementing a disengaged, parallel model of coparenting, while avoiding or giving up on efforts to build and enhance cooperative coparenting. Given preliminary findings indicating some parents note change here express dissatisfaction with the process and outcomes, it is necessary to consider whether the seemingly intractable subset of parents referred for parenting coordination might benefit from something more or different. We discuss two innovations: One aims to strengthen individual parent readiness and responsiveness and the other brings parents together in a child‐centered team‐building approach. Though cooperative coparenting is a challenging and unrealistic goal for some parents, further research is necessary to understand more fully which interventions help which families, when and in what manner.