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A Critical Assessment of Child Custody Evaluations A Critical Assessment of ChildCustody Evaluations Limited Science and a Flawed System Robert E. Emery, Randy K. Otto, William T. O’Donohue University of Virginia, University of South Florida, and University of Nevada–Reno

ABA Center on Children and the Law The ABA Center on Children and the Law, a program of the Young Lawyers Division, aims to improve children's lives through advances in law, justice, knowledge, practice and public policy. Our areas of expertise include child abuse and neglect, child welfare and protective services system enhancement, foster care, family preservation, termination of parental rights, parental substance abuse, adolescent health, and domestic violence.

Clinical judgment, clinical training, and professi Clinical judgment, clinical training, and professional experience. Garb HN. Reviews studies on training, experience, and clinical judgment. The results on the validity of judgments generally fail to support the value of on-the-job experience in mental health fields. The validity results do provide limited support for the value of training. Other results suggest that experienced clinicians are better than less experienced judges at knowing which of their judgments are likely to be correct and which are likely to be wrong. Reasons why clinicians have trouble learning from experience are given. Recommendations are made for improving training and clinical practice.

Clinical versus actuarial judgment Clinical versus actuarial judgment RM Dawes, D Faust, and PE Meehl Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Professionals are frequently consulted to diagnose and predict human behavior; optimal treatment and planning often hinge on the consultant's judgmental accuracy. The consultant may rely on one of two contrasting approaches to decision-making--the clinical and actuarial methods. Research comparing these two approaches shows the actuarial method to be superior. Factors underlying the greater accuracy of actuarial methods, sources of resistance to the scientific findings, and the benefits of increased reliance on actuarial approaches are discussed.

Creating False Memories In all four cases, the women developed memories about childhood abuse in therapy and then later denied their authenticity. How can we determine if memories of childhood abuse are true or false? Without corroboration, it is very difficult to differentiate between false memories and true ones. Also, in these cases, some memories were contrary to physical evidence, such as explicit and detailed recollections of rape and abortion when medical examination confirmed virginity. How is it possible for people to acquire elaborate and confident false memories? A growing number of investigations demonstrate that under the right circumstances false memories can be instilled rather easily in some people.

Deseret News: Do kin background checks hurt kids? A new Utah Law that does away with emergency placement of abused or neglected children with relatives is sharpening criticism from two national child-protection advocacy groups and fraying family ties of those caught in the middle.

Division of Child and Family Services - DCFS Here you can find information about the Division including the Practice Guidelines.

GRAMA Handbook This links to the Utah Attorney General website and the GRAMA Handbook prepared by the AG.

JEOPARDY IN THE COURTROOM Amazon.com - Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's Testimony (Paperback) by Stephen J. Ceci (Author)

National Casa Judges Newsletter Casa publication to judges.

National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges NCJFCJ has research material and resource material for improving court practices in juvenile court cases.

National Resource Center for Family Centered Pract A website with useful resources to understand family-centered practice. A services of the Children's Bureau/DHHS

Practice Guidelines On April 29, 2003, the Child and Family Services Board reviewed the Practice Guidelines. These are tools for you to use in implementing practice in each of our program areas. These guidelines will be revised and updated from time to time - even now we are working on revisions. As you review these guidelines, please note that there is a state program specialist assigned to each area as a consultant.

Reasonable Efforts Summary From the Administration for Children and Families

Studying the Clinician: Amozon.com - Studying the Clinician: Judgment Research and Psychological Assessment (Hardcover) by Howard N. Garb (Author)

Utah Administrative Rules for DCFS Administrative rules adopted have the force and effect of law. Administrative rules for DCFS can be viewed here.

Utah Code Office of Child Welfare Parental Defense Here you can view the Utah Code for the Office of Child Welfare Parental Defense.

Whores of the Court: Whores of the Court: The Fraud of Psychiatric Testimony and the Rape of American Justice is available at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com. January 13, 1997 Publishers Weekly, Review of Whores of the Court. . . "Boston University psychology professor, Margaret A. Hagen, delivers a damning indictment of the psychologizing - and undermining - of the American legal system through judges' and juries' reliance on the well-paid testimony of self-styled psychological experts. Spouting what often amounts to unscientific, unsubstantiated psychobabble, these 'whores of the court,'she charges, be they psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists or others, often determine whether murderers and rapists are competent to stand trial, whether a batterer will be viewed as likely to offend again after receiving therapy, whether a person experienced mental injury at the hand of a neighbor or an unfeeling institution, whether recovered memories of alleged traumas are genuine. With righteous wrath and devastating wit, Hagen punctures the inflated claims of much expert testimony. She blames liberal and feminist lawyers and apologist psychologists for what she claims is the courts' tendency to exonerate perpetrators of crimes on the grounds that they are victims of mental illness, dysfunctional families or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This sweeping critique should stir national debate."