Description
Forensic professionals are often called upon to provide opinions about custody in cases of divorce, parental termination, and reestablishment of custody after a child has been removed from the custodial parent's home. Specific ethical and legal parameters govern when and how a professional should offer such an opinion in a legal setting. For this assignment, you will be asked to provide an analysis of factors relevant to custody evaluations or evaluations for termination of parental rights.
Tasks:
In a 3- to 4-page paper, address the following:
- The best interests of the child, with a specific focus on how this is defined in the APA guidelines
- The manner in which the best-interest decisions are influenced by the wishes of the child
- The difference between a fact and an expert witness in the cases of child custody
- The specific procedures, including parent interviews, child interviews, observations, and objective tests, used in custody evaluations
- The issues surrounding confidentiality, privilege, and privacy in custody evaluations
- The court testimony in custody evaluations, with emphasis on the collective use of data and opinion versus fact in reporting the results
Use three additional resources from professional literature to support your response. Professional literature may include relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, and .gov).
Submission Details:
- Save your paper as M4_A2_Lastname_Firstname.doc. By the due date assigned, post it to the Submissions Area.
Assignment 2 Grading Criteria | Maximum Points |
Submitted a logically drafted paper, including the following:
| 80 |
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. | 20 |
Total: | 100 |
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: CUSTODY EVALUATION
1
Custody Evaluation
Student’s name
Institution
Date
CUSTODY EVALUATION
2
Custody Evaluation
A custody evaluation is a process in which a mental health profession, in most cases a
psychologist conducts an evaluation on both parents and a child so as to make a professional
recommendation to a court for purposes of the custody determination. Through the evaluation,
the mental health profession is able to make a recommendation relating to child custody and
visitation is cases involving who between the two parents should have custody of the child.
When conducting a custody evaluation, one of the most important factors to consider is the best
interest of the child. In defining the best interest of the child in custody evaluation, the APA
states that this involves ensuring that the potential for the child to lead a happy and successful
life is guaranteed. When conducting a child evaluation Simon and Stahl (2014) note that courts
often ensures that the potential of the child to lead a happy and successful life is given greater
weight than the rights of either parents or caregiver. Goldstein (2015) further note that when
determining a child’s best interest, the decisions are made with the ultimate goal of ensuring and
fostering the happiness of the child, their mental health, security, and emotional development.
When making custody decisions, the best-interest considera...