The Proposed APA Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations

Background

The original guidelines, currently in place, required, for example, that the psychologist examine information for the best psychological interest of the child, a logical charge for those trained in psychology. No one who practices in this area of the law would dispute that there are many factors to be considered in the placement of a child, the psychological interest being only one of many. Moreover, no one can dispute that after gathering the evidence presented in court, the psychological evidence being only one piece of the case, it is up to the finder of fact to weigh the evidence and make the final decision. Since 1994, those of us who have been familiar with these guidelines and used them to challenge the recommendations of the testifying expert have found that psychologists have bristled at the idea that their charge restricted them only to psychological interests rather than being able to make a final decision. As such, the new proposed guidelines delete the word 'psychological' before the words 'best interests,' thereby broadening their scope of inquiry and further reducing the role of the judge.