Citation

Kirkland K, Sullivan M. Fam. Court Rev. 2008; 46(4): 622-636.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1744-1617.2008.00228.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study summarizes a survey of experienced North American parenting coordinators (PCs). The survey was modeled after a similar seminal study of child custody evaluators (Keilen & Bloom, 1986) and seeks to establish a similar baseline standard in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) court-sanctioned PC practices. Results reveal that PC is being practiced across North America by highly experienced practitioners that are multidisciplinary across legal and mental health professions who work by court order. These PCs work with a specific written PC agreement that specifies basis of authority, scope of authority, terms of service, retainer/fees, and grievance procedures. Results characterize PC as an increasingly established hybrid ADR court-sanctioned role that is effective precisely because of accessibility to families, the unique knowledge base of the family law professional concerning the dynamics of divorcing families, and the court-granted authority to help families resolve disputes that are generally more familial and psychological than legal in nature.