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Supreme Court Dissolution Task Force Sub-Committee on Evaluators: Parenting & Specialized October 30, 2007

Present: Jean Cotton, Professor Helen Donigan (during part of the meeting), Margaret Hobart, Greg Howe (member of the public, Leslie Owen, and Janet Skreen.

Next Meeting: Will be a conference call. Leslie Owen will send out a meeting notice about it.

Action Items:  Janet Skreen will get the guardian ad litem (GAL) qualifications, GAL rules, and anything local.  Jean Cotton will get the guidelines for American Psychologist Association for parenting evaluators.  Janet Skreen will construct an instrument (i.e. a survey—for getting a baseline of where we are today) and send it to the sub-committee members, and then to the Listserv.  Leslie Owen will research case law.  Margaret Hobart will check with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ).

Decisions:  The sub-committee members chose Leslie Owen to be the sub-committee’s chair.  The group needs to clearly define “Parent Evaluator” and “GAL” (define their individual roles, qualifications, and standards), and once those definitions are clear, the group needs to make sure all task force members are defining them the same way.  The subcommittee members need to gather together the following: . APA Guidelines . Case Law . Court Rules . Local Rules/Requirements, . GAL Pattern Form: “Order” . Statutory Definitions . Table of Contents for GAL Training Curriculum, Title 26 RCW

 This sub-committee’s focus is determining when parents have high conflict and are unable to work things out between themselves, as opposed to when they agree, which is when the need for a Parent Evaluator comes in. 2

Minutes:

Commenced: Approximately 11:00 a.m.

There was much discussion about what Parent Evaluators and GALs roles are supposed to be, as opposed to the reality of what they are actually doing.

It was suggested that the roles of Parent Evaluators and GALs are currently “a gray area,” but that they shouldn’t be. The committee agreed that the roles of Parent Evaluators and GALs need to be clearly defined, and once defined the committee needs to make sure all members are defining them the same way.

During the discussion, questions arose about whether or not Parent Evaluators and GALs are getting appropriate training and education, if they are qualified to do what they are doing, what standards are they being held to, and is this being tracked? It was also pointed out that each of the 39 counties operates differently. The group agreed they should gather together resources from several sources to help them clearly define the roles of Parent Evaluators and GALs.

The group discussed the need to determine a baseline of “where we are today,” and it was suggested that doing a survey may help determine that baseline. It was also suggested that “judicial responsibility” plays an important role, and perhaps “tracking judicial rulings” would show some trends and help determine the baseline as well.

This sub-committee’s focus is determining when parents have high conflict and are unable to work things out between themselves, as opposed to when they agree, which is when the need for a Parent Evaluator comes in.

The group discussed the need for judicial education regarding the appropriate roles of GALs and Parenting Evaluators. A placeholder needs to be made for judicial education in all of the areas that will be covered by the task force.

Adjourned: Approximately 11:45 a.m.