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Parenting Reports in Family Separation/Divorce
Often
times, the parents or the Courts feel there is a need to have more
information before making a decision with respect to the parenting plan
for separated or divorced families. There are three types of reports
available to the parents. They are often ordered under Section 15 of
the Family Relations Act, but can be agreed to outside of the Court
environment with both parties consent.
This
is a short report which is not a parenting assessment. A ‘Views
of the Child’ report is intended to have the children’s voice heard. An
interviewer speaks to each of the parents and the children on at least
two occasions. Then writes the children’s thoughts, wishes, concerns,
and views/perspective of their family. These reports are often used in
the mediation or during the court process. The ‘Views of the Child’
reports can be done in a short time frame, usually two to three weeks.
An access report deals with the
schedule, supervised or non-supervised access, of the non-custodial
parent. This is a parenting assessment of the non-custodial parent and
a recommendation will be given. References, observations,
questionnaires, and interviews are the methods used to determine an
appropriate access schedule for the child. These reports can take up to
8 weeks to complete.
A
full custody and access report deals with the parenting abilities and
family situation of both parents. Similarly to the access report,
information will be taken from the parties themselves, their references,
affidavits, other reports, professional documentation, observations,
interviews with the children. etc. Recommendations are given with
respect to the best parenting plan for the child(ren). A custody and
access report usually takes about three months to complete.
This
report is not ordered under the Family Relations Act, but is available
to those parties who may wish to have some information or insight into
the effect of the family situation on the children. Recommendations are
usually given to assist the children and family resolve any concerns
that become evident. There is usually a short time frame with respect
to this type of report.
Other
assessors may have a different process than that described above.
Please contact Parents ‘R’
Forever
for further details
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