Are child custody evaluations beneficial to family law judges? A study from the judicial perspective

There is a long history of dissension among legal and mental health professionals about the value of child custody evaluations. Despite frequent use by the courts, the lack of adequate empirical research impedes the ability to validate the efficacy of child custody evaluations. This study investigated the overall value of court-ordered child custody evaluations by surveying a diverse, national sample of judges to gather data regarding the usefulness, and validity of child custody evaluations. Two hundred and sixty-eight judges from 42 states completed an anonymous survey. The results indicated that judges find information voiced by the child in question, data obtained from the parent-child observations, and collateral data obtained about the litigants as most useful. Survey findings suggested judges perceived there to be a shortage of trained evaluators and also consider child custody evaluations too expensive and too time-consuming. Overall, judges find child custody evaluations useful and clearly desire experts to include recommendations on legal custody and parenting time schedules in their reports. Survey results indicated that judges find information voiced by the child in question, data obtained from the parent-child observations, and collateral data obtained about the litigants as the most useful elements of child custody evaluations.Judges perceived there to be a shortage of trained child custody evaluators and also considered child custody evaluations too expensive and too time-consuming.Judges concluded that child custody evaluations are useful and clearly desire experts to include recommendations on legal custody and parenting time schedules in their reports.Most judges reported they would exclude a child custody evaluation or parts of it if convincing evidence were presented that the evaluator did not meet legal standards or ethical guidelines, even though most had never done so.Evaluators should reexamine the focus of child custody evaluations to present more child-centered reports to the court based on the data obtained in this study that judges want to know more about the child or children in question.