|
SECTION ONE: General Forensic Information
Who can conduct child custody evaluations and what is a custody evaluation?
A discussion concerning the mental health professionals who can conduct custody evaluations and an in-depth look at the “inside workings” of a custody evaluation.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Who Can Use Psychological Tests?
A brief explanation of psychological tests, the standards which apply to them, and those who can legally administer them.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
The Need to Maintain Test Security
The ethical and legal codes that apply to the administration of psychological tests and the need to maintain the privacy of the results.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Custody Evaluation Practices: A Survey of Experienced Professionals (Revisited)
An article exploring issues relating to child custody evaluations, expanding on a study done in 1986 by W.G. Keilin and L.J. Bloom.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Data-Based Tests in Custody Evaluations
How data-based tests that measure a child’s “unconscious” perceptions of each parent can circumvent obstacles that custody evaluators face while gathering useful data in evaluations.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Family Law Proceedings
Family law proceedings encompass a broad range of issues, including custody, maintenance, support, valuation, visitation, relocation, and termination of parental rights. The following guidelines address what are commonly termed "child custody" evaluations, involving disputes over decision-making, caretaking, and access in the wake of marital or other relationship dissolution.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
What you should know about the Frye standard, the federal rules of evidence, and the Daubert criteria when you go to court. The admissibility of expert testimony, including testimony on science, by mental health professionals.
Any mental health professional who testifies in court will find helpful pointers in this paper. But it is also important that you, the mental health professional, request that your attorney read it. Many of the action steps required to make your testimony more effective will need to be initiated by your attorney.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
SECTION TWO: Specific Information About Child Custody Tests And Instruments
The Scientific Basis of Child Custody Decisions
A summary and discussion of many of the custody evaluation tests utilized by PACE members and other mental health professionals involved custody evaluations, including ACCESS, BPS, PORT, PASS, APSIP, and PPCP.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
The Perception of Relationships Test (PORT) and Bricklin Perceptual Scales (BPS), 1961-2002: Current and New Empirical Data on 3,880 Cases
An in-depth discussion which describes a 7-year project offering evidence-to-conclusion chains for both the BPS and PORT tests, which measure information about the comfort and efficiency with which a child and his or her caretakers exchange a wide variety of information within multiple family contexts.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Can Child Custody Data Be Generated Scientifically? Part I
An article responding to the challenge of whether it is not only practically but even theoretically possible to create child custody data scientifically.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Perception-of-Relationships Test and Bricklin Perceptual Scales: Validity and Reliability Issues –
Part II
Continues the exploration of scientifically gathered child custody data, addressing specifically the desirability to distinguish errors of measurement from true changes in measured variables.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
Updated Normative, Reliability and Validity Data
The very latest information on BPS, PORT, PASS, PPCP, APSIP, and DI tests, including important clarifications and instructions on the proper use of the aforementioned instruments.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
BPS Computer Scoring Profile
A 7-page manual explaining how to interpret the data collected by the BPS Computer Scoring Profile, featuring charts, graphs, and illustrations. [CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
PORT Computer Scoring Profile
A 6-page manual explaining how to interpret the data collected by the PORT Computer Scoring Profile, featuring charts, graphs, and illustrations.
[CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
DI Computer Scoring Profile
A 14-page manual explaining how to interpret the data collected by the BPS Computer Scoring Profile, featuring charts, graphs, and illustrations. [CLICK HERE TO READ and/or DOWNLOAD]
SECTION THREE: Information about Village Publishing
SECTION FOUR: Information about PACE
|
Join hundreds of your colleagues who have been granted approval as Nationally Certified Custody Evaluators™ (NCCE) or National Certified Parenting Coordinators™ (NCPC).
NOTE: The Grandfathering Period is still in effect |
|
 |
CLICK TO VERIFY
| |
|
73 Valley Drive, Furlong, PA 18925
ChildCustodyHQ@gmail.com
THE SITE YOU ARE VISITING IS
FOR
MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
SEEKING CREDENTIALING
INFORMATION
|
Since 1991 PACE has been recognized as a national mental health professional organization. PACE certifies qualified mental health professionals to practice the specialties of Custody Evaluator and/or Parenting Coordinator. These individuals hold the following credentials:
|
|
Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator™ (NCPC)
PACE, as a recognized professional organization, certifies qualified mental health professionals to practice the mental health specialty of Parenting Coordinator. They will hold the credential of Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator™(NCPC)
What is a Parenting Coordinator?
The use of Parenting Coordinators is a relatively new intervention to manage high-conflict custody cases. Parents retain and compensate a clinician to arbitrate ongoing child-related disputes either by private agreement or by Court Order. That clinician then becomes the Parenting Coordinator.
What does the Parenting Coordinator do?
The Parenting Coordinator works directly with the parents to help them communicate more effectively and avoid conflicts about child-related issues. Parents who are constantly in court about child-related issues (such as a holiday visitation schedule or the sharing of information about a child’s academic or medical developments) might benefit from opinions and guidance to help make communication more effective. In addition, the parenting coordinator mediates issues, and when the parents are unable to agree, the parenting coordinator is often given the power to arbitrate what the result should be.
Ultimately, the court has the final say over child custody and visitation issues, but a Parenting Coordinator can drastically reduce the need to go to court and therefore reduce conflict for the children in families involved in such disputes.
Members will have two documents to verify their certification. One is a license-sized certificate (8” X 5”) with special built-in security characteristics and the other is a full-sized certificate for your office. They both contain all of the relevant information and attest to the fact that the named recipient "has satisfied the requirements for education, training, and experience, contained in PACE’S Criteria and is therefore recognized as a Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator."
Additionally, court personnel and prospective clients will be invited to visit a new website, being developed as both a registry and also to enhance the credibility and stature of the Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator™(NCPC).
CLICK ON THE NAME ABOVE TO VISIT
|
|
Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator™ (NCCE)
PACE, as a recognized professional organization, certifies qualified custody evaluators to practice the mental health specialty of Custody Evaluator. They will hold the credential of Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator™ (NCCE).
Members will have two documents to verify their certification. One is a license-sized certificate (8” X 5”) with special built-in security characteristics and the other is a full-sized certificate for your office. They both contain all of the relevant information and attest to the fact that the named recipient "has satisfied the requirements for education, training, and experience, contained in PACE’S Criteria and is therefore recognized as a Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator."
Additionally, court personnel and prospective clients will be invited to visit a new website, being developed as both a Registry and also to enhance the credibility and stature of the Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator™ (NCCE).
CLICK ON THE NAME ABOVE TO VISIT
|
There is a link to our in-depth Question & Answer Section
near the bottom of this site |
Professional Academy of Custody Experts
Criteria for Certification
A. Doctoral or Masters Degree in a mental health specialty from a university/college that is regionally accredited; and
B. Only ONE of the following three choices (B-1 or B-2 or B-3) is required:
B-1. Currently licensed by a State Board of Examiners to practice a mental health specialty at the independent practice level or;
B-2. Member of a recognized mental health professional association that has published relevant standards of practice for a mental health specialty or;
B-3. Minimum of two years experience working with a family court system; and
C-1. If applying for Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator™(NCCE)
A minimum of two years custody evaluation experience, during which the applicant has independently conducted a minimum of five comprehensive custody evaluations; and
C-2. If applying for Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator™(NCPC)
A minimum of two years experience working at a professional level with at least five sets of high conflict or litigating parents, providing services that have been described by various designations, including, but not limited to: parenting coordinator, family coordinator, mediator, reunification therapist, couples therapist, facilitator, etc. In general, we are seeking professionals who have experience working with men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers who are involved in high conflict relationships with each other.
D. Two names (with contact information) of colleagues (mental health professionals, attorneys, judges, etc.) who we can contact to validate the information that you have submitted on your application.
| ASSOCIATE CREDENTIAL: If you meet all criteria above EXCEPT either C-1 or C-2 you can apply for Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator Associate (NCCE-A) and/or Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator Associate (NCPC-A). You will enjoy all of the rights and privileges and will automatically be elevated to the full credential as soon as you complete the experience listed at C-1 or C-2 |
The Executive Operating Committee has been authorized to use a degree of flexibility in the handling of certain special situations that may arise during the application process without compromising the integrity of the Current Criteria.
|
|
FEES
Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator™ (NCPC)
One-time application processing fee:$338 $169 during Grandfathering Period-YOU SAVE $169
Annual Certification Fee: $129
Total with this Application: $298 (One-time application processing fee of $169 and first
Annual Certification Fee of $129.)
This covers ALL fees until your next Annual Certification Fee of $129 is due twelve months after your Approval Date.
NOTE: If an applicant is NOT accepted for certification ALL fees will be promptly returned.
The fees are the same for the “Associate” credential.
Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator™ ™ (NCCE)
One-time application processing fee: $338 $169 during Grandfathering Period-YOU SAVE $169
Annual Certification Fee: $129
Total with this Application: $298 (One-time application processing fee of $169 and first
Annual Certification Fee of $129.)
This covers ALL fees until your next Annual Certification Fee of $129 is due twelve months after your Approval Date.
NOTE: If an applicant is NOT accepted for certification ALL fees will be promptly returned.
The fees are the same for the “Associate” credential.
BOTH CREDENTIALS AT THE SAME TIME:
Nationally Certified Custody Evaluator™(NCCE)
and
Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator™(NCPC)
ADD UP THE TOTAL FEES FOR NCPC and NCCE FROM ABOVE AND
DEDUCT A SAVINGS OF $101
$298 + 298 = $596 Now deduct $101. Your total for the two Certifications is $495.
(This covers ALL fees until the next Annual Certification Fees of $129 are due twelve months after your Approval Dates.)
NOTE: If an applicant is NOT accepted for certification ALL fees will be promptly returned.
The fees are the same if one or both credentials are for “Associate” status.
|
| 
