AFCC Webinars – Cutting to the Chase Competently: Brief Focused Custody Assessment

Cutting to the Chase Competently: Brief Focused Custody Assessment
A recent article published in Family Court Review revealed that judges view Parenting Plan Evaluations as too costly, time-consuming, and lengthy.  These results indicated that a new approach is needed to provide the courts with the data they require to make appropriate decisions in the children’s best interest.  Brief Focused Assessments appear to provide a solution.  This webinar will explore the history of BFAs, the professional’s qualifications to conduct BFAs, the proper protocols to use, and how we can all work to help this needed concept have a robust future in our field.
Ken Perlmutter, PhD has worked as a licensed psychologist practicing clinical and forensic psychology in Palo Alto for forty years. He serves children, parents and the courts conducting comprehensive Child Custody Evaluations (CCE) and Brief Focused Assessments (BFA). He has extensive experience serving as Parenting Coordinator, Custody Mediator (both confidential and recommending), and Co-Parent Counselor. A significant part of his current practice involves consulting with attorneys both as a confidential consultant and as a disclosed work product reviewer providing expert testimony. He has written articles, presented at workshops and taught professionals (mental health, attorneys, judges) for many years. Since 2010, he has promulgated the practice of BFAs.
Christy Bradshaw Schmidt, MA, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor from Texas who works as a child custody evaluator. She also serves as an expert witness, and she conducts work product reviews related to the work of other child custody evaluators and mental health professionals. Ms Bradshaw Schmidt is also available to provide strategic legal support to attorneys and their clients in a consulting role.