The length of time needed to complete a child custody evaluation depends on many variables. In my practice, a typical custody evaluation is completed in 12 weeks, give or take a week or two. But there have been exceptions, when a report takes 16 to 20 weeks. Before discussing the key factors, it should be noted that the core issue for any custody evaluation isn’t speed or delay, but the impartiality, thoroughness, accuracy and relevance of the Forensic Child Custody Report. A junk report that is biased, inaccurate or unhelpful to the court is a waste of time and money for all involved.
Key factors impacting the time necessary for conducting a child evaluation are several:
1) Evaluator factors
2) Issue clarity
3) Availability and preparation of the parties
4) Collateral cooperation
5) Surprises
Evaluator factors include the experience and training of the psychologist, the “busyness” of the evaluator, and organizational skills. A well trained evaluator has a clear and concise plan for conducting the evaluation based on best practices in the field. An inexperienced evaluator drifts through the evaluation, mixing clinical and forensic techniques, struggling to figure out how to maintain focus, impartiality and control for bias. The evaluation becomes a journey to an unknown destination. Another issue impacting timeliness of the report is an evaluator who has undertaken so much work that instant evaluation is just another task in the pile. There is little defense for an evaluation taking four months or more to complete – the evaluator needs to be organized, manage the schedule, and remember the phrase “call the question.” Yet another evaluator factor can be an unwillingness to call “final call” and conclude the task. Litigants involved in a custody evaluation are folks that, for various reasons, just cannot figure out how to settle their case. A naive evaluator may fail to resist the request to submit “one more piece of Information” or “a new collateral” and thus agrees to join the litigant’s battle. A custody evaluation is a time slice – not an ongoing journal of family distress.
Issue clarity is a factor that often delays a timely report. When attorneys and the parties are focused and clear on the roadblocks, the evaluation can also be focused. It doesn’t take insight to anticipate a slower moving process when someone says “I don’t know why we’re here” or “We’re here because my partner is a you know what…” Clarity is sought at the onset for evaluations I conduct by requesting key issues from both attorneys and their parties, and initial questions with the same focus.
A common problem that delays a timely report is the availability and preparation of the parties . The process is going to slow down when an individual does not make themselves available for interviews, returns questionnaires slowly, readily provide collateral contacts and approaches the process in a resistant or overly friendly manner. A forensic evaluation of the parties and collaterals, in order to minimize bias, should alternate interviews between the litigants. When a party only makes themselves available in the evening on the third Tuesday of the month, complains about their constitutional rights being violated, or is offended by being interviewed, then the report may likely be delayed. On occasion, a custody evaluation may be undertaken due to a desire of a party to slow down the divorce process. And at times a litigant may struggle to pay for the evaluation, which delays the process. Litigant foot dragging can and should be addressed to the attorneys, but the problem remains – the timeliness of the evaluation is delayed.
Collateral cooperation is a major issue in preparing a timely report. Most non-professional collaterals respond readily, since their name was provided by a friendly party. Obtaining professional collateral information, however, can become time consuming. The professional simply doesn’t respond or refuses to respond, or requires a special release form, or requires a certain number of weeks to retrieve the data. The quality and scope of professional data is often critical to the case, and must be obtained. Once obtained, the data may be voluminous. Most custody cases that I’ve undertaken result in files with thousands of pages of interviews and documentation when completed. It takes a bit of time to read and synthesize that amount of information.
Finally, “surprises ” often delay the process. A close family member dies or is in a horrible accident. A party levies a sexual abuse complaint about their counterpart. Surprises are difficult to anticipate, and often lower the immediate priority of the custody evaluation.
A reasonable time in my practice for conducting a child custody evaluation and providing a final report is 12 weeks. I have fast tracked an evaluation in 4 weeks – but that obviously requires incredible cooperation from all involved, and a surcharge for the effort is assessed. An evaluation that takes 4 months or longer raises questions noted in this blog.
Learn more about Custody Evaluations and Psych Evaluations.