Family Court Review最新文献

Gender-affirming care saves lives. Research indicates that social interventions such as name/pronoun changes and medical interventions such as hormone therapy directly benefit youth and adolescents and can be a protective factor for the maladaptive effects of gender dysphoria and the all-too-common associated depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. This piece takes personal experiences supporting a sibling through their transition as well as the professional experiences garnered to comment on the impact of gender-affirming care on a more personal level.

In this commentary, we revisit the current state of research on parenting education programs for divorcing and separating parents and reflect on what scholars have recommended as priorities for future research. We then explore how the collection of articles in this special issue advance those priorities in meaningful ways. Topics addressed include recommendations for parenting education program content, parenting education to better meet families' needs, and measurement of program effectiveness. Implications for practitioners, family court professionals, and researchers are discussed.

Divorce education programs are often required for divorcing or separating parents with minor children to aid in emotional and practical adjustment. However, there is very little consensus between programs or the evaluation process of programs to demonstrate effectiveness or long-term outcomes. While some short-term evaluations have shown significant results, the identification of programs that demonstrate long-term effects on co-parenting relationships is still missing. Identifying what programs exist with long-term outcomes can help pinpoint what content or structure of programming is impactful on families in divorce transitions. To address this research gap, a systematic review of the literature was conducted using the PRISMA guidelines to identify what specific and existing divorce education programs have a follow-up report of a minimum of 3 months and demonstrate a reduction of co-parental conflict. Sixteen programs were identified that have at least a minimum 3-month parent follow-up report; only four of these programs demonstrated statistically significant reductions in co-parental conflict. A discussion and critique of the program evaluation articles are within this review.

This introduction details why there has been an emphasis placed on examining the value and efficacy of divorce and coparenting education programming. A set of articles is then described that, as a collection, provide insight into what is known and where we need to move forward as a field in the best interests of divorcing and separating parents and their children. We highlight seven original articles that provide foundations on this topic and synthesize consistent themes across these articles herein.

New York Domestic Relations Law Section 110, which outlines who can adopt, precludes married petitioners from adopting without their spouse joining in the adoption petition, even when all parties involved support the adoption, and it is in the child's best interests. Some judges have prioritized the child's best interests and granted adoptions in such cases, while others have rigidly construed the statute and denied them. Amending the statute so that anyone can adopt, regardless of marital status, if it is in the child's best interests would ensure the child's best interests are the judicial system's primary consideration in approving adoptions.

Families experiencing separation and divorce often find it difficult to provide emotional stability for children as the parents struggle with financial, parenting, and relationship decisions. The effect on children can be especially precarious. Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are risk factors that potentially affect children for the rest of their lives. Parental separation and divorce are identified as adverse childhood experiences and the experiences of stress and loss, reduced parental effectiveness, and exposure to parental conflict, among other stressors, may explain some of the negative outcomes often observed in children following divorce. It is essential that public institutions, including courts, are informed about the risks and protective factors associated with ACEs and resolve to mitigate the effects for children and families whom they serve. Domestic Relations Courts are uniquely equipped to address the effects that parental separation and divorce have on children, given the courts' authority to govern the legal divorce and custody process. The Domestic Relations Court in Delaware, Ohio, is committed to assisting families navigate separation and divorce in a way that is in the best interests of all, especially the children. The Court has created four specific programs to help litigants navigate their emotions, create new narratives, and explore solutions to conflict outside of trial. These innovative programs go beyond traditional court practices to treat the spouses and parents as unique individuals, giving them ample opportunities to address traumatic events and be validated for their lived experience. The suite of services includes Settlement Weeks, Neutral Evaluation, Co-parent Coaching, and Brief Family Assessments. In the subsequent sections, we will delve into each program, exploring their promise for improving outcomes for the public, the litigants, and the court as a whole.

Juvenile and family law uniquely require interdisciplinary education and experience to balance children's and families' legal rights with their best interests. Clinical legal education provides third-year law students with advanced and applied experience in a specific area of law to prepare them for legal practice. Recent developments in clinical legal education advance this experience by integrating interdisciplinary experts and reflective practice into clinics. The Children's Justice Clinic is one such clinic that integrates classroom teaching, clinical legal practice, multidisciplinary expert consultation, and reflective practice to train practice-ready Guardians ad Litem. Evaluation results from the first 5 years of the Children's Justice Clinic demonstrates that the Clinic is making progress toward its goals to provide third-year law students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective Guardians Ad Litem, increase interest in child welfare and juvenile law practice among law students, and increase access to high-quality legal representation for children. This paper presents the results from the evaluation and shares lessons learned during clinic development and implementation.

Parent–child contact problems (PCCP) are among the most vexing and intractable matters encountered in contemporary divorce and post-divorce litigation. These complex and incendiary family dynamics can confound even the most experienced evaluators, investigators, and jurists, fueling opposing confirmational biases, and sparking a destructive tug-of-war between the aligned parent's allegations of abuse and the rejected parent's allegations of alienation. This article describes all such either/or binary arguments as misleading, contrary to the science, and harmful to children. Rather than cast alienation and estrangement as mutually exclusive alternatives, the systemically-informed professional must consider more than a dozen mutually compatible practical exigencies and relationship dynamics which can converge to cause a child to align with one parent and resist or refuse contact with the other. Together, these variables are described as constituting an ecological model of the conflicted family system. A rubric is proposed to standardize evaluation across time, children, families, and jurisdictions, minimize bias, avoid premature closure, facilitate more comprehensive evaluations, optimize the efficacy of associated interventions, and invite more rigorous future research.

Femtech refers to electronic devices, software, or other technology relating to women's health. Employers are contributing to the rapid growth of femtech by adopting femtech products for workplace wellness programs. Due to a lack of federal laws or regulations, employers can access the personal, intimate information their employees record in these femtech products which can subject employees to pregnancy discrimination. Congress must enact a comprehensive consumer rights law and give the Federal Trade Commission more plenary power to prevent femtech companies from selling consumers' private health information to employers.