NOTE:
The course outline or agenda for this training has been approved as corresponding to subject areas specified in California Rules of Court, rule 5.225(e)(1)-(21). The views expressed in this training are those of the trainer and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of th
e Judicial Council of California or the Administrative Office of the Courts.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
California Court Rules 5.225 and 5.230 (Court Rules 1257.4 and 1257.7, respectively, were renumbered in January 2003) require annual update training beginning in the calendar year following the completion of the initial 40-hour training in order to continue serving as a court-appointed child custody evaluator. Specifically, Rule 5.225 requires eight hours of annual update training in child custody, and Rule 5.230 requires four hours of annual update training in domestic violence. For your convenience, we've created one two-day course to satisfy both court rules. Upon completion of both days, you will receive one certificate of completion indicating that you have received eight hours of training in compliance with Rule 5.225 and four hours of training in compliance with Rule 5.230.
ARE YOU REQUIRED TO TAKE THIS COURSE?
Please note that the courts require this training annually; that is, every year. This is in contrast to your licensing board that sets requirements to be met every licensing cycle; that is, every two years. In other words, as a child custody evaluator, during your licensing cycle you will be completing a total of 16 hours of child custody update training along with eight hours of domestic violence update training for a total of 24 hours. Thus, you will only need to earn an additional 12 hours of training, of which at least four hours (psychologists) or six hours (MFTs & LCSWs) must be in laws and ethics.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Click here to download a two-page list of Frequently Asked Questions about California Court Rules 5.225 and 5.230.
To learn more about California Court Rules pertaining to child custody, including rules 5.225 and 5.330, visit: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules or click here and select Title Five, Special Rules for Trial Courts (Rules 5.10-5.500) in the PDF format (535 pages). Once downloaded, go to Chapter 5—Child Custody (28 pages) located on pages 827-860 of Title Five, and corresponding to pages 65-98 of your PDF document. From Acrobat Reader, print pages 65-98 of your PDF document.
TOPICS
This course features updates and best practices on selected content areas specified in California Court Rule 5.225(e)(1)-(21) and Rule 5.230(d)(1)(A)(i)-(v) as well as material related to assessment, diagnostic and treatment issues involved when domestic violence or child sexual abuse is alleged.
GOALS
At the conclusion of this program you should be better able to:
1. Serve as a court-appointed expert in child custody matters.
2. Understand and treat high conflict divorcing families.
3. Appreciate the psychological and developmental needs of children, especially as those needs relate to decisions about child custody and visitation.
4. Understand the ethical requirements associated with being a child custody evaluator.
5. Understand the relevant distinctions among the roles of evaluator, mediator, and therapist.
6. Maintain professional neutrality and objectivity when conducting child custody evaluations. SPEAKER PROFILE
Leslie M. Drozd, Ph.D. is the editor of the Journal of Child Custody and a psychologist in independent practice in Newport Beach. She is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of numerous professional books and articles including Psychological Testing in Child Custody Cases, Child Sexual Abuse Allegations in Child Custody Cases, Relocation Issues in Child Custody, Safety First: A Model for Understanding Domestic Violence in Child Custody and Access Disputes, Is It Abuse, Alienation, And/Or Estrangement: A Decision Tree, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Bench Book for Family and Juvenile Court Judges on Navigating Domestic Violence in Child Custody Cases. She was a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’ Child Custody Evaluation Task Force that developed model standards of practice, and is a member of the Working Group on Issues of Alleged Abuse, Neglect, and Endangerment of the American Psychological Association/American Bar Association.
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