Representing Children in Dependency and Family Court: Beyond the Law

(Paperback)

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This is a unique family law resource, reflecting the real-world issues that are critical for working with child clients in dependency and family court settings. The authors--a psychologist who has worked with children since the mid-1980s, and an attorney who almost exclusively represents children in dependency court matters--recognize that lawyers who represent children must understand them, the system in which they are engaged, the services available to them, the schools they attend, their ethnic and cultural issues, their special needs, the legal issues they face outside of family and juvenile courts, and more. In addition, lawyers need to understand the issues faced by the parents with whom they live.

While some children's representatives work exclusively in this area and want to delve deeper into the issues of family dynamics examined in this book, this is also a useful resource for those who work with children's cases less frequently or are just beginning in the area and have had limited or no exposure to these issues. This clearly written and logical guide is an informed resource accessible to professionals at any level of experience.

Topics include:

• Conceptualizing the role of the children's representative, and well as intriguing thoughts about how this can evolve in the future
• Critical psychological issues involved, including trauma, child development, domestic violence, high-conflict separation and divorce, alienated or resistant children, and other special circumstances
• Professional responsibilities, including ethical issues in representing children, risks of bias in your work, and recognizing the professional toll involved

Table of Contents
Introduction
Section I - Conceptualizing the Role
Chapter 1: The Role of Children's Representatives as They Stand Today
Chapter 2: Unique Questions Related to Our Work with Children
Chapter 3: Imagining a New Role
Section II - Critical Psychological Issues to Understand
Chapter 4: Trauma
Chapter 5: Child Development
Chapter 6: Introduction to Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Children
Chapter 7: High-Conflict Separated and Divorced Parents
Chapter 8: Alienated-Resistant Children
Chapter 9: Special Circumstances
Section III - Professional Issues
Chapter 10: Ethical Issues in Representing Children
Chapter 11: Recognizing Risks of Bias and Illusion in Your Work
Chapter 12: The Professional Toll
Index

Author Bio

Rebecca M. Stahl is a lawyer for children who is currently working at theChildrens Law Center of California in Los Angeles County, representing childrenin dependency cases. She previously represented children in both family anddependency cases in Tucson, Arizona, at the Pima County Office of ChildrensCounsel. Rebecca was a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand and during her Fulbrightyear earned a Master of Law degree from the University of Otago inDunedin, New Zealand, where she studied the role of lawyers for children infamily court cases. Rebecca attended the University of Arizona College of Lawand has presented at a variety of international conferences focused on childrensrights and family law on topics ranging from yoga and stress management to therole of lawyers for children in both family and juvenile court and has publishedarticles on the role of childrens representation. She is also a yoga instructor andcurrently a somatic experiencing student. Contact Information: Rebecca Stahl Email address: rmstahl@gmail.com Philip M. Stahl, PhD, ABPP (Forensic), is a board-certified forensic psychologistin private practice living in Maricopa County, Arizona, who conducts childcustody evaluations and provides consultation and expert witness testimonythroughout the United States. He has conducted trainings both nationally andinternationally for attorneys, child custody evaluators, and others workingwith high-conflict families of divorce. He has presented workshops for judgesthroughout the country and is on the faculty of the National Judicial College andthe National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He has cowritten andtaught a program with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) titledModern Divorce Advocacy. As a former Board member of AFCC, he was on the task force that draftedAFCCs original Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluation, aswell as their revision in 2006. He was a member of the American Bar AssociationWingspread Task Force on High Conflict Families in 2000. He testified by invitationto the Ohio Task Force for Family Law Reform and a New York State Commissionregarding child custody evaluations and was appointed by the ArizonaSupreme Court to participate in the revisions to Planning for Parenting Time: AGuide for Separating Parents (2009). Dr. Stahl is on the Editorial Review Boardof AFCCs journal, Family Court Review. Along with his teaching, Dr. Stahl haswritten extensively on various issues in high-conflict divorce and custody evaluations.He is the author of several books and articles associated with custodyevaluations and high-conflict parents, including Forensic Psychology Consultationin Child Custody Litigation: A Handbook for Work Product Review, CasePreparation, and Expert Testimony (coauthor with Dr. Robert SimonFamilyLaw Section of the American Bar Association, 2013), Conducting Child CustodyEvaluations: From Basic to Advanced Issues (Sage Publications, 2010), ParentingAfter Divorce, 2nd Edition (Impact Publishers, 2008), Relocation Issues inChild Custody Cases (coeditor with Dr. Leslie DrozdHaworth Press, 2006),and Emerging Issues in Relocation Cases, published by the Journal of AmericanAcademy of Matrimonial Law. His child custody evaluation was cited by theCalifornia Supreme Court in its recent landmark decision modifying eight yearsof relocation case law following Burgess (In re Marriage of LaMusga (2004) 32Cal.4th 1072, 12 Cal.Rptr.3d 356, 88 P.3d 81). Contact Information: Philip M. Stahl, Ph.D., ABPP (Forensic) 18521 E. Queen Creek Road Suite 105-448 Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Voicemail 925-394-4062 / 602-235-0946 Philipstahlphd@gmail.com www.parentingafterdivorce.com