Parent Coordination Services: A Guide for Policy Makers

This Guide is designed to assist policymakers, courts and attorneys in deliberations and decision-making on enabling legislation, licensing standards, rules of court, appointment letters or contracts, and the scope of appropriate authority and functions for court-appointed parent coordinators. The Guide also offers courts and attorneys a yardstick for assessing the propriety of engaging parent coordinators in various types of child custody cases, especially those cases in which domestic violence is alleged by a party or included in a court's findings of fact. The Guide provides information about law and practice related to parent coordination services and then raises issues for consideration by those contemplating the establishment of parent coordination services to support courts and/or families in child custody dispute processes, in particular the issues raised when domestic violence is present.