1. Defining the Scope and Focus of the Child Custody Evaluation
2. The Child Custody Evaluation: Tools of the Investigator
3. Testimony Regarding the Child Custody Evaluation
4. Attorney's Perspective
5. Ethics
6. Custody Evaluations in the Courtroom

Continuing Education Credits:   

* denotes specialty credits

1. Defining the Scope and Focus of the Child Custody Evaluation
   9:00 - 10:00, Milfred “Bud” Dale, Ph.D, J.D.
   1. Operationalizing the Best Interests of the Child Task and Objective
   2. Developing the Psycholegal Questions for the Evaluation with the Court, the Attorneys, and the Parties
   3. When, Why, and How to Narrow the Scope of the Evaluation
   4. Agreements on the Issues the Evaluation Addresses, Including the Ultimate Issue
   5. The Core Questions that are a Part of Every Evaluation
   6. Protocols for Special Issues such as Allegations of Abuse, Domestic Violence, and/or Parental Alienation
2. The Child Custody Evaluation: Tools of the Investigator
   10:15 - 11:15, Milfred “Bud” Dale, Ph.D, J.D.
   1. The Investigative Mindset: Helping the Court via Data Collection plus Development and Testing of Hypotheses Relevant to BIOC Task
   2. National Standards for Child Custody Evaluations: American Psychological Association, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
   3. The “Divorce Impasse” Model of Conflict and the “Forensic Model” for Evaluations
   4. Five Methods of Data Collection
      1. Document and Record Review
      2. Clinical and Forensic Interviews
      3. Direct Observations and Home Visits of the Parties and Children
      4. Psychological Testing and Questionnaires
      5. Collateral Interviews of Third Parties
   5. Reasonable Transparency: From Data to Hypothesis to Inference to Conclusion
   6. Opining on the “Ultimate Issue” and Recommending a Parenting Time Plan
   7. The Child Custody Evaluation Report: Getting Them to Read More Than the Last Page
3. Testimony Regarding the Child Custody Evaluation
   11:15 - 12:15, Milfred “Bud” Dale, Ph.D, J.D.
   1. Requirements of the Expert Witness: To Help the Court Help the Child and Family
   Immunities and Ethical Issues for Expert Witnesses: The Importance of the Oath and the Evaluator's Loyalty to the Data
   3. Applying Group-Aggregate Social Science Research to Individual Cases
   4. Tips for Preparing for Examination and Cross-Examination
4. Attorney's Perspective
   1:15 - 2:15, Joseph W. Booth
   1. Alternatives to Custody Evaluation
      1. Mediation
      2. Supervised Visitation
      3. Graduated Access Arrangement
   2. What to do with Damaging Affidavits?
   3. Providing Deposition Transcripts vs. Relying on Evaluator Interviews
   4. To Submit or Not to Submit a Parent's Personal Diary
5. Ethics
   2:30 - 3:30, Joseph W. Booth
   1. Medical vs. Legal Ethics
   2. Appropriate Client Contact
   3. Mandatory and Voluntary Withdrawal of Legal Representation
   4. Protecting Confidentiality
6. Custody Evaluations in the Courtroom
   3:30 - 4:30, Joseph W. Booth
   1. Interpreting the Report
   2. Direct Examination of the Evaluator
   3. Cross Examination of the Evaluator
   4. Contesting Unfavorable Evaluation

JOSEPH W. BOOTH is an attorney with the Law Offices of Joseph W. Booth, where he works as counsel and as an arbitrator. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Washburn School of Law, lecturing on collaborative law and financial aspects of divorce. Mr. Booth's practice includes family law, arbitration, adoption, surrogate parenting contracts and appellate practice. He lectures nationwide to private practice attorneys, as well as military lawyers on family law issues, including property valuations, child custody, child support and litigation. Mr. Booth earned his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Ottawa University, his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Washburn School of Law, and his master's degree from St. Paul's School of Theology. He is on drafting committees of the Uniform Laws Commission (formally NCCUSL) as the ABA liaison, drafting the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) and developing a Uniform Statute on Parental Relocation. Mr. Booth is a member of the Publications Board of the American Bar Association Family Law Section; he published "A Guide for Assisting Military Families with the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)," Family Law Quarterly (Summer 2009); and he is a contributing writer for the Matthew Bender Project for the Texas Family Law Handbook. He also is a contributing writer to two editions of the Administrative Manual for Nurse-Midwifery Services, and provides legal advice and training to the ACNM and their members. Mr. Booth is a member of the Earl O'Connor Inns of Court, and a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He is a member of the Kansas Bar Association and The Missouri Bar. Mr. Booth is the past chair of the Child Support Committee and is chair for the long-range planning for the American Bar Association Family Law Section. He is licensed to practice before the state and federal bars of Kansas and Missouri, as well as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

MILFRED "BUD" DALE, Ph.D., J.D., is both a licensed psychologist in private practice and an attorney with the Law Offices of Bud Dale. He has a B.A. degree from Westminster College, a M.A. degree and Ph.D. degree in clinical child and developmental psychology from The Ohio State University, and a J.D. degree from Washburn University School of Law. In Dr. Dale's psychology practice, he provides both clinical and forensic services. In his clinical work, he conducts psychotherapy with children, teenagers, and adults, as well as family therapy and psychological evaluations for persons of all ages. His forensic work focuses on high conflict families, including conducting comprehensive and focused child custody evaluations. He is a Kansas Supreme Court-approved mediator and is very involved in the practice of domestic case management in Kansas. He has co-sponsored multiple training opportunities for new and experienced case managers in conjunction with the Washburn University School of Law. Dr. Dale also conducts forensic evaluations for sex offenders in Kansas and has served as an expert witness for the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board in cases involving potential ethical violations. The Law Offices of Bud Dale is a firm handling family law cases including all aspects of divorce, child custody and parenting time disputes, and child support. The firm also handles adoption and guardianship cases. Dr. Dale is a frequent lecturer at Washburn School of Law and at workshops on issues of child custody evaluations and interventions in high conflict divorce. He has co-authored articles on child custody and expert roles and services in custody disputes in national peer-reviewed journals such as the Family Law Quarterly and the Journal of Child Custody. He is a member of several professional organizations including the American Bar Association, Family Law Section, the Kansas Bar Association, and the Topeka Bar Association.

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