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In 2004 Dr. Sheryl Porter and Dr. Martin Zehr teamed up to offer a unique service
to our community: Conjoint Custody Evaluations. By choosing a team approach, with
both a female and male examiner, parents are assured a fair, objective, and
unbiased evaluation with nothing overlooked. The fees are no different from
other practitioners providing similar services, and in fact, are often lower
due to greater efficiency.
In order to assure valid and reliable results, the evaluation consists of six parts:
- An informational meeting in which the process will be reviewed. Relevant
ethical and professional issues will be discussed and basic information about
the family and current custody/visitation arrangements will be gathered.
- Individual interviews with each adult and psychological testing to assess
general psychological functioning and specific attitudes and behaviors relevant
to parenting.
- Interviews with and observations of the child or children, plus test
administration as appropriate.
- Observation of parent-child interactions.
- Review of relevant records including, but not limited to, vocational,
educational, medical, and psychological information.
- Interviews with collateral resources who have pertinent knowledge of
the family members.
Our psychologist are often asked to evaluate only one parent. In that case, a custody
recommendation cannot be made. Statements regarding the parent's ability to care for
his/her children are the outcome. This type of evaluation focuses on parent's strengths
and weaknesses with regard to caring for his/her children and the ability to meet the
developmental, emotional, and social needs of the children.
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