ACFP Journal published !
Thank you for to the American College of Forensic Psychology (ACFP) for publishing the article EDUCATION OPINION FOR CUSTODY EVALUATORS, COURTS, AND ATTORNEYS: A STANDARD FOR EXPERTS TO FOLLOW co-authored by myself and Jon Gould, a renowned author and child custody evaluator. Together we forged a path for the court and its participants to better understand the role of the education psychologist in meeting the ‘best interest’ standard in child custody evaluation.
For years, Jon and I have worked within this field of ‘best interest’ opinion in legal matters using various approaches to effectively answer the question of education matters brought before our family courts. This has become a complex arena of emotionally driven opinion making by those who do not understand the data behind education and how resources need to be best delivered in meeting the intellectual and behavioral needs of children.
I had a case recently where the GAL’s understanding of statistics used to furnish an opinion to the court on the ‘best school’ for a child came from a single statistics course taken some thirty years ago. It was the basis for a wrong statistical conclusion. Without getting into the specifics, I immediately was able to provide the court a clearer understanding of how wrong the statistics, and show the right statistics contributed to greater understanding of the client’s child. This is one of a hundred examples.
If you are interested in our article, please contact me via email and I’d be happy to furnish you a copy for your reading pleasure in only requesting your eventual feedback. Opinions can be improved and that’s what make an expert better than the next — the ability to consider another’s perspective.