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When separated
caregivers dispute
parenting rights and responsibilities,
Child-Centered Family Evaluation (CCFE)
is the only child-centered,
comprehensive means
of understanding and fulfilling the children's unique needs.
When
courts and attorneys
become
involved,
contesting parties can become polarized and more antagonistic
to everyone's detriment. The children are not
property that can be divided
between homes so as to satisfy adult wishes and needs.
Dr. Garber brings expertise in child and family development,
forensic
interview and assessment, to evaluate the entire family system
so as to advise the court how to serve the
best interests of the children.
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What
is a
child-centered
family evaluation (CCFE)?
CCFE is a
comprehensive evaluation of all of the variables bearing on one or more
children's lives for the purpose of helping concerned caregivers
answer a specific question. Often the question to be answered bears on
planned or on-going litigation. Sometimes, a CCFE can be used to
minimize
the costs, stresses and polarization associated with litigation.
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What
are the variables that are evaluated?
Assisting
caregivers to answer critical questions about a child's future often
involves examination and integration of a wide breadth of variables
depending, in part, on the precise question to be addressed. These
variables often include:
 The child's unique social,
emotional, developmental,
educational and physical/medical strengths and weaknesses.
Each of the caregiver's respective
strengths and
weaknesses.
(By contrast, read about Parenting
Capacity Evaluation 
and Guardian ad litem services )
The "fit" or quality of the
relationships among
co-parents, between each parent and each child and within each family
group.
The relevant environmental
factors
such as the nature
of the home, neighborhood, classroom, school and/or school district.
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What
kinds of
questions
can be answered?
CCFE
may be
most familiar in the form of a "custody evaluation," that is, a
comprehensive, child-centered psychological assessment for the purpose
of recommending a parenting plan -the allocation of caregioving rights
and responsibilities best suited to the child's needs. CCFE commonly
serves to answer
questions including:
How might parenting rights and
responsibilities be allocated so as to best serve a child's unique
needs?
How best can a
child's resistance to contact with one parent be understood and
remediated?
Does a
proposed change of custody or relocation serve a child's best interests?
CCFE is the only process which can
adequately address questions regarding alienation. It is not
possible to evaluate an individual (e.g., the child) to determine
whether the dynamic known as alienation is in force.
Read
about Parenting
Capacity Evaluation
Read more
about alienation
here
Refer to a bibliography of relevant references here
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Are the
recommendations of a CCFE
binding in court?
Probably
not.
For this reason, participants must mutually acknowledge from the
start that Dr. Garber is a child-centered professional neutral to the
adult conflict. When contesting parties, attorneys or the court agree
in advance that the results of a CCFE will be binding, the outcome of
the evaluation will carry more weight but cannot supplant the legal
process.
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How
long
does a CCFE take?
The answer
varies entirely upon the breadth of the question to be addressed, the
complexity of the issues, the physical distances and associated travel
time and costs and the availability of the parties involved. In the
extreme, Dr. Garber was
able to complete a very narrowly-defined CCFE in educational advocacy
in
one ten day period. At the other extreme, one child custody CCFE
was dragged out beyond the six month term of the CCFE agreement
due to one party's unavailability, requiring that the matter be closed
while still incomplete.
In
general, many CCFEs
require approximately eight to ten weeks
including between 30 and 40 hours of Dr. Garber's time.
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What
does the initial CCFE
service agreement specify?
Adult
participants will be required to acknowledge in writing the terms and
limitations specific to the CCFE intended to answer their question.
This includes details regarding the limits of confidentiality, access
to resources and payment. Each such agreement is unique and
specifically tailored to the question
to be addressed.
An
example of a CCFE agreement can be
viewed here
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What
does a typical CCFE cost?
Who
pays
for it?
Is
it insurance reimbursable?
The cost of
each CCFE is estimated based upon the number of clinician hours
necessary from start through delivery of the final summary report. This
(anticipated) amount will be due in advance as a retainer. Parties
often split these costs,
but this detail varies entirely by circumstance. In some instances, if
one party agrees to pay all costs another
party may be more willing to participate.
In order to evaluate whether the financial costs of a CCFE are
worthwhile, consider the comparable costs spent on attorneys and
experts should you proceed without the benefit of a CCFE, then add in
the incalculable emotional and time costs that you and your
children will incur as the litigation is drawn out due to court
schedules, hearings, and delays. On
balance, high conflict litigants routinely find that CCFE is far less
expensive in terms of money, time and stress.
Please inquire directly with your insurance carrier about reimbursement
and benefits. Dr. Garber will not bill your insurance company directly.
Payment is accepted as cash, personal or bank check and via secure,
online transaction.
Access payment via PayPal
Please be advised that:
CCFE records and billing statements
are kept in the name of the family, not in the name of an individual.
Insurance carriers commonly question this, asking 'who is the patient?'
It is contrary to the goals of CCFE to identify a "patient."
CCFE will
seldom yield a diagnosis for any person. Insurance companies frequently
ask for a diagnosis in order to satisfy their intent to pay for
health-related services. Although CCFE intends to serve the needs of
the child, it is not clearly a health related service.
CCFE billing
statements include the procedure code 90899 "unlisted psychiatric
service or procedure."
CCFE
records will only be available to parties upon completion of the
process in response to a court order.
Read
about payment in Dr. Garber's
office here
To
learn more about insurance reimbursement, click here
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How does confidentiality
apply when one
is participating in a
CCFE?
As
always,
Dr. Garber will take every precaution to protect the confidences of
all parties. However, by definition, the CCFE process requires
that Dr.
Garber must divulge otherwise private matters in the course of
investigation. These details are elaborated in the CCFE initial
agreement
Further, because a CCFE is routinely related
to a legal question (custody, for example) everything that becomes part
of
the CCFE process is vulnerable to the discovery process lawyers engage
in, may be revealed under subpoena or court order, and may be discussed
as part of Dr. Garber's summary report.
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Please note:
If
you are participating in a
court-ordered or court-related psychological service, it is very
important that you are fully aware of the special conditions that
may
limit your privacy or confidentiality.
When psychological services are provided through or
in conjunction
with
the
court system, your confidentiality may be quite limited or
non-existant. You may not have access to records or reports that
concern you without
court order. Information about you may be shared with others at Dr.
Garber's
discretion consistent with the court's order and/or relevant
stipulations or
agreements.
It is
very important to ask Dr. Garber, your attorney and/or the court to
clarify
the limits of
confidentiality
relevant to your particular circumstance.
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Contact Dr. Garber to discuss if
and how a CCFE might be appropriate to
your circumstance.
Discuss CCFE as
alternative to or as a complement
to
legal action, mediation and aribtration with your advocate or attorney.
Motion
the court requesting that participation in a CCFE be ordered. Provide
Dr. Garber with a copy of the resulting order as a necessary
precondition for his involvement.
Complete the NEW PATIENT FORMS
Receive, review, sign and return
the CCFE service agreement
Dr. Garber will create a service agreement specific to your needs upon
receipt of the relevant court order.
Upon return receipt of (1)
the signed CCFE service agreement from all parties, (2) the preliminary
paperwork that Dr. Garber will request, and (3) retainer funds, Dr.
Garber will schedule initial
interviews,
observations and assessments as outlined in the
agreement.
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But
everyone says that we should just get a
Guardian ad litem (GAL)
or a Parenting Coordinator (PC)!
CCFE
is a
unique evaluation process that often complements the work of a GAL and
may be a valuable antecdent to a PC's post-judgment involvement.
Learn
about
these role distinctions here
What
is a
GAL?
What
is a
Parenting Coordinator?
What
is an
expert witness?
In brief: A CCFE is the most
comprehensive, child-centered means of
understanding and establishing the means to best meet the needs of the
children. A GAL can apply the outcome of a CCFE to make specific
recommendations to the court. A PC can be helpful in assuring that the
GAL's recommendations as codified in the court's final parenting plan
and are appropropriately interpreted and implemented in the child's
best
interests.
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