Parenting Plan Evaluation Training - 2025

AFCC-MN Parenting Plan Evaluation Training 2025

(formerly called “Custody Evaluations”)

DATES

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Friday, May 9,2025

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Friday, May 16, 2025

8:30 am - 5:00pm each day. Please plan on a 15-minute break each morning and each afternoon, as well as a 45-minute lunch break each day.

COST

$1600

LOCATION

TBD

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Some parents are unable to resolve custody and parenting time disputes, even with the wide availability of ADR processes. A Custody/Parenting Plan Evaluation, when done thoroughly and ethically, can help families, attorneys, and courts resolve these issues This six-day (40+hours) training addresses the "how-to's" as well as the complexities of the evaluation process. It includes such topics as:

• Designing a protocol for evaluations that incorporates best practices

• Identifying and addressing domestic abuse dynamics

• Conducting parent and child interviews and observations

• Identifying and collecting relevant collateral data

• Determining when additional assessments are necessary and incorporating the data into the evaluation

• Applying relevant data to the Best Interest Factors

• Conducting attorney feedback sessions

• Drafting reports

• Recognizing and accounting for bias in evaluative processes

This training is based on AFCC best practice guidelines, as well as Minnesota law and practice. It combines lecture, interactive discussion of topics, and application of concepts through simulated exercises.

PREREQUISITES

Current licensed mental health provider, licensed attorney, or Guardian ad Litem, with minimum of five years' experience working with families or individuals in the process of separation/divorce. Completion of the 40-hr family mediation training is required.

TRAINERS

Mindy F. Mitnick, EdM, MA, Licensed Psychologist

Mindy F. Mitnick is a Licensed Psychologist practicing in Minneapolis. She received a Master of Education from Harvard University and a Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota. She specializes in work with families in the divorce process and with victims of abuse and their families. She has been a speaker for the National Child Protection Training Center, Office of the Children’s Lawyer in Canada, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and numerous statewide multidisciplinary training programs. Ms. Mitnick has written and taught extensively about the assessment of child sexual abuse allegations during custody disputes. Ms. Mitnick served as a member of the Minnesota Custody Dialogue Group that rewrote the state’s Best Interest Factors and co-chaired the Child-Focused Parenting Time Guide workgroup. Ms. Mitnick is the Past President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Jennifer E. Joseph, JD, is an attorney in private practice; however, her practice focuses solely on providing Alternative Dispute Resolution and other neutral services in family law matters. Ms. Joseph specializes in helping parents resolve custody, parenting, and co-parenting disputes through her work as a mediator, parenting coordinator, parenting coach, custody evaluator, and SENE (social early neutral evaluation) provider.

Ms. Joseph is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School. In addition to her private ADR practice, she has served as an adjunct professor of family law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and provides training and continuing legal education to family law professionals. Ms. Joseph presents regularly on family law and ADR issues to professional associations and organizations across the country. Ms. Joseph is a long-time member of the international Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC). She is a former President of the Minnesota AFCC Chapter. Ms. Joseph is also the current Vice President on the Board of Directors for Overcoming Barriers, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding more systemic solutions to families experiencing parent-child contact problems.