Background: Newborns of parents with intellectual disabilities face higher risks in their environment for child unsafety, despite parents' good intentions. To help parents prevent unsafe circumstances, a good understanding of the risk factors faced by these parents is needed. Methods: This casefile study examined (1) which risk factors were…

When couples divorce, custody battles regarding children may ensue. Whilst the majority of children reside with their mother post divorce there are a significant number of fathers who are sole parents living with dependent children. This literature review considers the research evidence from studies published since 1992 in order to highlight the…

These research notes look at the differing ways in which the basis for including a criterion regarding children's opinions in disputed custody and visitation processes, in the US as compared with Sweden, impacts on the role and place that children's opinions and wishes will have on the process. Sweden's rationale for including children's…

This article explores a scoping review of qualitative studies about children's experiences and feelings during times of parental separation. The purpose of the review was to explore children's feelings and attitudes about their parents' separation and how their voices are heard during times of parental separation. The scoping review examined 44…

This report examines the involvement of the child welfare system in children's care and protection when parents are incarcerated, with a focus on kinship care. Kinship care is defined as care in which relatives other than a child's parent assume parenting responsibilities for the child. It is a common care arrangement for children of incarcerated…

Provides overview of the literature and major policy issues pertaining to topics of importance to noncustodial fathers: child support, visitation, custody, and policy implications. Resources available for professionals working with divorced fathers and their families are identified. (Author/NB)

Presents national data on each state's legislative approach to custody cases involving allegations of domestic violence. Findings suggest that each regulatory schema has strengths and weaknesses, but that these approaches have been developed without the benefit of extensive study. (Contains 45 references and 1 table.) (GCP)

Examines adult children's reports of relationship changes with their fathers were 20 years after their parents' divorce. Findings indicated that most adult children felt that their relationships with their fathers had either improved or remained stable over time. Custody did not directly affect reported changes in the quality of their relationship…

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the sources of controversy between the use of the terms Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation and to delineate the advantages and disadvantages of using either term in the context of child-custody disputes. It concludes that families are best served when the more specific term, Parental…

Children's perspectives can enlighten decisions regarding custody and parenting plans. This article discusses why most procedures for soliciting children's preferences do not reliably elicit information on their best interests and do not give children a meaningful voice in decision making. Instead, these procedures provide children with forums in…

Child custody evaluators commonly find themselves confronted with resistance when they attempt to use the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in courts of law. The purpose of this article is to elucidate the reasons for the reluctance to use the PAS diagnosis and the applicability of parental alienation, as well as current DSM-IV substitute…

Modification of traditional family therapy approaches are warranted if there is to be any chance of success in the treatment of Parental Alienation Syndrome families. Especially important is the full support of the court. Describes the special family therapeutic techniques warranted in the treatment of families in which the Parental Alienation…

Suggests that although grandparents may play a significant role in the life of children, the legal position of grandparents in custodial matters remains ambiguous. Reviews recent legislation that has granted grandparents the right to seek visitation. Grandparenting may be a factor in actualizing the best interests of the child. (BH)

Discusses the history and types of adoption. Interaction between custody laws and family therapy occurs primarily in cases involving questions of rights--those of the adoptee, the biological parents, and the adoptive parents. New concerns include pressures to open sealed records, questions of grandparents' rights, and surrogate motherhood. (BH)

Reviews empirical studies related to divorce therapy both substantively and methodologically. Strong evidence exists for the superiority of mediation to traditional adversary methods for custody and visitation disputes. Conciliation counseling appears to increase the number of reconciliations in the short-term. Other conclusions must remain very…