(Psychologists will also usually ask the parents to complete one or more tests that are designed to look at provide information about the parents' personalities and parenting styles, and see whether family violence is present.)

A full parenting assessmentwill make recommendations about the arrangements for parenting and contact that the professional believes to be in the bests interests of the children. They can also be asked to look at, and make recommendations about, specific issues such as a parent's mental health, a parent's capacity to care for the children or the impact of family violence.  Parenting assessment can help parents who are trying to resolve issues about parenting after separation out of court, through negotiation, collaborative settlement processes, and mediation; in fact, parenting assessments often provide the input parents need to reach a settlement. They're also useful when parents dealing with disagreements about parenting through litigation and arbitration. It's important to know, however, that while judges and arbitrators almost always appreciate the opinion of the professional who prepared the assessment, they're not required to accept the professional's recommendations.  Parenting assessments are available from Family Justice Counsellors, government employees attached to the Provincial Court, for free. Because these assessments are free, there's a huge demand for them and you can expect to have to wait months for the assessment process to begin and months for the process to complete. Parenting assessments are also available privately, from psychologists, clinical counsellors and social workers. These reports are usually completed faster than the reports of Family Justice Counsellors, but the cost can range from $6,000 to