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→Assessments and reports about children and parenting after separation
Making decisions about parenting after separation can be difficult, especially when parents are in high levels of conflict with each other, when their children are very young, when one or more of their children have special needs, and when one or both parents struggle with family violence, the use of alcohol and drugs, and personality and other mental health disorders. It's hard for parents and it's hard for judges and arbitrators.
While both the ''[[Divorce Act]]'' and the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' say that the only consideration when making arrangements about decision-making, parenting time and contact is the best interests of the child, and provide lists of helpful factors that go into deciding the arrangements for parenting and contact that are in the child's best interests, sometimes what's needed is the input of a neutral professional, usually a mental health professional like a psychologist, a clinical counsellor or a social worker. This input can be is usually provided through the different kinds of assessments and reports, usually like parenting assessments and views of the child reports, that are available under the ''Family Law Act''. Other helpful reports can include psychological-educational reports about children's learning needs, reports from counsellors working with a parent or a child, medical assessments, and reports from physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
===Parenting assessments===
Parenting assessments, which are sometimes called "section 211 reports" and used to be known as "custody and access reports," are prepared by mental health professionals. They are available when parents agree that an assessment should be prepared, or when a judge or arbitrator orders that an assessment should be prepared under section 211(1) of the ''Family Law Act''. Section 211 says this:
<blockquote><tt>(1) A court may appoint a person to assess, for the purposes of a proceeding under Part 4 [Care of and Time with Children], one or more of the following:</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) the needs of a child in relation to a family law dispute;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) the views of a child in relation to a family law dispute;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) the ability and willingness of a party to a family law dispute to satisfy the needs of a child.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(2) A person appointed under subsection (1)</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) must be a family justice counsellor, a social worker or another person approved by the court, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) unless each party consents, must not have had any previous connection with the parties.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(3) An application under this section may be made without notice to any other person.</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(4) A person who carries out an assessment under this section must</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) prepare a report respecting the results of the assessment,</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) unless the court orders otherwise, give a copy of the report to each party, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) give a copy of the report to the court.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(5) The court may allocate among the parties, or require one party alone to pay, the fees relating to an assessment under this section.</tt></blockquote>
A "full" parenting assessment consists of the mental health professional's report on all of the things listed in section 211(1): the needs of a child; the views of a child; and, the ability and willingness of a party to satisfy the child's needs. However, parents can agree, and judges and arbitrators may order, that the parenting assessment just report on one or two of these subjects. In most cases, the professional will:
*speak to each of the parents, often more than once,
*speak to one or more other people who know the family or the children, like teachers, family members, social workers and therapists,
*speak to the children, depending on the children's age and maturity, and
*observe each of the parents interacting with the children.
(Psychologists will also usually ask the parents to complete one or more tests that are designed to look at the parents' personalities and parenting styles, and see whether family violence is present.)
A full parenting assessment
==Resources and links==