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==Needs of the Child Assessmentschild assessments==
Under s. 37(1) of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', when the court or the parties are making orders and agreements respecting guardianship, parenting arrangements or contact with a child, the parties and the court must consider the best interests of the child only. Under s. 211, the court can appoint a person to assess one or more of:
These reports, called ''needs of the child assessments'', were formerly known as "section fifteen reports" or "custody and access reports" under the old ''Family Relations Act''. They can be very helpful in resolving a dispute about the care of children and the court <span class="noglossary">will </span> usually give a great deal of weight to the assessor's opinion.
==Picking the Assessorassessor==
Needs of the child assessments are routinely prepared by Family Justice Counsellorsfamily justice counsellors, social workers, registered clinical counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists.
Family Justice Counsellors justice counsellors are employees of the Ministry of Justice based in registries of the Provincial Court. Their reports are free, however but because there is such a high demand for these reports and there are so few Family Justice Counsellors family justice counsellors who are trained to prepared them, the delay from requesting a report to getting it done might be anywhere from 8 eight to 14 months.
In general, private reports prepared by social works and mental health professionals can be done faster, but they come at a cost. The reports prepared by psychologists typically cost between $6,000 and $10,000.
==Arranging for the Assessmentassessment==
The parties can agree that a needs of the assessment <span class="noglossary">will </span> be prepared, but if they can't agree an application can be made to court for an order that an assessment be prepared. The order <span class="noglossary">will </span> usually exactly who is being retained to prepare the report and can also specify how the report <span class="noglossary">will </span> be paid for.
Once the assessment is ordered or agreed upon, either party can get in touch with the person who <span class="noglossary">will </span> be performing the assessment. The assessor <span class="noglossary">will </span> tell you what happens next, when the interviewing process <span class="noglossary">will </span> begin and when the completed assessment <span class="noglossary">will </span> likely be ready. {{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[JP Boyd]], March 24, 2013}}
{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=how}}
{{Creative Commons|title = JP Boyd on Family Law|author = [[JP Boyd|John-Paul Boyd]] and Courthouse Libraries BC }} [[Category:How Do I? (|G]][[Category:Other Family Law)Litigation Issues]]