The Ste Frankel Group's 2026 Annual CCE and IPV Updates are here!

Custody Evaluators - stay up to date with the latest information, changes and research in the field.

Updates:

Annual CCE Update Overview:

This 2026 annual update for the Child Custody Evaluators (CCE), as specified by California Rules of Court, rule 5.225(i), is hosted by Lori Love, PhD. Presenters are the Honorable Judge Margo Hoy (ret), Sandra Mayberry, Esq, CFLS, Nancy Brison-Moll, Ph.D., Stefanie Peachie, BA, MSW, RSW, Acc.FM, LPC, and Glenn Lipson, Ph.D., ABPP

Presentations:

Judicial Updates 2026
Legal Updates 2026
Maintaining Boundaries, Ethics and Integrity when performing court connected work
Interviewing Children for Evaluations: Children’s Views and Preferences
The Values and Limitations of the MMPI-3 in Custody Evaluations

== Legal and Judicial Updates

This training provides timely updates on key judicial decisions and legal trends from the past year relevant to Child Custody Evaluators (CCEs). In addition, common concerns and questions about the implications of these decisions have been gathered from other Custody Evaluators, and will be addressed in the Legal and Judicial Updates.

== Legal and Judicial Updates

The training will also address the ethical and professional responsibilities of mental health clinicians engaged in child custody work, particularly in child custody evaluations. It will examine how disciplinary ethics intersect with the legal process and the sensitive roles professionals assume when working with families involved in custody disputes. Common complaints reported to regulatory boards highlight recurring challenges in custody evaluations and clinical practices tied to the courts will be reviewed.

Learn best practices for interacting with the court, emphasizing accurate documentation, confidentiality, and effective communication with both parties and the judiciary. These elements provide a structured roadmap for ethical, competent, and legally sound practice in court-connected clinical work.

== Interviewing Children

Additionally, the training explores the complex and often misunderstood role of children’s views and preferences within high-conflict separation and divorce cases. Mental health professionals, mediators, parenting coordinators, and evaluators are increasingly asked to assess, interpret, and incorporate children’s perspectives into recommendations and parenting decisions. However, children’s stated wishes may be shaped by a wide range of developmental, relational, emotional, and systemic factors that require careful and trauma-informed consideration.

Explore the difference between authentic preferences, stress-based responses, trauma reactions, and relationship resistance arising from family dynamics or coercive processes. Special attention will be given to how age, neurodiversity, emotional regulation, cognitive development, and family system dynamics can influence a child’s ability to express independent and reliable views.

The training will provide practical guidance for conducting child interviews, understanding the limitations of children’s statements, supporting emotional safety, and communicating findings responsibly within parenting plan assessments, Voice of the Child reports, mediation, reunification work, and other family court-related services.

== The MMPI-3

Many jurisdictions are changing their regulations in the near future for Custody Evaluators to use the MMPI-3 instead of the MMPI-2 for assessment. The final presentation in this training focuses on the values and limitations of the MMPI-3 in custody evaluations. We’ll cover best practices for administration, responding to test-takers’ questions, and behavioral observations.

Focus will be given to response style, the risks of confirmation bias and administration challenges. Look at the MMPI-3 and the value it brings to assessment. Examine the need to reference additional normative groups.The training will also cover how to effectively and pragmatically utilize the MMPI-3, including an in-depth discussion of the scales and their interpretation. Participants will learn the best practices for evaluators based on the law and proper inclusion of assessment tools.

Annual IPV Update Overview:

This 2026 Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)/Domestic Violence (DV) annual update training provides evaluators with a framework for understanding IPV within custody disputes. When IPV is alleged, suspected or confirmed, child custody evaluations become significantly more complex. Added to the highly charged legal and social environment are safety concerns, additional objectivity issues and the need for a comprehensive assessment. With the safety of a child/children at stake, understanding the intricacies of matters related to IPV are vital for evaluators.

Presentations:

Psychological Testing and Screening for Coercive Control
Immigration Trauma in Child Custody Evaluations: What Every Evaluator Needs to Know
AI and Cyberabuse: An Instructional Workshop for Child Custody Evaluators in California

== Coercive Controlling Violence

As Courts continue to increase attention on the role of family violence in family law matters, Parenting Plan Evaluators are in need of more robust methods of screening and testing for instances of intimate partner violence (IPV) to include coercive control. In this annual update, elaborating on his forthcoming peer-reviewed article (Singh & Hendry, in press), Dr. Singh guides the audience through the factors that comprise a clear definition of coercive controlling violence and presents a framework for differentiating between different types of CCV. Also introduced and discussed is the first psychology test specifically designed to assess coercive and controlling family violence.

== Immigration Trauma

Custody disputes are not solely relegated to citizens – many going through custody battles are permanent residents, refugees, and other immigrants. Immigration-related experiences can profoundly shape a child's emotional, behavioral, and developmental functioning, yet these experiences are often underrecognized in child custody evaluations.

Exposure to forced migration, family separation, detention, deportation fears, acculturative stress, discrimination, and chronic uncertainty may produce symptoms that resemble or amplify concerns traditionally attributed to problematic parenting, abuse, neglect, or psychopathology. Without a trauma-informed framework, evaluators risk misattributing trauma-related behaviors, resulting in inaccurate formulations and recommendations that may not reflect the child's best interests. A second presentation within this update, by immigration evaluator Joel Kouame, examines these factors and provides practical guidance for distinguishing trauma-related responses from parenting deficits or maltreatment.

== AI and Cyberabuse

A final presentation within this annual update will inform child custody evaluators about the critical intersection of cybercrime and domestic violence in family disputes. Learn to identify various online harassment tactics and tools (e.g. deep fakes and impersonation) and understand how one parent may use them to control, manipulate, or abuse the other parent or a child. Exploration of how cybercrime tactics can impact issues frequently raised during the course of a child custody evaluation (e.g., safety issues, deterioration of the co-parent relationship, and trauma for children) will occur. Specific questions to ask, collateral information to gather, and evidence to consider regarding the use of cyber-harassment and abuse will be discussed. Suggestions will be made as to what specific recommendations child custody evaluators should consider for both survivors and perpetrators will be identified.

By the end of this 2026 update, evaluators will gain deeper understanding, improved confidence, and an expanded skillset for addressing IPV in custody evaluations today.

Applicable California Rules of Court, rules 5.225 and 5.230, et. seq.

Sponsorship message

Our 2026 Annual CCE and IPV Updates are sponsored by Our Family Wizard. Learn more about this app designed to assist in peaceful and safe co-parenting here.

Participants may take each webinar independently, or together as part of the total 2026 update experience.