Seeking info on becoming child custody evaluator (Dallas, Austin: appointed, lawyer)

[phxgirl1009]

Hello there,

I recently relocated from Phoenix to Fort Worth, have a master's degree in counseling and have about four years experience working with children and families involved with the CPS and foster care system in Arizona.

I am currently working for an adoption agency, completing home studies, approving families to adopt, and providing counseling to families in process of adoption. I am looking to supplement my income with additional work in the evenings/weekends and have considered the following:

*Locating a counseling agency that has a need for a therapist to complete intakes, provide counseling, or both.

*Finding out what is involved with being trained as a custody evaluator. Is this something that is only available to those with a PhD? What kind of training is out there?

*Finding out if I can conduct home studies in the DFW area, for the CPS/foster care system out here. I have attempted to google information on who I might contact to get on a list, but have not had a lot of luck.

If there is anyone out there who has information on any of the above, I would love to hear from you. Thanks for any and all suggestions or recommendations!

[Huckleberry3911948]

maem if you have your masters and have 4 years in conjunction with CPS, there are not a lot of people on CDF even in your ball park. would not your best bet be talking to people in the court system ---attorneys for some leads?

[phxgirl1009]

Thanks for your reply. What does CDF stand for?

I had thought of possibly contacting some attorneys. However, I need to most likely go through some training for custody evaluation. Any suggestions about how to go about this would be much appreciated!

[FarNorthDallas]

The only thing I know of is CASA, but I think it's volunteers.
Welcome to Dallas CASA

[GayleTX]

PHXGIRL......

I have the same education and degrees that you and have done quite a lot of adoption and custody home studies (sorry to surprise you, Huckbleberry!).....worked as a contractor for CPS and for lawyers and judges on a part-time basis for many years. I had to be approved by the TX Department of Family and Protective Service, the state agency that oversees Child Protective Services. You probably need to either contact that department in Austin or talk to a supervisor at your local CPS office....you might also talk to the person who is the CPS Foster Home Developer in your area - they sometimes have to contract out their adoption studies when they are overloaded.

When I was doing investigations and studies, the state paid a set fee for a study, but I set my own price for private studies for judges and lawyers. The clients paid for it themselves, but I always required the lawyer to collect my fees up front.....when I received confirmation they had deposted my fees with the attorney's office, then I would do the study.....then the attorney would pay me after I filed the studies with the court (that way I had no business contact with the clients themselves and I was assured of getting paid). I set my fees based on the travel and number of parties involved and how complicated a situation it was. I always made more money on the private contracts than the state.....however, the state work was easier because there was always a lot of groundwork in their files that made the study easier and quicker.

Best wishes to you......

[loves2read]

this is the info in Dallas about guardian ad litem--court appointed
http://www.dallaschildsite.com/cm_guardian.html
says the person must have sufficient competence, training, and expertise to represent the child's best interests.
there is an attorney ad litem which is separate function

this site says that since they are appointed by the court--they are compensated
Newsletter Table of Contents

there is company called Guardian Ad Litem -- private one--that works to enforce child support payments--separate from the AG office--this article is about having their cases taken over and given to the AG office because they were not doing their job timely--but this is someone who took the name w/o actually taking the job description...
Dallas News - Haggling Over Who Collects Late Child Support Payments Could Leave Some Kids Without - page 1 - Dallas Observer

TX family code regarding guardian ad litem appointment
Texas Family Code - Section 107.011. Mandatory Appointment Of Guardian Ad Litem - Texas Attorney Resources - Texas Laws

this link is to info about Travis county/Austin
and ad litem guardians the county uses--you would seem to fit that profile
What is a guardian ad litem in Texas, why was a guardian ad litem appointed in my case, and what will the guardian ad litem do? | Austin Family Law Guide (http://austinfamilylawguide.com/?p=127 - broken link)

template for guardian ad litem application in TX
goes to the state bar I think
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm...ontentID=17803

so you could call/query state bar for more info

the guardian ad litem can also be called to serve in cases where juveniles want abortions w/o having their parents involved in some rare cases...I think

this is link to article about the CASA program
https://www.county.org/resources/library/county_mag/county/151/8.html (broken link)

link to court case about excessive guardian ad litem fee where an attorney was doing the guardian ad litem for family with child suing for damages due to auto accident

http://www.thebassettfirm.com/CM/WhatsNew/What%20Constitutes%20a%20Reasonable%20Fee%20for%20 a%20Guardian%20Ad%20Litem,%20Volume%204,%20Issue%2 05.pdf (broken link)

[KatherineElias]

You could email Dr. Warshak with your question. He is the nation's leading expert on child custody and is located in Dallas. ([url=http://www.Warshak.com]Dr. Richard Warshak, Psychologist, Author ofÂ*Divorce Poison, and Authority on Alienated Children[/url]) He is very busy but he may give you some feedback. You are also welcome to email me directly. I have been doing child custody evaluations since 1998. [email]Katherine@KatherineElias.org[/email]. (custody-evaluation.com). You need a mentor and a supervisor/peer consult. It is very hard work, stressful, and important. Child custody evaluators face the highest number of board complaints from clients. You don't want one of those resulting from lack of experience or support. Good luck.