What is Parenting Coordination?
There is an exciting new program happening in Bucks County. We did not think of it ourselves here in Bucks County, but we are making it ours. There are custody cases in which parents just don’t have the skills to make parenting decisions together. In these cases the parties keep coming back to court to have a judge make even the most basic decisions. Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Susan Devlin Scott, P.J. calls them the "frequent flyers" and has said, "I’m not going to do it anymore." Where does that leave the attorneys who still have clients who can’t work together and who desperately need assistance?
Some of these parties participate in mediation or co-parenting counseling. Unfortunately, that only works if the parties want it to work. So what should a lawyer do when they recognize their client will not want to take part in a process to learn to work together? I attended the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Summer Meeting and found out that in other counties and states lawyers and judges were developing another idea. In these other jurisdictions they were developing a way that the parties would agree on one person who would make the decisions for them, a parenting coordinator. The parenting coordinator is appointed by the judge and the role is explicitly set forth in a court order. Once the parenting coordinator is appointed the parties can raise their issues directly with the coordinator rather than filing to go to court each time they cannot reach an agreement on an issue involving their children. Each party can put forth their arguments as to why a given issue should be resolved their way. Once the coordinator has heard from each party the coordinator makes a decision. This decision is the binding result on that issue or one of the parties can request review of the decision by a judge.
The above is my definition of parenting coordination. The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) defines it as
A child-focused alternative dispute resolution process in which a mental health or legal professional with mediation training and experience assists high conflict parents to implement their parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of their disputes in a timely manner, educating parents about children’s needs, and with prior approval of the parties and/or court, making decisions within the scope of the court order or appointment contract.
With either definition we understand the basics but there are still so many questions. Pennsylvania case law provides that a custody litigant cannot be barred from court, so does parenting coordination run afoul of those cases or do the provisions for judicial review meet the courts responsibility to safeguard the best interests of the children? Can a court order parenting coordination or does it have to be agreed to by the parties? Is a parenting coordinator a specially appointed master? Should the parenting coordinator’s goal be to teach the parties to come to their own decisions so they can stop using the court system? If the parenting coordinator is an attorney do they need mediation training or any background in child development? Is it better to have a therapist or a lawyer as a parenting coordinator? Could that answer differ depending on the case? Should the parenting coordinator be accessible to the parties 24/7? If the coordinator is available, will that not that add to the problem of the parents becoming dependent on the coordinator? Even if they are not available 24/7 does the entire parenting coordination idea exacerbate the drama and antagonism of these high conflict cases?
Family law attorneys and judges are working to resolve these issues and offer training for parenting coordinators. I have been involved in three of those training sessions, including joint training for therapists and lawyers. I have also brought together the parenting coordinators that have appointments in Bucks County to meet monthly and learn from each other and from our experiences. Since the words "parenting coordination" were first mentioned in Bucks County, family law lawyers and judges have answered some of the questions and have come together in a more unified vision of how parenting coordination can help families. It will take some time to see if parenting coordination is successful in reducing the "frequent fliers" in our court system. For now it is a work in progress but for some current families it is a resource that is making their very difficult family problems more manageable.
Kim Litzke is a Shareholder in Eastburn and Gray's family law department and a Parenting Coordinator working with the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. Ms. Litzke practices at the firm’s offices in Doylestown, Bucks County.
Eastburn & Gray family law attorneys provide quality legal services in Bucks County and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. For assistance with a domestic matter, please contact Kim at 215.345.7000.