AFCC eNEWS - November 2009 / AFCC Price Freeze Extended / Top Ten NCJFCJ Resources / FCR Seeks Associate Editor

Vol. 4 No. 11 NOVEMber 2009
Price Freeze Extended for Members Until 2011 The AFCC Board of Directors has voted to extend the price freeze initiated in 2008 for members until at least January 2011. The price freeze will extend to registration fees for conferences, training programs and pre-conference institutes as well as publication prices and membership dues. The freeze does not apply to non-member prices, but AFCC will make every reasonable effort to keep costs down. Join AFCC now and take advantage of these savings... RESEARCH UPDATE Adults Believe What Children Say. Should They? Courtesy of J.M. Craig Press, Inc. The research is clear that children report more accurately when simply asked wide-ranging and open-ended questions regarding what they remember about events. Many studies have been devoted to how much people believe children when the questions are suggestive in nature. This study takes us a step further by examining whether teaching participants about suggestive interviewing makes a difference in their assessment of the veracity of children’s reports. Read more... ASK THE EXPERTS Top Ten National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Resources Since its founding in 1937 by a group of judges dedicated to improving the effectiveness of the nation's juvenile courts, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has pursued a mission to improve courts and systems practice and raise awareness of the core issues that touch the lives of many of our nation's children and families. NCJFCJ has a wealth of resources and has generously provided these top ten. Read more ... FEATURED e-NEWSLETTER Mediate.com recently published the 300th issue of The Mediate.com Weekly. The Weekly began 13 years ago under the guidance of founding editor John Helie. Over time, the newsletter became a bi-weekly and then weekly publication under the leadership of editors John Ford and Jim Melamed. AFCC members and others can subscribe at no charge or visit the Web version of The Weekly at www.mediate.com/Newsletter. Treasures on the AFCC Website Report from the Wingspread Conference on Domestic Violence and Family Courts by Professors Nancy Ver Steegh and Claire Dalton can be found on the AFCC website in the Resource Center. In February of 2007 the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts brought together a working group of thirty-seven experienced practitioners and researchers to identify and explore conceptual and practical tensions that have hampered effective work with families on which domestic violence has been identified or alleged. Five central sets of issues were raised at the conference and are discussed in this report. Read the report... December AFCC Training Programs in Baltimore Parenting Coordination: Helping High Conflict Parents Resolve Disputes will be presented by Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D. on December 7-6, 2009. Advanced Issues in Child Custody: The Child’s Perspective will be presented by Mindy Mitnick, Ed.M., M.A. on December 9-10, 2009. More information... Family Court Review Associate Editor Position Family Court Review (FCR), the quarterly academic and research journal of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, is seeking an Associate Editor. Read more... DIVORCE IN THE NEWS Obesity as a Basis for Losing Custody Courtesy of the Family Law Professors Blog A recent case out of the U.K. has brought renewed attention to the issue of whether morbid obesity in children is a sign of abuse and neglect, such that the parents of those children should lose custody. The latest case to make headlines concerns a Scottish couple who lost custody of two of their six children on the basis of what was, their lawyer claims, a failure to reduce the kids' weight following warnings from Scottish social services. Read the Time story here... Legal Recognition of LGBT Parents Shifts State-by-State Courtesy of Examiner.com A heterosexual couple who adopted three children together in the state of Illinois moved to Michigan several years later. As often happens, things ended and the couple went to court to determine custody of their children. To their surprise, the court determined that neither the man nor woman is considered the legal parent since Michigan has different adoption laws than Illinois, so the court refused to even hear the case. Read more... Cheating Husband Ordered to Pay $100,000 to Spurned Mistress Courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk An Australian man who had an affair with a woman for 20 years while he was married has been ordered to pay the mistress more than $100,000 (£55,000) under the country's new laws that give rights to people in de facto relationships. Read more...	UPCOMING CONFERENCES AFCC 47th Annual Conference Traversing the Trail of Alienation: Rocky Relationships, Mountains of Emotion, Mile High Conflict June 2-5, 2010 Sheraton Denver Denver, Colorado AFCC Ninth Symposium on Child Custody Evaluations October 28-30, 2010 Hyatt Regency Cambridge Cambridge/Boston, MA AFCC 48th Annual Conference June 1-4, 2011 Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort Orlando, Florida AFCC 49th Annual Conference June 6-9, 2012 Hyatt Regency Chicago, Illinois ASK THE EXPERTS Do you have a question that you would like answered by an AFCC expert? Let us know and your question could be answered in the next AFCC eNEWS. Email your questions... JOIN AFCC Are you a member? Join or Renew... AFCC offers member benefits that promote excellence in practice. View member benefits... ABOUT AFCC eNEWS AFCC eNEWS is a monthly e-newsletter published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC). AFCC eNEWS provides professionals with time sensitive and up-to-date topics including practice tips, research innovations and international news. Readers are welcome to forward this e-newsletter to interested colleagues. AFCC eNEWS archive... Website Version: If you are having trouble viewing this email correctly, please view the website version by clicking here. Editor: Leslye Hunter editor@afccnet.org AFCC welcomes your comments, questions or feedback. Please email the editor by clicking here. EMAIL UPDATE Subscribe, Unsubscribe or Update Your Email Address AFCC will never share, distribute or publicize your email address. 6525 Grand Teton Plaza Madison, WI 53719 Phone: 608.664.3750 Fax: 608.664.3751 www.afccnet.org

AFCC eNEWS - September 2009 |Save Money in Reno/Denver Call Deadline/Shared Parenting Research/An Educator's Guide

VOL. 4 NO. 9 SEPTEMBER 2009
Save on Your Reno Registration Registration fees increase after October 13, 2009 Register now for AFCC’s Regional Training Conference,Interventions for Family Conflict: Stacking the Odds in Favor of Children, November 5-7, 2009, and save! Registration rates increase after October 13, 2009. With hotel rooms as low as $99 and many airfares to Reno between $200-250, this conference fits a tight training budget while providing excellent content. For hotel reservations at the Peppermill, call (800) 282-2444 and provide the group code “AFCC09” in order to receive the special reduced rate. Reno conference brochure... Reno conference online registration... Win a 2-night stay at the Sheraton Denver Hotel! AFCC is holding a raffle for a two night weekend stay in a standard room at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, the site of AFCC’s 47th Annual Conference, June 2-5, 2010. The certificate is valid until July 1, 2010, and is valued at $330. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase only at the AFCC Regional Training Conference in Reno. Tickets will be sold for $1 each or six for $5 and can be purchased at the publications table. The winning ticket will be drawn at the luncheon on Saturday. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit AFCC’s Scholarship Fund. Don't Miss the Deadline for Denver Proposals Submit your workshop proposal by October 5, 2009 AFCC’s 47th Annual Conference, Traversing the Trail of Alienation: Rocky Relationships, Mountains of Emotion, Mile High Conflict, will take place June 2-5, 2010, at the Sheraton Denver. Now is the time to finalize and submit your proposal. Submissions are due October 5, 2009. For more information or to submit a workshop proposal, choose one of the links below. Click here to view Call for Presenters... Click here to submit a workshop proposal... RESEARCH UPDATE Shared Parenting ‘hurting children’ by Ticky Fullerton, courtesy of Lateline-ABC News The Federal Government of Australia is under growing pressure to change its shared parenting legislation, with a former judge criticizing the laws for not working in the interests of the child. Read more... AFCC Members can also read "Legislating for Shared Parenting: Exploring Some Underlying Assumptions" by Jennifer E. McIntosh in the July 2009 issue of Family Court Review. New Relationships Decrease Parental Stress Courtesy of J.M. Craig Press, Inc. Much research has been conducted on marital dissolution and the stress surrounding it. This study goes a step further to cast a wider net. The authors examined how people adjusted when they married, divorced, or cohabitated. Read more... ASK THE EXPERTS Top Ten Tips for Setting Up a Court Connected ADR Program by David Levin, J.D. David Levin, Director of Court Alternatives in the Second Judicial District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shares his top ten tips for developing a new alternative dispute resolution program in the court. Read top ten tips ... TREASURES ON THE AFCC WEB SITE An Educator's Guide: Interacting with Separating, Divorcing, Never-Married Parents and their Children is a new AFCC publication written by a work group appointed by former AFCC President Hugh Starnes, chaired by Barbara Steinberg, Ph.D. This guide addresses not only how educators can recognize the challenges these children face, but how they can facilitate the parent's involvement in the children's education at a difficult time for the family. The Guide also provides information to help teachers identify how they can be most helpful to the families and courts without getting caught on the middle of the parents’ conflict. Family court professionals and the roles they play are defined, as well as the type of information they request from teachers or school administrators. This Guide is designed specifically for educators who will find it useful in navigating all aspects of the family law process. Click here for free download... CONFERENCE OF INTEREST Collaborative Law: Opportunities, Challenges and Questions for the Future presented November 19-20, 2009, by Hofstra University School of Law, Hempstead, New York, in cooperation with the Uniform Law Commission, American Bar Association-Section of Dispute Resolution, AFCC and IACP. Read more... DIVORCE IN THE NEWS In California, Justice Takes a Day Off Courtesy of latimes.com Starting September 16, the largest court system in the nation will be closing the doors of courthouses across the state one day each month. Read more... FEATURED ARTICLE Professional Mediator: A Distinction that Makes a Difference by Jeff Kichaven, courtesy of Mediate.com In April 2006, a remarkable thing happened at the Spring Conference of the American Bar Association's Section of Dispute Resolution in Atlanta. A distinguished lawyer unwittingly proved that the mediation profession has a spectacular future. Read more... Conflict Resolution Day October 15 is Conflict Resolution Day. Conceived in 2005 by the Association for Conflict Resolution to promote the awareness and use of conflict resolution and to recognize the contributions of conflict resolvers; it has been celebrated annually on the third Thursday in October.	UPCOMING CONFERENCES & TRAININGS AFCC Regional Training Conference Interventions for Family Conflict: Stacking the Odds in Favor of Children November 5-7, 2009 Peppermill Resort Reno, Nevada Attachment, Alienation and Access: Advanced Interventions for Parenting Coordinators Arnold Shienvold, Ph.D. September 30-October 1, 2009 Kansas City, Missouri More information... AFCC 47th Annual Conference Traversing the Trail of Alienation: Rocky Relationships, Mountains of Emotion, Mile High Conflict June 2-5, 2010 Sheraton Denver Denver, Colorado AFCC Ninth Symposium on Child Custody Evaluations October 28-30, 2010 Hyatt Regency Cambridge Cambridge/Boston, MA AFCC 48th Annual Conference June 1-4, 2011 Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort Orlando, Florida JOIN AFCC Are you a member? Join or Renew... AFCC offers member benefits that promote excellence in practice. View member benefits... ABOUT AFCC eNEWS AFCC eNEWS is a monthly e-newsletter published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC).AFCC eNEWS provides professionals with time sensitive and up-to-date topics including practice tips, research innovations and international news. AFCC eNEWS archive... Web Site Version: If you are having trouble viewing this email correctly, please view the Web site version by clicking here. Editor: Leslye Hunter editor@afccnet.org AFCC welcomes your comments, questions or feedback. Please email the editor by clicking here. EMAIL UPDATE Subscribe, Unsubscribe or Update Your Email Address AFCC will never share, distribute or publicize your email address. 6525 Grand Teton Plaza Madison, WI 53719 Phone: 608.664.3750 Fax: 608.664.3751 www.afccnet.org