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

AFCC eNEWS - August 2009 |Reno Pre-Conference institutes/Case Law Update/FLAFCC Shared Parenting Statute Bench Book

VOL. 4 NO. 8 AUGUST 2009
AFCC Regional Training Conference Choose one of four pre-conference institutes to attend in Reno at Interventions for Family Conflict: Stacking the Odds in Favor of Children, November 5-7, 2009: Children in Court, designed for judges and lawyers, addresses the challenging issues related to children’s involvement in the family court processes. Challenging the Culture of Conflict: Advanced Parenting Coordination Strategies and Interventions, focuses on how conflict develops and becomes entrenched in parenting partnerships and the role of parenting coordination in helping peace become a possibility and not just a pipe dream. Advanced Mediation Techniques: Cognitive Behavioral Problem Solving and the Art of the Question, will examine how the skillful use of questions can make or break a difficult mediation. Conducting Brief Assessments, designed for custody evaluators, will discuss three models of brief assessment, implementation and administrative issues, pitfalls and research findings. (See the Top Ten Features of Brief Focused Assessments below.) Conference brochure... Online registration... ASK THE EXPERTS Top Ten Features of Models of Brief Focused Assessments by Linda Cavallero, Ph.D. The AFCC Brief Focused Assessments Task Force is finalizing the Guidelines that are a product of several years’ work and collaboration with members at open forums. Linda Cavellero, Ph.D., AFCC Member from Worcester, Massachusetts and the Co-Chair of the Task Force, has assembled these ten features shared by all brief models. Read more... Case Law Update Divorcing Parents May Agree to Binding Arbitration of Custody Matters The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on July 1, 2009, that divorcing parents have the right, as part of their constitutionally protected sphere of parental autonomy, to sidestep the judicial process and agree to submit their custody issues to binding arbitration. This decision may be important to parent coordination as a process. Read more... RESEARCH UPDATE Natural Children from Blended Families Bring No Benefit to Older Half-Siblings Courtesy of J.M. Craig Press, Inc. When people divorce, there is a high probability that they will remarry and have children with their new spouses. There has been very little research regarding how these children fare when raised with older half-siblings. This study addresses that issue. Read more... FLAFCC’s Shared Parenting Bench Book Supplement The Florida Chapter of AFCC (FLAFCC) Parenting Plan Task Force wrote a monograph entitled “Florida’s New Shared Parenting Statute: What Professionals Need to Know.” They also developed an education curriculum and presentation materials to accompany the monograph, as well as producing this Bench book. Click here to read the Bench Book Supplement... RECOMMENDED READING Connie Beck, Ph.D., AFCC member from Tucson, Arizona, recommends an article that provides a thorough review of the different theories explaining intimate partner violence. Bell, K.M. and Naugle, A.E. (2008). Intimate partner violence theoretical considerations: Moving towards a contextual framework. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1096-1107. Read abstract... Denver Call for Presenters 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. If you have an interesting workshop idea that you would like considered, please submit a proposal prior to October 5, 2009. Click here to view Call for Presenters... Click here to submit a workshop proposal... Conference of Interest Celebrating Past, Present & Future: Reflections and Visionspresented October 22-25, 2009 by the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is IACP’s 10th anniversary Networking and Educational Forum. Read more... FEATURED WEB SITES Online Parenting Education Program Children in the Middle Online is an interactive streaming video program for co-parents, endorsed by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services as a Model Program. Courts in a growing number of states are referring separating and divorcing parents to this program in lieu of attending classes. The program teaches conflict resolution and communication skills, as well as improving parenting skills, and attitudes that promote sensitivity to children's needs during and after separation. See www.divorce-education.com/online and email Dr. Gordon(gordon@mind.net) for a complimentary password to view the entire program. FEATURED ARTICLE Professionalization Of Conflict Resolvers by Deborah Sword, courtesy of Mediate.com Those of us speaking out against creating certification for conflict resolvers don't seem to have a lot of allies. The weight of popular opinion is that certification with standardized credentials should (must) be done. I appreciate an opportunity to present a cautionary point of view. Read more... INTERNATIONAL NEWS Media Rules Cause Chaos in Family Courts Courtesy of guardian.co.uk Three months after family courts were opened to the press, the presence of journalists is still causing havoc, even as the government is promising to change the law to open up the courts even more. Read more... McClelland Announces Review of Family Law Act to Tackle Domestic Violence Laws Courtesy of Australian Divorce Blog “The primary aim of this work will be to address inconsistencies so as to ensure women and children are better protected under both Commonwealth and State laws,” Mr. McClelland said. Read more... Advanced Parenting Coordination Training AFCC, in collaboration with the AFCC Missouri Chapter and the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law, will be offering Attachment, Alienation and Access: Advanced Interventions for Parenting Coordinators on September 30-October 1, 2009. Arnold Shienvold, Ph.D. will focus on how to work effectively with the most challenging clients and issues, including those with personality disorders and attachment problems. Read more... Correction An early version of the July eNEWS was sent with the incorrect link to the revised Arizona Statute providing access to the current Statute, before revision. The revised Statute will not be posted online by Arizona until the end of September. AFCC will provide that link, as soon as it is available, in the eNEWS.	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 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 question... 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