Article archive / June 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 6. Source pages: 10.
Todd Presents at Assn of Family and Conciliation Courts in Seattle
Leslie Todd, LCSW, will present at a preconference Institute at the Annual Conference of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in this month in Seattle, helping attendees understand that while settling the divorce used to be Family Court’s primary function, today it is “defining families.” Todd is founding president of the Louisiana Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
Family Courts are inundated with cases that require the assistance of forensic mental health professionals, Todd explained in an interview last week. Same-sex partners and grandparents are requesting recognition as parents. Gestational surrogacy has created another generation of familial and legal dilemmas. There are more living-together than married parents, and there are huge numbers of young parents who have never even lived with their co-parent, she said. Since 80 percent of families are now non-nuclear, the majority of modern families will pass through Family Court doors at some point for clarification of roles at the very least, Todd said.
While the need for these services is pressing, the cost is often prohibitive, Todd said. She is one of four presenters for “Cadillac or Chevy? Providing High Quality, Affordable and Trustworthy Processes,” where she will present information to judges, attorneys and mental health professionals from across the U.S, Australia and Canada.
Todd joins international mediator/psychologist Arnold Shienvold, PhD, Brent Cashatt, JD, Hon. William Fee, to examine the spiraling costs related to child custody disputes as well as alternative models which address the issues of quality, jurisdictional expectations, comprehensiveness and cost in various geographic regions and across socioeconomic strata.
The presenters will discuss the sources of tension between the need of the Court and the ability of mental health professions to provide necessary information to the parents and the Court, and the issue of finances, Todd explained. They will discuss a spectrum of services, ranging from collaborative divorce models and mediation ranging from early- stage to child-inclusive mediation.
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